Montana labor news., 1946-02-21
RADIO ADDRESS BY
RICHARD DONOVAN
Dear Citizens OF the Pacific
Northwest:

The American Federation Of Labor
has a membership Of over eight mil
hon people which include the half mil
lion members OF the Coal Miners.
which is known under the name of the
United Mine Workers. This is John
l.. Lewis organization, the man who
bol,cd the AFL in 1885 and set up the
Go. Tom Brown OF Butte was prcsi-
dent OF the International Union OF
Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers at
that time, and he joined Lewis along
with the Oil Workers and seven or
eight other international unions to
form the Go.
1t is quite an anomaly to have had
Lewis head OF the Coal Miners. a mem
Der OF the executive board OF the .AIL;
desert that organization. set up a new
one and then go back 10 his original
berth Ii must be admitted, however,
that the organization work of the Go
DID II least indirectly, bring many new
members into the MEL. Here in Butte
We have both AIl. and Go unions
working in havinony. There are a
uuiuhcr 81 what are called central Ia
hof bodies, Or parent bodies. for IN
stance. the Sillcr bow Trades and La
Dor Council. 1t is composed 81 dele
gates oi nearly all the unions in Bate.
boii the Nl'l. and Go. 1t is a volun-
tarN organization. and there is no cenl-
ptil>ion about being a member. There
are only a few Of these combined MEL
and Go central unions i'll the United
States. The Butte building Trades
Council i, completely AI'I..
In this central body is represented
nearly all the trades and construction
crafts. another central body ~callcl the
Metal Trades Council. This Is ON
posed 81 Just the trades concerned in
the fabrication and construction Of
metal, a member Of the AFL also.
hcsc organizations have set up com
mittccs. three Of the most imporfaat
Will name and explain. Organization.
Legislative and Insecure Building COM
''H'A p VI EHiiiEiiiti. IL Niltli Dc
the duty Of the committee on organi-
1ation and building trades 10 seek ont
every branch oi the building trades
crafts i'll the city and vicinity. 10 use
every effort 10 organize them into
unions. 70 instruct and enlieliten them
On all questions relating to their adj
v~aneemcnt As working mon. and where
there /, no national head of such or
eani1cd trade ii Shall be empowered
70 assist i'll pcriccting such %organiza-
tons As may be adopted To the trade
with which they are connected.
For instance, this committee can be
given the credit of starting and organ
lzing the trade school located on the
Hat. the old Cleveland school, under
the direction Of Charles Davis. and a
teaching stall ot qualified union men.
20 see that the public get iirst-class
Workmanship on all work when the
public pay high wage they are en-
tiled 10 iirSt-claSs work and when the
public receive higll-class work and paw
't~' N"NN' wy community pfuSptlS.
Committee on Legislation: Ii shall
be the duty Of the legislative commit
tee 70 determine what legislation Will
be tor the best interests oi the labor
ine man draw bills Tor such legislation,
present them 10 the state and city leg
islaturcs, and report IRON time 10 time
the best method ot procuring the pas
sage 81 the amt Provided. that no
htll shall be presented to a legislative
body without the sanction 81 this corln-
ell. They shall attend to all printing
and publishing as the council may d.
rect. For instance, this committee has
recommended 10 all local Unions ID o.
pose such legislation as the carrv-back
PROVISIONS Of the revenue act which
guarantees corporations profit, under
certain conditions whether that COR
poratlon operates or not. The unions
leel that this guarantee has a tendency
to promote shutdowns by industry it.
sell. The unions here arc also on
posed to legislation now before the ma
tional congress which would DENY the
right OF workers to strike and restrict
the unlon in many other WAYS. This
IS especially in reference to the meas
ure introduced by Mr.. Case oi South
Dakota.
Insecure building committee: The
committee on insecure buildings shall
act IN conjunction with the committee
OF the council and boar dol aldermen
IN the inspection and condemnation OF
buildings insecurity built or u%nprotect-
ed from disaster by fire or water. 1t
shall also report all public buildings
not provided with fire escapes.
An example Of how important this
committee is to a community We viii
take the case OF our public schools.
namely the Garfield. Webster and the
ncw Butte high school. This commit
tee can be given credit Tor the action
taken against the mining companies.
when the Trades Council received and
granted a court restraining order
against the school trustees two years
ago iur a trade al other property ior
c,hool damages. This committee has
gaused settlement with these comparie,
Tor our schools and are also interested
n the new buildings ard where they
a4ll Us iu'i'. The council, also spon-
ser the lndopcndcui chool ticket. they
are active IN veterans welfare board.
the Anti-T. +. society, and several
a'hcrs.