davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
Sugar Workers Get
Around tn Block
In Puerto Rico

San Juan (LPA)-The sugar work
ers union of Puerto Rico is effect
ing a reorganization to evade the
disruptive effects of the anti-clos-
ed shop provisions of the Taft
Hartley Act.
The Sugar Workers Syndicate, an
affiliate of the Puerto Rican Cen
eral Confederation of Workers, is
composed of both agricultural la
Dor and workers in sugar mills and
refineries.
In order to keep the closed shop
among farm workers in the sugar
"centrales" which the union has
under contract, the unions execu-
tive board recently ordered that
separate locals of farm workers
and mill workers be set up, in place
of the older practice of combining
both types of workers into sim
gle local at each central"
According to the unions STRAIT
egy, this will permit the closed
shop to be retained in the fields,
to which the Taft Hartley Act does
rot apply. Workers in the sugar
mills will be under a union shop
contract.
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
Union Spokesmen
Z N q orse Air
Policy Findings

Washington IPA) Spokesman
for two of the leaders in the air
craft industry have endorsed the
report Of the Presidents Air Pol
icy Commission. They are Harvey
Brown, president Of the Interna-
tional Assn Of Notwithstanding
ated, and David Behncke, president
Of the Air Line Pilots Ass'n-AFL.
Brown, whose union represents
many workers in the airplane pro-
duction industry as we'll as airport
mechanics, said last week that the
decline in aircraft production since
the war has resulted in the loss
of the industry of 80 per cent Of
its experienced workers.
Civilian aircraft is in so slight
demand that many plane firms
fear they will have to close their
doors, the lam leader asserted. "If
an emergency were to arise it
would take the better part of three
years to retool our airframe and
engine factories and recruit a work
force necessary to bring our pro-
duction back to war time strength" )"
Brown explained
He praised the Commissions rec
concentrations for increased Air
Force appropriations, and particu-
larly its suggestion that procure
ment be placed on a five-year basis
to permit stabilization of employ
ment in the industry.
Speaking for the pilots, Behncke
emphasized the Commissions rec
ommendation for an Independent
Air Safety Board. He pointed out
that when such a board did exist,
from 1888 to 1910, airlines operat-
ed for II months without an acci-
dent. "The reestablishment of such
board will be the greatest boon
and stimulus to air transport since
that time. 1t will reestablish pub
lie confidence in air travel" the
AFL Pilots president predicted.
Air safety has been under the
jurisdiction of the Civil Aeronau-
ties Board, whose primary func
ton is rate fixing. Last month
President Truman refused ALPA's
recommendation that CAB Chair
man James Lands, who has worked
for greater safety precautions over
the opposition of airlines' lobbyist(
be appointed.
Senate resistance to further mill
tary appointments to fill civilian
jobs vetoed the Presidents attempt
to give the CAB craftsmanship to
Mai. Gen. B. Kuter last week.
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
Liberal Party Is
Supportig Truman

New York OPA)-The Liber-
al Party of New York will strong
ly support President Truman's cam
paign for reelection. Last week its
chairman, A. A. Berle, conferred
with the President and with Demo-
cratic Committee Chairman J.
Howard McGrath.
Following his interview at the
White House, Berle, whose party
is supported by a number Of AFL
unions and some CIO groups in
New York, said the President is
"helping make possible an align
ment between the Liberal and
Democratic Parties in New York
State" Truman's supporters hope
that former American Labor Par
ty voters, who may not be willing
to vote for him on the Democratic
ticket, will do so when his name
in the Liberal column also
McGrath has announced that he
has instructed Democratic leaders
in New York to consult with Lib
eral Party chiefs on the most eff
fective organization of joint action
between the two groups.
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
Farm Union Tells
Congress How To
Attract Workers

Washington (LPA) Congress
can enact legislation that will go
far towards making farm work at
tractive to American citizens" the
House Committee on Agriculture
heard President H. L. Mitchell of
the Natl Farm Labor Union-AFL
assert last week.
Mitchell testifying at hearings
on a long-range agriculture pro-
gram for the L. S., stated: "We be-
lieve that farm operators should be
guaranteed their cost of production
plus a fair profit on their invest
ments. We also believe that the
farm worker should be guaranteed
a fair wage, regular employment,
decent house to live in, and an op-
portunity to educate his children.
"We urge your committee to rec
the inclusion of farm labor
in the social security program. We
urge that you recommend the
of the wage and hour
law to include farm workers, where
four or more are employed on a
farm. We ask that farm workers
be guaranteed the right to organ
ize and bargain collectively with
their employers. Once these things
are done, the farm labor problem
in the U. S. will be on the road to
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
Phone Union Maps
W age Drive For
March Thru M ay

