The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1940-07-12
N. W. Enterprise
Leads Negro Labor
To Victory

On Thursday night, July 18th,
there was brought to a close a
twelve weeks fight that has been
waged by the Northwest Enterprise
and the Com m tee for the
Defense of Negro Labor's Right to
work at Boeing Airplant, that has
been uppermost in the minds of the
Negro Civic Leaders of the City
of Seattle for the past several
months.
The elimination of the fight &C.
cured in the following fashion: At
the last monthly Executive meet
ing of the Executive Board of the
Aeronautical Mechanics Union Lo-
cal ISL, held in the month of June,
the Executive Board appointed
committee of three namely: c. A.
Stone, Dan Dugan, and George ST.
mi, to meet and confer with repre-
sentatives from the Committee for
the Defense of Negro Labor's
Right to work at Boeings, in re-
gard to the matter of developing
the possibility for Negroes to be
employed at Boeings Airplant in
Seattle. The appointment of this
committee was brought about by
the constant agitation and relent-
les fight made by the Northwest
Enterprise and the members of
the Committee for the Defense
of Negro Labor's Right to wirk
at Boeings. This committee,
with its members representing
every Negro organization in
the City of Seattle, under
the leadership of Hutchen R. Hut
chins, had met over a period of
weeks in an effort to ascertain the
exact status of affairs in regard
to the exclusion of Negroes from
the employment rolls at Boeing
Airplant The committee for the
Defense of Negro Labors Rights
to work at Boeings appointed a
committee composed of B. e.
Squires, John e. Prim, of the N. A.
A. c. P, and Hutchen R. Hutch
ms. Chairman of the Committee
for the Defense of Negro Labor
Rights, to confer with the Com
mittee appointed by the Executive
Board of Local 751. At the meet
ing when these two groups came
together, after much elaboration
it was decided that the Committee
would make it's report to the Exc
cutive Board in the form of the
presentation of Mr.. Squires, Exc
cutive Secretary of the Local Ur-
ban League. At the Executive
committee Meeting of the Local
ISL, held on Wednesday night, Ju-
ly 10th, Mr.. Squires appeared and
pleaded the case of the Negro in
behalf of his desire to secure en-
ployment at the Boeing Airplant.
In the course of the discussion,
all possible causes for the exclu-
sion of the Negro from the en-
ployee rolls at the Boeing Company
were discussed. Among the points
discussed was the fact that the
Boeing Company had said that it
could not employ Negroes because
they could not become members
of the union. In contradiction to
this statement the members of the
Executive Board stated that they
had no objection to Negroes be-
coming members of the union al
though the international Associa-
ton of MachinistS, with which they
are affiliated, did have phrase or
a clause in its ritual which denied
members of Local 751 the oppor-
tunity of presenting the names of
Negro mechanics for membership
in the union. At the conclusion of
the discussion, question period
was held. Many of the questions
asked by members of the Execu-
tive Board indicated that there was
a feeling within the Board that
Negroes would not qualify as menu
bers of the union and the questions
also indicated that Negroes might
prove to be potential strike break
ers and scabs. After a heated dis