The sub., 1944-09-14
Letters to inc Editor

Dear Editor:
 The issue at hand In the cleo ton tomorrow is not just deci- sion between the American Fed eration of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organization, but a decision between feudal outmod- ed organization built on the guild system and an organization that fits the needs of modern industry and recognizes that the unskilled or Semi-skilled worker must be protected as well as the skilled worker. Industrial workers trained in their particular line Gas sub- marine mechanical, and perhaps not adept in all phases of their craft, are the majority in Ameri- can labor, and discrimination against workers if they are not skilled enables management to use a vicious method of classification that benefits 1O%o or 20% and hurts 80% or 90%o. A. F. of L. discrim- ates not only against unskilled and semi-skilled workers but against Negro workers whether skilled or not, and against women workers.
 Any kind of discrimination i'm labor gives management a pow erful weapon, for as the proverb goes. "A house divided against it. self must fall," and if management can set labor against itself and split it up, they can consider their labor worries over. Labor must present united front in It's fight for better working conditions and industrial democracy; 1t can only do this when every employee of an industry is a member of the same Union and has equal rights with every other member.
 Everyone will admit that Ameri- ca is highly industrialized. Wheu you want shoes, you go to shoe store for them which in turn gets them from a factory.
 You don't go to shoemaker and have them especially made for you. The A. F. of L. was organized back in the days when you did go to 8 shoemaker. It was for the protection of skilled craftsmen only in various branches teamsters, masonS, glass-blowers. etc. But the A. F. of L. has outgrown it's usefulness, for America has gone far beyond the stage of individual workmanship and now huge in- dustries all over the country SUD- ply most consumer demands. Not only does the skilled craftsman need protection, but the unskilled and semi-Skilled worker must have it, too.
 We all get report cards next week. Oo you get welding flashes? Do you cough? You're a physical wreck y. watch out or you'll be re-ratedD If the management refuses to keep you at the same rate or refuses to up you, they will try to keep you on the job doing a first class mans job for less pay. That hurts everyone concerned as long as they know you'll do the work for smaller wages. Get into a Union that will stand behind you ;. the c. I. O.!
 You may be on an assembly line all day, doing one kind of opera tion in the making Of a machine. Does that mean you're not good enough for Union? Do you need the protection of a Union less than the man down the shop who puts the machine together? How many people at the B. B. can go out and get a job any place in their par ticular trade? Does a factory man. ufacturing radios or electric light bulbs need a chipper? Does a fur niture company need a tin-knock- CT? Wake up, employees |. get in back of the C. I. O., or you'll be in back of the eight-ball!
 Ninety-fve per cent of the or ganized shipyards are c. I. O. |. it pays to back winner.
 Sincerely yours.
 Patricia Herbert
 Victory Yard, End Shift
 Outside Electricians