Washington HPA)-A series Of
meetings beginning this week and
continuing thru early February are
expected to lay the groundwork for
the wage demands Of most Of the
233, 900 telephone workers repre-
sented by the Communications
Workers Of America.
The unions chief negotiators for
the CWA divisions, the seven-mem-
Der bargaining committee, and the
CWA executive board will meet in
that order, to discuss demands in
connection with contracts with
phone companies that expire be-
tween the end Of March and the be-
ginning of May.
eve have no plans to bargain
nationally" as was proposed in
1947, CWA President Joseph A.
Beirne stated. eve suggested it
last year to the Bell System as a
method of bringing uniformity into
our bargaining relations with the
telephone industry. The Bell Sys-
tenn wanted no part Of national
bargaining. This year we are not
even suggesting it." He added that
the amount Of CWA divisions
wage increase demands will not be
set at these sessions, but will "de-
pend on conditions that exist at the
time bargaining with the compan-
les begins"
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
Hearings Opened
On Steel Monopoly

Washington (LPA)-The demand
for steel continued to rise last week
as the Federal Trade Commission
opened hearings on its charges that
the American Iron and Steel In
stitute and 101 steel producers con-
spired to fix prices and restrain
competition.
The opening assertion of the FTC
was that refusal of the steel COM
panies to sell fob. at the plant has
resulted in buyers distant from the
steel mills being unable to secure
steel.
Reports from Pittsburgh last
week showed that many customers
ordered as much steel as possible
whether they can get it or not, be-
cause they feared the results of an
ALLEGATION plan on an industry
wide basis. In the Detroit area
many buyers absorbed as much as
$5.40 a ton in freight costs in ord
er to remain competitive.
At the same time, producers af
sheet and bar steel actually cut
their quotas for the first quarter of
1948. The building industry reveal
ed that even at the current rate of
their steel needs would
go up % per cent this year
The Iron and Steel Institute has
announced in its annual report
that the nations steel industry in
creased its productive capacity in
1947 by 100000 tons. They plan
to increase it only 100000 more
tons in. the next two years.
In Britain, Sir Stafford Cripps,
Chancellorpf the Exchequer, dis
closed plans to cut shipbuilding 20
per cent because of the steel short
age there. Factory and government
building will get a two-third reduc-
ton in steel supplies and the gas
industry will also be cut.
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
LABOR AND THE LAW
STATE LABOR RELATIONS LEGISLATION

union activities. Missouri, Pennsy-
lvania, and Texas each enacted five
types of laws or provisions, and
four restrictive measures were
passed in each of the following
states: Delaware, Michigan, and
North Dakota. Two laws of this
type were passed in each of eleven
states: Arizona, California, Geor-
gia, Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts,
Nebraska, New Hampshire, South
Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin.
Anti-closed-shop laws were en-
acted by fourteen states; laws re-
stricting picketing and other strike
activities were enacted by twelve
states, and secondary boycotts
were prohibited by eleven states.
Six states placed restrictions on
jurisdictional disputes; eleven
states enacted special laws relat-
ing to labor relations in public
utilities, and six states prohibited
strikes by public employees, while
three states require registration of
labor unions.
In most cases the anti-closed-
shop laws prohibit not only closed
shop agreements, but also union
security agreements, such as the
union shop and maintenance OF
membership.
Picketing Curbed in Twelve States
Legislation to restrict or regu-
late picketing orsother strike acti-
vity has been enacted in Arizona
Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia,
Idaho, Michigan, Missouri, North
Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Da-
kota, Texas, and Utah.
Secondary boycotts are prohibit
ed in California, Delaware, Idaho
Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North
D k o a, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Texas, and Utah.
Laws regulating or prohibiting
strikes in connection with juris-
dictional disputes have been enact
ed in California, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania,
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22

and Wisconsin.
Regulation Of industrial disputes
between public utilities and their
employees was enacted in Florida,
Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wis
consin. Texas prohibits picketing
and sabotage in public utilities.
Public employees are prohibited
from striking in Michigan, Miss
ouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsy-
lvania, and Texas.
Union members and workers
generally will recognize that much
of the legislation referred to above
lis bad, and some of it is decidedly
questionable. Virtually none of it
lis soundly conceived with the best
interest of labor, management,
and the public in mind.
1t is significant that at the four
teenth annual Conference on Labor
Legislation in Washington on Dec
ember 8 and 10, 1947, labor repre-
sentatives and state commissioners
of labor declared that state legis-
lation had wiped out desirable col
lective bargaining relationships
that had been established for
years. Regardless of their political
affiliation those attending the Con-
ference declared that in many
states government by injunction
had been restored, and they criti-
cized the various state enactments
aimed at wage-earners and labor
organizations.
1t is important to recognize the
relation of state labor relations
Legislation to the national problem.
In addition to labor-management
relations problems, however, en-
phasis should be placed on the need
for improved workmen's compen-
sation laws, minimum wage and
hour regulations, safety leglsla-
ton, liberalization of unemploy-
ment compensation laws, and pro-
per child-labor standards.
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
Negro Leaders Are
Not For Wallace

