Evening star., 1943-05-22
Green Vows AFL
Won 'tLet Down
Men al Front
Tells Labor RolIy
II "A

approved or condoned" by the AFL
and its affiliated unions until the
enemies of America have been forced
to unconditional surrender.
In addressing a Labor for Vic
tory" rally at Constitution Hall, un-
der the auspices of the Washington
Central Labor Union and the AFL,
he said soldiers of the production
front will march with soldiers on
the battlefronts until victory is won.
Pointing out that labor has a great
stake in the present world conflict,
Undersecretary of War Robert P.
Patterson warned that victory is
far from won," either on the bat
tlefleld or in the workshops.
Needs Not Yet Supplied.
I'VE have nowhere near supplied
our war needs" he said. The rate
of production has been speeded up,
but more and always more, is
needed. The requirements of war
are never satisfied-that is the Only
sure thing about war"
Other speakers at last nights
meeting included War Manpower
Commission Chairman Paul v. Nc
Mutt, Rear Admiral Clark H. Wood
ward, chief Of the Incentive Division
of the Navy, and John Locher, presi-
dent Of the Washington Central La
Dor Union, who explained that the
purpose of the meeting was to en-
able AFL members to rededicate
themselves to their war jobs.
Thomas Mitchell. screen and stage
star, served as master of ceremonies.
Music was furnished by an orches-
ira provided by Local ISL of the
Musicians Union, while Alfred
Manning, secretary of the musicians
local. led large mixed chorus in
patriotic songs.
A feature of the program was a
recital of their experiences on the
battle fronts by a number of war
heroes. These were 1t. Col. I. F.
McAlpin of the Black Watch Regi-
ment. commander of No. 6 Com
mando, which took part in the in
itial landing in Algiers; SergtS. Al
Schmidt and Barney Ross of the
United States Marines, and 1t.
James Kayser of the Army Air
Forces. All were loudly applauded as
they appeared on the platform.
1t. Kayser Was in AFL.
1t. Kayser, an AFL member and
carpenter in Youngstown, Ohio, be-
fore he entered the Army, told the
meeting that the road to Berlin may
be long. but we have proved we
can travel 1.-THE Army and labor
together"
You have a glorious gang fighting
for you," Sergt. Ross said.
Recent victories in North Africa
and the new offensives against the
enemy have been made possible, Mr..
Green declared, "only because the
workers of our country have won
the basic battle of production
Our own country and its Allies
owe an everlasting debt of gratitude
to the workers of America for the
wonderful progress they have made
in SO short a time. for the fine job
they are doing today and will con-
tinue to do until the war is Won,' he
said.
The no-strike pledge given to the
President by the AFL soon after
Pearl Harbor ''has been fulfilled al
most 100 per cent" by AFL workers,
and affiliated organizations, Mr..
Green stated.
He paid high tribute to the Wash
ington Central Labor Union for rails
ing more than Sl30,0O0 in contribu-
tions from AFL members in the
Washington area to protect the Ma
tion's Capital from enemy air raids.
"Our trade union movement is
going to make certain that America
wins the peace" Mr.. Green said.
For the first time in history, pre-
dict that organized labor will be
directly represented at the peace
conference at the close of this war
We will never agree to any peace
terms unless they guarantee that
war shall be abolished as a means
of settling disputes between ma
tions."
Cites Bomber Output Boost.
Undersecretary Patterson praised
the collaboration of labor and man
agement in making good American
production. AS an illustration of
this collaboration. he cited the fact
that four Flying Fortresses now are
being made in the same number of
man hours-about 10000 - that
we're required initially for the con-
struction of one of these bombers.
Though there have been cut backs
in specific items in our armament
program. Mr.. Patterson said there
has been no actual cut-back in over
all production" Instead, production
has increased, as it must continue to
increase and increase if we are to
meet our demanding schedules for
1943 and 1914"
Mr.. McNutt conveyed a message
of greeting and warm wishes to the
Labor for Victory" rally, and
praised the contribution of labor to
the formulation of the policies of
the War Manpower Commission.
Others who spoke briefly last night
included Chief Carpenters Mate
Tom jenkins, who served at Midway,
and Capt. John A. Mattson of the
merchant marine, skipper of a mer-
chantrnan that brought aid to the
American forces besieged on Bataan.
Charles Reed of Baltimore, who
recently experienced his fifth tor
pedoing in the present war, was one
of six members of the Seafarers' In
ternational Union, all of them sur
vivors of ship sinkings, who were
introduced to the audience.
At the opening of the meeting
service flag was raised from the
platform in honor of the million
members of the AFL now serving
with the armed forces.