Montana labor news., 1939-05-04

Perhaps some people Will remember
her or DR.. White.
Please answer and let me know
if you can find anything concerning
my sister or her husband.
Yours truly,
Mrs. Mike ]. Frank,
Box No. 766.
. = =
Chairman Mernin of the Joint
Relief Committee reminded the
delegates of the meeting which will
be held at the legislative chambers
at the Capitol, Helena, Sunday, May
18th, to try and solve the problem
now confronting the relief situation.
Mr.. Mernin said that meetings Of
the conference in Butte had taken
action against any proposal to
license gambling or any proposal to
establish a sales tax in Montana but
that the meetings had favored taxes
on utilities and corporations to raise
money for relief purposes. State
ments that the purpose of the on
ference was to try to impeach Gov
ernor Ayers were false; that that
was not the intent of the relief con-
ference but to really try to alleviate
the distress of the people and not
to get someone's job. Another mat
ter given to the special relief COM
mittee related to a charge that the
Works Progress Administration was
compelling young men to take jobs
on other federal agencies willy-nilly.
In order to comply with WPA
quotas in Silver Bow county, it was
arranged to send a number of work
ers to Glacier National Park and to
the biological project at Lake View
near Monida. One of the regulations
Of the Works Progress Administra-
ton is that workers on WPA must
accept jobs in other federal agencies
when it is offered. Now should
anyone who has been on WPA re-
fuse to take a position in Glacier
Park on the biological survey, or
any other federal agency, then they
would be Immediately dropped from
the WPA rolls. In the discussions of
the Silver Bow Trades and Labor
Council, it was brought out that this
has all the aspects of forced labor.
The relief committee was instructed
to visit the authorities and find out
the truth.
The representative of the Silver
Bow Trades and Labor Council, Mr..
Deloughery, on the planning board,
reported DR.. Potter had stated that
the relief situation in Montana is
extremely serious and that the doc
tor thought that an extra session of
the legislature would have to be
called before the year expired.
Delegate Duncan gave a very fine
explanation Of the regulations of the
Works Progress Administration in
relation to the WPA and other gov
ernmental agencies.
= 4
The unions of Montana learned
with great satisfaction that Graeme
B. Baker of Kalispell had been re-
instated as organizer for the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor in the
western district of Montana. Mr..
Baker had been an organizer for the
American Federation of Labor but
through a misunderstanding was re-
leased of his commission last Octo-
Der. President William Green re-
Gently restored Mr.. Baker to his for
mer position. In the notice from
Mr.. Green, it stated that an or
~ganizer's commission was going for
ward to Baker and Green wished
him success in his work.
= + Il
It has been reported at labor head
quarters that some Of the merchants
Of Silver Bow county require that
any checks for overtime must be
returned to the employer. This con-
stitutes two violations of rules and
principles: First, employers are not
allowed to work their employees
overtime only in emergency cases.
Secondly, the unions are opposed to
members making a kickback to en-