New York (LPA)-Writing in
the N. Y. Herald Tribune, Walter
White, executive secretary of the
Natl Assn for the Advancement
of Colored People, says that though
Negroes are suspicious of both old
parties, their excitement over a
possible third party will be temper
ed by realization that support of
Henry Wallace's party will result
in the election Of reactionary Re-
publicans.
In the newspaper PM, Gloster
Current, NAACP director of organ
ization, pointed out that most Ne
groes are workers and will be
strongly influenced by organized
labors rejection of Wallace. Natl
Urban League spokesman Lester
Granger reminded readers of the
Amsterdam News that Wallace, as
Secretary of Agriculture had re-
fused to prevent white landlords
from "robbing" Negro sharecrop-
pers of the benefits due them un-
der the Agricultural Adjustment
Act.
A. Philip Randolph, president of
the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters-AFL, long an advocate of
new party, said that Wallace's
Communist-backed party twill have
deterrent effect on the formation
of a genuinely democratic farmer
labor progressive party"
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
Charge NAM Seek To Wipe
Out F e derdl Standards
In Jobless Benefit System

Washington, d. c. GLNS) Or
ganized labor generally has united
in the charge that the National
Association Of Manufacturers and
other business interests are seek
ing to amend the federal-state un-
employment compensation, with
the objective Of wiping out federal
employment standards.
The American Federation Of La
Dor, International Association Of
Machinists, Independent, and CIO
urged their IA million members to
urge their Congressman and gov
ernors to block any move to give
the states 100 percent Of all un-
employment insurance taxes col
lected from employers.
L. S. Standards Set
The federal government now re-
tains $40 Of i percent Of these
taxes. In return, Congress makes
grants TO the states to finance the
administration Of their unemploy-
ment compensation system. Under
this arrangement, the states are
required to meet certain federal
employment standards.
These rules forbid the states to
withhold jobless payments to per-
sons who refuse to fill jobs made
vacant by strikes, who refuse to
accept sub-standard employment,
or refuse to join a company union
or resign from a union as a con-
dition Of employment.
The labor organizations said that
if the bill, sponsored by Represent
ative Albert L. Reeves, Jr., Of
Missouri, is enacted to cut the fed
eral government out Of its share
Of the tax, these federal standards
could be ignored by the various
states.
Nelson Fl. Cruikshank, director
of AFL social insurance activities
said some state unemployment
compensation administrators are
working with the Manufacturers
Association.
Green Charges Triekery
"These forces do not dare TO op-
pose openly the benefits of our Soc
ial Security Act, so they resort to
fiscal devices and legalistic trick
cry" AFL President William
Green declared.
His comment was part of letter
sent to Representative John D..
Dingell, of Michigan, praising the
Congressman for his opposition to
the tax amendment proposal. Din
gell said that the Endorsement of
the plan by a joint committee Of
the governors conference and re-
representatives. of Congress last
September was "a serious error"
and that it would destroy the
whole federal-state system of un-
employment compensation and the
public employment service"
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
Unions Continue TO
Fight Di Giorgio
Fruit Corp. Empire

San Francisco (LPA) - More
than 100 members of the Natl
Farm Labor Union-AFL, with the
steadfast help of Teamsters' Local
81 have carried their strike against
Di Giorgio Fruit Corp. into its
fourth month, and made it the long
est strike in the history Of Ameri-
can agriculture.
While fruit baron Joseph Di
Giorgio attended the Rose Bowl
game in Pasadena the men with
whom he refuses to discuss work
ing conditions on his San Joaquin
Valley ranch stuck to their picket
line, knowing that they had the
support of the AFL behind them.
On its unfair list are all Di Giorgio
products - fruits labelled "Blue
Flag, cred Flag, 80 Yes We
Grow The Best, "Sun Color,
High Color, earl Crown, "Riv-
er Boy, and "Try One"
The Di Giorgio Corp, has SUBJ
salaries thruout the country a
lumber and box business in Oregon,
share in the United Fruit Auc-
tion Sales Co., in Chicago, and out
wright ownership of that firm in
Cincinnati, Ohio, fruit canneries IN
Florida, and the principal fruit dis
tributing agencies in Baltimore,
Nd, and New York City. The
strike-bound plant near Arvin, Cal,
is one of the largest wineries in
the world.
Hank Hasiwar, NFLU Califor-
MIA director, estimates the strike
is 95 per cent effective. Mexican
workers forced to stay at work
early in the strike have been re-
turned to Mexico by the govern
ment. The Texas State AFL sNore
out warrants against Di Giorgio
recruiting agents who were at
tempting to hire Mexican-Amen-
can strike breakers in FL Paso.
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
Clio Left Wing
D eft les Murray

