The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1939-02-23
Textile Workers
Churter Restored
AL Council Reinstutes One
OF Nine Originial
CIO Units
FIRST TO RETURN
Gormdn To Rendin Leude,
Of u. 7. w. A. Until Next
Convention

powered William Green, A. +. of l.
president, to restore the old United
Textile Workers of America as mem.
her in good standing Of the Fedora.
tion.
The United Textile Workers was one
of the nine A. F. of l.. unions which
Joined with John l.. Lewis in 1885 in
forming the Committee for Industrial
Organization and was likewise one OF
the eight unions whose charters were
revoked by the A. f. of l.. for THEN
continued membership in the G.. |. O
conglomeration. Recently, however, the
United Textile Workers withdrew from
the Lewis secessionists and expressed
a desire to return to the American
Federation of Labor.
In making public the decision of the
Executive Council, Mr.. Green announc-
ed that Francis j. German, president
of the U. T. w. A., would remain the
head of that organization until the
national convention, scheduled for
June, convened, adding:
Court Holds Contract Invalid
'rhe Textile Workers Union is the
first Of the old C. l. o. unions to come
back home to the house Of labor
Mr.. Green pointed out that the
agreement put across by Lewis's C. |.
o., by which the Textile Workers Or
ganizing Committee took over the Of
flee and functions of the United Tex
tile Workers, did not provide for a
special convention of the Textile
Workers to ratify such action. The
special convention, he said, was man
datory under the Textile Workers con-
stitution, and that the failure to call
the convention was the basis of the
recent decision of the Rhode Island
Superior Court holding the C. |. O.
agreement with the United Textile
Workers officials invalid, and that the
c. l. O. Textile Workers Organizing
Committee had no legal right to the
treasury and property of the United
Textile Workers.
The court ruled, he declared, that
there had been no legal transfer Of the
old T. w. of A. locals into the c.. l.
O.'s textile union since a convention
had not been called to ratify the COM
pact.
"We had assumed that the transfer
of the old textile union locals to the
C. l. O. had been legal" Mr.. Green
EXPLAINED. "Now we find that it was
not legal. Therefore it is not necessary
to issue new textile union charter,
but merely to reinstate the old one.
"The constitution of the old textile
union says that so long as nine locals
remain in the International Union the
latter shall reign as an entry. The
court held that the contract between
the G. |. O. and the U. r. w. of A. was
illegal
Funds Ordered Returned
"The court said that it was the in
tention of the parties-the C. |. o. and
the U. Il. w. of A. oficers-that the
U. Il. w. of A. be dissolved, but that
no opportunity had been accorded the
textile locals to express themselves on
the subject; that special convention
should have been called and this was
not done, and that it was beyond Mr..
Gorman's power to turn in the U. r.
w. of A. over to the T. w. o. C.
"Hence the contract did not bind the
U. T. w. of A., and the C. |. o. textile
union had no right to the funds of the
U. T. w. of A."
Mr.. Green declared that the organi-
zation had taken possession of the
funds held by the locals of the textile
union and had issued charters in the
A. w. O. C. to these locals. That
money, he said, under the courts order
now belongs to the old U. T. w. of A.
now about to be restored to it's affilia-
tion with the A. F. of l..
The court, he added, had ordered the
T. w. O. G. to return to the old textile
union locals all moneys and dues COL
lected from them between March, 1897,
and July, 1888.
In every local union jurisdiction at
torneys for the A. F. Of l.. will prob
ably begin suits shortly for the restor-
alton of dues and moneys paid by the
former U. T. W.. of A. locals to the
II. w. O. c., Mr.. Green indicated.
In addition to the dues and other
funds, he said that the C. |. O. had
also taken over the mortuary funds,
"many thousands of dol
lars," from the old textile locals. He
indicated that suits would also be
begun for these funds.
Convention Will Be Called
The Executive Council directed Mr..
Green to call a conference of all textile
groups which will cooperate with the
A. F. of L. and with it's decision to re-
store the old union. Later, he said,
will be held for the purpose
of electing new officers of the union
and the charter will be turned over by
the federation to the new officers.
Preliminary steps paving the way to
the legal establishment of the old
textile union have already been taken,
Mr.. Green continued
He said that Mr.. German, who sign
ed the agreement turning the union
over to the T. w. o. c., had repudiated
that document and that when the
Rhode Island courts had held that he
was still tho lepa1 nrecidept of tho