The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1943-11-05
FACING
The
FACTS
With PHILIP PEARL

One of the troubles with working at
union headquarters and not getting
chance to get out into the field is that
our thinking gets to be too "organiza-
tional." We find ourselves thinking in
terms of millions rather than the in
dividual, about mass problems rather
than the day-to-day troubles of the
man in overalls.
Nor do we often encounter in cur
rent literature anything to remind us
of how the fight made by the trade
unions for workers affects the home
life of Jimmy Jones or Tom Brown or
Johnny Nolan.
And that is why it was SO refresh
ing and interesting to us to read about
the struggle and experiences of
Johnny Nolan and his family in re-
cent novel called "a Tree Grows in
Brooklyn" The author is Betty Smith.
We don't know her and have never
heard of her before. We say this SO as
to avoid any suspicion of log-rolling
when we recommend it to our readers.
The book is worth reading if only
for the few brief passages which tell
of what his union means to Johnny
Nolan and his family. These passages
are significant because obviously the
author has no personal axe to grind.
She is merely reporting fact in the
life of Johnny Nolan and his family.
Said Johnny To His Daughter
Johnny was born with two strikes
against him-poverty and the soul of
an artist. He was singer of sweet
songs but he earned few dollars oc-
casionally as an extra waiter on Sat-
urday nights. The following scene be-
tween him and his daughter Francie
occurs on one of these Saturday eve
nings as Johnny is preparing to go to
work:
"He took the slice of bread and
turned it over. The Union sticker was
on that piece Good bread made by
Union bakers He pulled the sticker
off. A thought struck him. The Union
Label on my apron!
"'That label is like an ornament
he explained, like a rose that you
wear. Look at my Walters Union but
ton
'The pale -and-white button
was fastened in his lapel. He polished
it with his sleeve.
"'Before I joined the Union the
bosses paid me what they felt like
Sometimes they paid me nothing. The
tips, they said, would take care of
me- Some places even charged me for
the privilege of working. The tips
were so big, they said, they could sell
the waiting concession. Then | joined
the Union Your mother shouldn't be-
grudge the dues. The Union gets me
Jobs where the boss has to pay me
certain wages, regardless of tips. All
trades should be unionized.'
eyes, Papa By now, Francie was
ironing away She loved to hear him
talk"
Like A Rose That You Wear"
Toward the end of the book, after
Johnny has died and his family is
about to take a step upward on the
social and economic ladder, another
significant scene takes place. Francie
is ironing a shirt for her brother,
Neely, who is going out to the
theater. The book goes on:
"Francie looked for the Union La
bel in Neeley's shirt and pressed that
first.
"('That label is like an ornament /.
like rose that you wear.o
"The Nolans sought for the union
label on everything they bought. 1t
was their memorial to Johnny"
Just those few paragraphs bring
home to us more clearly and sharply
than the piled up experiences of a
year on the job the realization of
what the union and the union button
and the union label mean to millions
of workers in this country who had
to begin at scratch and fight and suf-
fer for the right to organize.
Those who join an already estab
lished union today merely by walking
up and slapping down an initiation fee
and dues don't and can't fully appre-
ciate what their union means to them
and does for them.
Nor will the smart-alec editorial
writer's, nor the vicious labor baiters
ever understand the loyalty and de-
votion of union members who have
gone through the mill with their or
ganization 1t is that loyalty and de-
votion which make the trade union
movement invincible.