The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1939-08-04
A. F. OF |. OPENS
VIGOROUS FIGHT
ON W.P. A. WAGE
Conference of Representatives of Ma
tiOnal and International Unions
Held in Washington.

vital principle, even more important
than the question of wage rates, is
involved in the effort to restore "pre-
vailing wages" on W. P. A. work, de-
clared President William Green of
the American Federation of Labor, at
the conference of representatives of
national and international unions,
held in Washington in response to his
call.
"There can be no compromise with
the principle involved BY the meth
DDS used, the orderly processes of col
lective bargaining are set aside and
wages and working conditions, gained
through years of painful effort, are
arbitrarily set aside for those deter
mined by Congressional action. Such
practices cannot be tolerated in a
democracy" he declared.
"The mere matter of relief wages
is not the question The A. F. of L.
has drawn clear distinction between
relief wages and those on public
works" AS an example, President
Green cited the c. C. G. in which boys
were recruited from the streets to be
placed in camps at wage of $50 per
month. "That is relief" President
Green said, "and the A. F. of L. never
questioned, in fact supported the con-
dition established"
Report is Adopted
The report of a special committee,
of which Harry Bates, president of
the Bricklayers, was chairman, and
Matthew Vol, vice president of the
A. F. of L., was secretary, was unani-
mously adopted.
This report declared that the 'very
lifeblood of trade union structure
is the standard union rate of wages. "
1t pointed to the Bacon-Davis Act, es-
tablishing prevailing wage rates on
government work; and the Walsh
Healey Act, extending the same wage
provisions to government contracts
in excess of $4,000 as indicative of
the violent departure from existing
law involved in the so-called security
wage of the relief act.
In no case, the conference declared
had there been even mention of re-
duction in prices of material. Thus
labor, the human element, had been
selected to bear the entire burden of
economies and this at the expense of
principles and material conditions
painfully gained by decades of
struggle.
Protest is Ordered
President Green was instructed to
Immediately present vigorous pro-
tests to the President, to the president
of the Senate, the Speaker of the
House and to all members of the
House and Senate.
He appointed the following commit
tee to call on the President and others:
Harry Bates, Bricklayers' Union;
Daniel ]. Tracy, international Broth
erhood of Electrical Workers; George
@. Lynch, Pattern Makers League;
John P. Frey, Metal Trades Depart
ment, A. F. of H.; l. M. Ornburn
Union Label Trades Department; Her
bert Rivers, Building and Construc-
tion Trades Department.
Speakers at the conference charged
that the new wage scale would de
press union wages in private indus
try" and "grind union labor into the
mud"
"Public money must not be spent
in such a way as to depress wages
in private industry" George Meaney
president of the New York State Fed
Grafton of Labor, said.
Meaney said that it would be i'm
possible to employ relief labor ex,
clusively on such projects as the $780,
100000 New York airport.
Contractors asked for thousands OF
skilled mechanics, many of them A
F. of l.. members, he said
"These are the men they are trying
to grind into the mud today" he de.
clared. "If this is relief why do they
examine these men to see that they
are real mechanics"
James McDevitt of the Pennsyl
vania Federation of Labor, and Other
delegates felt that the w. P. A. strik-
ers would be Gin an impossible situa
ton" if definite guarantees were not
obtained that they would be restored
to their jobs when the situation was
settled.