The union times., 1948-01-24
Political Action Called A Must By Convention
Crisis Seen As Contracts Expire Urged To
 Name New Slate

The year 1948 will be one of the most important years in the history of the building trades unions not only of Connecticut, but of the entire United States.
 THREE SPEAKERS
 This was made clear by the three speakers at the Both annual con- ventiOn of the Connecticut State Building and Construction Trades Council, held at the New Haven Labor Temple, Sunday. They were: President Michael J. Barry of Hart ford; Secretary-Treasurer James O'Kane of Bridgeport; and Joseph M. Rourke of New Haven, secre- tary-treasurer of the Connecticut Federation of Labor.
 THE PROSPECTS
 Here is what the building trades face in 1948, as these leaders see it:
 1. The building trades unions all have closed shop agreements. These agreements expire in the next three months, or at the latest, by August g. Since the Taft-Hartley Law outlaws the closed shop, labor will be faced with an obstacle which will require all of its strength, its judgment, and statesmanship~ if 1t is to emerge vic- torious.
 2. All six of COnnecticut's Repre- sentatives in Congress voted for the Taft-Hartley Law, and are opposed to progressive legislation. They fol- low Senator Taft's policies, and were described by Barry as Taft's ''Office bOys." The convention un- animOusly voted to join with all labor and liberals to defeat them for reelection. Here are their names: Reps. Ellsworth FOOte, Am toni Sadlak, John D. Lodge, Will liam Miller, Horace Seely-Brown, and James T. Patterson.
 OTHER ISSUES, TOO
 Barry pointed out that as regards these Congressmen, the Taft-Hartley Law was no isolated case. Their stand on 1ow-rent housing, improvements in the Social Security Laws, genuine tax reduction, raising the minimum wage to 75 cents an hour, and health and medical insurance is either blank or that of Senator Taft. He urged the Republican Party to nominate a new slate for the elections this fall, and warned the Democratic Party that labor would not accept ward heelers and machine hacks" as nominees.
 ''FALSE FACE"
 O'Kane predicted that while the con- tractors do not like the Taft-Hartley Law, they will use it as "a false face to score the negotiating committees of the various local unions"
 ROurke told the convention that if the anti-labor members of Con- gress are not defeated in November, the legislation they will pass against organized labor and all working people twill make the Taft-Hartley Law seem mild.' He described the responsibility of organized labor to present its case to the general pulp lie, so that the propaganda against labor in the daily press can be counter-acted. He urged all locals to participate in community affairs to the fullest extent, pointing out that management is always repre- scented in civic activities, whereas labor, at times, has a tendency to hold back.
 A number of recommendations made by Barry and O'Kane in their reports to the convention were unanimously adopted upon concurrence by the Officers Report Committee, headed by George Lockwood, Stamford Building Trades. These reports are published on this page. They contain Barry's proposal that the building trades locals and councils in each city and town join the Political Action Committees to be established throughout the state.
 ELECTIONS
 A number of resolutions were unani- mously adopted by the convention, the chief theme again being the support of the trades for low-rent housing through state and federal action; de- feat of the six anti-labor Congressmen from Connecticute full use of the work cards by local unions and coun- cil; and several other matters. These are listed in another column. Despite the heavy snow which blanketed the state, attendance was close to normal.
 The convention unanimously re- elected Barry aS nreSident. and OKane as secretary-treasurer. The following were elected vice-presidentS:
 Francis Ford, Thomas Cunning, and Ernest Kunze, Hartford; Lance Caspic, Meriden; James Mccarthy, Michael O'ROurke, and George SabO, Waterbury; William Fargo, New London; Hartley Martin, Saul kreas, Stanley Creising, John A.
 Continued on adjoining column