Montana labor news., 1937-11-11
What's Happening
in the Unions

The office of the Superintendent
of Public instruction at Helena re-
piled to a letter that had been sent
out by Mr., Kennedy, secretary of
the Council in which Mr.. Kennedy
informed Miss Reardon that Mr.. Ed
Duncan had been endorsed for the
position of coordinator of Vocational
Education. The letter from Miss
Reardon's office was signed by D.
M. Mcdonald, state secretary. The
tentative program for vocational ed
ucation outlined largely through the
efforts of Mr.. Duncan, was compli-
mented by Miss Reardon.
The Cascade unions notified Butte
that Carl D. Thompson, representing
the Public Ownership League, would
pay visit to Montana in the near
future to deliver a series of lectures
on public ownership. The exact time
of his arrival has not been deter
mined
John Vickers, representing the Bus
Drivers Union, was selected to rep
resent the Silver Bow Trades and
Labor Council in the forthcoming
conference at the Chamber of Com
merce of Butte's Auxiliary for Grip
pied children. The meeting will be
held Dec. 8 at 8 p. m.
The Silver Bow Trades and Labor
Council donated SIS to the American
Red Cross. The central labor body
has been doing this for a number
of years.
Quite a long discussion arose over
letter that was received from the
Railroad Commission. In this letter
the commission asked the Trades and
Labor Council to suggest price or
profit margin that should be al
lowed jobbers and wholesalers for
the handling of potatoes. At the
request of the Farmers Union, the
Trades and Labor Council for this
trade area had requested that the
price of U, S, No. l potatoes to the
consumer be established at 81. The
Council after reading the letter took
the stand that the establishment of
profit margins for retailers and
wholesalers was strictly within the
province of the commission itself,
and the unions declined to make any
reservations.
Stating that the Holly Sugar Com
pany was unfriendly to organized
labor in the state of Montana, the
Yellowstone Trades and Labor
Council asked the Silver Bow Trades
and Labor Council to declare this
company unfair After considerable
discussion in which it was pointed
out that Holly sugar had been made
unfair in Montana at the request
of union at Tracy, California, about
year ago, the company later recog-
nized the union and granted wage
increases. The company has not ac-
corded such consideration to the un-
ions of Montana. It was stated by
delegates of the Council that the
Holly Sugar Company is erecting a
factory or building at Hardin, Mon
tana, and that in the erection of this
building they imported carpenters
and reduced the wage scales. They
also reduced the wage rates for com
mon labor from go to 40 cents per
hour. The common labor rate at
Hardin for many years had been 60
cents A federal labor union existed
at both Sidney and Hardin, where
this company operated. The two
unions tried to compel the company
to maintain their wage schedules and
conditions. They are proteges of the
Montana Federation of Labor. In
order to dodge the requests of these
two organizations, according to the
delegates, the Holly Sugar Company
was able to create two other federal
labor unions, which cleared the COM
pany of all guilt, etc. However, the
union movement of Montana does
not recognize the new company un-
ions and the boycott against the
Holly Sugar Company is going to
spread and the union people are
going to be asked more and more to
bear down on this company. 1t may
take time, it may take months, it
may take years, but eventually the
Holly Sugar Company will be com
PEELED to recognize that driving down
wages and conditions in Montana is
not good business policy.
A long letter was received from
the Committee for Industrial Organi-
zation explaining the terms upon
which they could come to peace with
the American Federation of Labor.
The letter also described the aims
and purposes of the Committee for