Montana labor news., 1939-05-04
UNIONS CELEBRATE
MAY DAY IN BUTTE
BY PARADE, TALKS

hlAI NAh IN OOi1k
BY PARADE, TALKS
Build a United Labor Movement"
was the keynote of the May Day
celebration here Sunday. The parade
and mass meeting rounded out a
week of activity which included
conferences, radio talks and wide
spread distribution of the May Day
statement Of the Joint Conference
representing trade unions and fra
ternal orders in town.
The radio talks on April 18th by
Chas. C. Davis, president of the Sill
yer Bow Trades and Labor Council,
and VIM. Mason, secretary-treasurer
of the Butte Miners Union, made up
the first May Day radio program
ever broadcast in Montana. In a
scholarly talk, Mr.. Davis described
the history of "the struggle for the
shorter work-day." MAY Day" he
said, SIS labor's traditional festival
and is n of the few truly inter-
national holidays now in existence.
A notable factor in the observance
is a wide range Of political affilia-
tons among the participants indi-
eating a fundamental solidarity in
the ranks of labor, in spite of diff
ferences that frequently show on the
surface"
Miners Need Increase
Mr.. Mason also emphasized unity
of labor as the main question of the
day. He then went on to outline
the negotiations being conducted by
the unions representing the en-
ployees of the Anaconda Copper
Mining Company and the officials
of that corporation. 1.-THE main need
in Butte on this May Day." he said,
lis to improve the conditions and
raise the earnings of the miners and
other A. c. M. employees in order
to increase the purchasing power
and contribute to the general good
of the entire community"
The Miners Union secretary de-
scribed the conditions of the miners.
Eat present, a miner puts in at least
8 hours per day ollar-to-collar
Now a working miner makes $25.9 so
per week on a days pay basis. OBJ
viously, a family cannot maintain a
comfortable standard of living on
such wages. Moreover, the average
miner finds it impossible to work
steadily, due to gruelling working
conditions, speed-up, hot, dusty
places and so on. Therefore the
average yearly wage of a miner is
certainly less than $1,000" (The
full texts of the talks of MI. Davis
and Mr.. Mason are printed in an
other part of the paper.)
May Day Parade
The parade started at 7 p. M, Sun
day at the courthouse, led by the
Butte Mines Band and the Joint
May Day Conference committee.
Then, the Butte Miners followed,
marching behind their banners.
Next came the Butte Workers ALI
and the Montana State Band
with a line of cars ending the
parade.
The mass meeting started at 8
p. m. in the old Butte high school
auditorium with Arvo Fredrickson
as chairman. Speakers were Mayor
Chas. H%auswirth, Frank Finnegan,
Anaconda postmaster, and
president of the Montana Typo
graphical Union Conference; Nor
man LeFever, president of the
Frank Little branch of the l. L. D.;
Rev. Lewis Stewart, representing
the Silver Bow County Ministerial
Association; Raymond Gray, bust
ness agent of the Helena Transfers
and the ever-popular Jerry
O'Connell.
Jerry Cheered
All speakers stressed the need of
of all progressives. The eli
max of the meeting was the forceful
talk of direct-speaking Jerry O'Con-
nell. In a well-rounded out speech,
he paid tribute to the heroes of the
labor movement who had died in
the cause of Labor-from the Hay
market victims up to the victims of
the Memorial Day Massacre in Chi
cago in 1887. He pointed out the
need of defending the New Deal So
cial legislation which is under attack
by agents of the National Associa-
ton of Manufacturers and the U. S.
of Commerce. He listed
the legislation which must be de-
such as the so-called anti
alien bills of Dies and Dempsey,
amendments to the Wagner Act and
The like. In an ardent defense of
the rights of foreign born, he warned
Of the fascist danger involved in
Continued on Page g.