Evening star., 1945-02-15
|AFL Demands
Increase in Pay ;
|0f u. 5. Workers
Congress Also Asked
To Put Overtime on
Bosis With Industry's
BY JAMES Y. NEWTON,
Star Staff CORRESPONDENT

MIAMI, Feb. 15.-The AFL today
called on Congress to carry out inn
mediately President Roosevelt's rec
ommendation for upward revision Of
Government workers basic pay.
Congress was urged by the Fed
eration's Executive Council also to
grant actual time-and-a-half over
time to Federal employees ION the
same basis as that guaranteed by
law to workers engaged in private
industry"
1T has always been the policy of
the Government to be a model en-
ployer," the council said. Congress
has failed to live up to that policy
In recent years. 1t should make up
for lost time now"
Asks IS Cents an Hour Scale.
The council asked that Congress
raise the minimum wage level Of
the wage-hour law to rs cents an
hour as means of remedying the
injustice that wartime imitation has
inflicted" generally on white coll
lar" workers and others of low in
come.
Although the committee was to
conclude midwinter sessions by
nightfall, President william Green
had received no word this morning
from John L. Lewis in answer to a
telegram seeking clarification of the
only remaining point in the way
OF reafiliation of the United Mine
Workers with the AFL.
MIR. Green wired Mr.. Lewis late
Tuesday that the AFL could not
guarantee the mine workers repre-
sentation on the executive council II
they return to the fold. 1T was un.
derstood that Mr.. Lewis was told,
however, that his chance of election
to the council at the next Federation
would be good.
Action Expected Today.
There still was confidence among
Mr.. Lewis friends here that the
mine workers would be back in the
AFL before tonight. Should he give
untavorable answer to Mr.. Green's
proposal there were some who be-
lieved negotiations might be ended
finally.
More pay for Government en-
ployes was demanded in a council
statement dealing with white col.
lar" workers generally.
Significantly, the workers hard
est hit by mounting costs during the
war" the council said, have been
those known as white collar work.
ers.
Lack of organization has pre-
vented them from obtaining wage
levels to which the nature and inn
portance OF their work entitle them.
Their attempts to seek redress from
Government agencies, such as the
War Labor Board, likewise have
been Handicapped by the absence Of
strong union organization to pre-.
sent their plight in an effective way"
Asserting that Government en-
ployes also have been unfairly dis
cr1m1nated against" the council said
that the workers have been loaded
down with heavy burdens of war
work. Their hours have been in
creased to the fatigue point, yet
their basic pay has remained frozen
since 1922"
Can't Strike Against ePople.
Those employed in Government
offices are inspired by a high sense
OF duty" the statement continued,
They realize they are serving their
fellow Americans. They have vol
unfairly relinquished the exercise
OF their economic strength because
they know they can't strike against
the American people"
Yesterday AFL Counsel Joseph A.
Padway explained the status of
labor cases in the courts before
NLRB. Mr.. Green charged later
that antilabor legislation in some
Southern States and Colorado was
inspired and sponsored" by the
Christian American Association in
which he said Senator O'Daniel,
Democrat, of Texas was the prime
leader" Mr.. Green said all of the
cases would be taken to the SUI
preme Court if necessary.
In Washington, Senator ODaniel
said he had no connection with
the association, although that or
ganization had sponsored in sew
eral States my antistrike bill" The
Senator described the oil, passed
In Texas while he was Governor,
as making felony the use or
threatened use of violence in strikes.
He said the bill "is not being chal-
lenged by the laboring people, but
by labor leader racketeers."
Names Are Withheld.
In Houston, Vance Muse, secre-
tary-treasurer of the association.
said the organization had spon.
sored antiviolence labor laws in. IA
dozen Southern States" and de-
scribed heads of the association as
1T Southern men who do not wish
to give their names" He said the
association was organized to combat
"radicalism in any form"
The council recommended amend.
ment of the National Labor Rela-
tlons Act and called on Congress
to enact it, depriving the NLRB
OF the right of arbitrarily determi-
ming what the collective bargaining
unit shall be when workers peti.
ton for an election
Mr.. Green said determination of
the bargaining units to participate
in an election should be the right
lof the workers themselves and not
OF the board. AFL has charged
many times that the board has dis
criminated against its craft unions
and IN favor Of the CIO by ordering
elections on plant-wide basis. !
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