New York (LPA)-The request
of President Philip Murray that no
CIO affiliate endorse any candidate
or party prior to the meeting of
the executive board of CIO-PAC
has been rejected by leaders of
the cleft wing" bloc of the New
York City Industrial Union Coun-
ell.
James H. Durkin, president of
the United Office & Professional
Workers, in a letter to President
Murray said that his union would
determine its own political policy,
and would not accept "dictation"
from the CIO. In a telegram to
Murray, Ferdinand Smith, secre-
tary-treasurer of the Natl Mari
time Union, and leader of the
pro-Communist caucus in that
union opposing President Joseph
Curran, added that he considers
endorsement of the Wallace third
party "the key to the progress of
the labor movement"
The Durkin and Smith endorse
ments of the Wallace campaign
followed a reputation by the
Greater New York IUC of the ac-
tion of the state board which de-
nounced Wallace's candidacy as an
aid to reaction. The state body had
followed up its attack upon Wal
lace with disavowal of the Am
erican Labor Party which has been
the Political Action Committee arm
in New York.
National political strategy is be-
ing determined at a meeting of the
PAC board in Washington, Jan. %.
The PAC meeting is scheduled to
follow meetings of the CIO vice
presidents and the executive board.
President Murray will broadcast
CLOS program to the nation the
evening of Jan. "a.
New York's American Labor Par
ty, now firmly in the hands of its
Communist wing, has launched a
drive to obtain 250,O00 pledges of
support to Henry Wallace. 1t is be-
lieved that should Wallace receive
this many votes in New York State
its electoral vote will go to the Re-
publican candidate.
ditionS for pOvarnmont amnloyeS
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
I ToIedano 0usted
Bv Mexican Labor

Mexico City-A dispatch to the
New York Times reported the ex-
pulsion of Vincente Lombardo To-
ledano from the Mexican Fedora
tion Of Labor, which he founded in
1899.
Coming on the eve of the confer
ence of free trade unions in Lima,
Peru, called to organize a new In
ter-American Federation of Labor,
the news Of ToledanO's expulsion
was welcomed by AFL officials.
The Mexican labor leader has been
labeled by AFL President William
Green as the No. / Communist
leaaer in the western hemisphere.
The news dispatch said Toleda
nos expulsion came about as a re-
suit of his attempts to sway the
Mexican labor organization away
from the government party machin-
cry to support new Peoples par
ty which he was organizing.
The question of chief interest in
labor circles is the effect of Tole-
dano's reputation by his own
group upon his position in world
labor organizations. viii the ex-
pulsion deprive him Of his positions
of influence in the International
Labor Organization, the World
Federation of Trade Unions, of
which he is a vice president, and
the Latin-American Labor Confed-
Grafton which he heads?
Action by these international
bodies will be carefully watched by
supporters of free trade unions
throughout the world.
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
BY MATTHEW W0LL
for the
Workers Education Bureau of
America

The attention of union members
these days in the field of labor leg
islation is focused, quite naturally,
on national legislation such as the
Taft Hartley Act. However, the
Importance of state legislation
should not be overlooked. Exper-
ience has shown that states,
through the enactment Of progress
sive legislation, have developed
patterns that have been followed
by Congress. Similarly, State Leg
islatures may be influenced by act
ion taken by Congress. By the
same token, when Congress or a
few State Legislatures approve
undesirable legislation, the possi-
bility of enacting similar legisla-
tion in other states is strengthened.
This is we'll illustrated by the
fact that state federation legisla-
tive representatives throughout the
country report that identical bills
to restrict the rights of workers
are introduced in state after state,
session after session. SO we should
realize it was no accident that
there was rash of labor relations
bills that appeared in State Legis-
latures simultaneously with the
shaping up of the Taft-Hartley Act
in Washington. Their appearance
was part of the nationwide move
initiated and supported by the
N. A. M. and its allies to throttle
labor at the local and
State as we'll as at the national
level
, 1t is well to know, therefore, just
what action has been taken by var
ious State Legislatures in the field
of labor relations legislation.
Types of Restrictive Laws
Most of the industrial relations
legislation places restrictions on
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
Safeguards Asked
In Loyalty Tests

Washington (LPA)-The Ameri-
can Civil Liberties Union has for
warded to Seth w. Richardson,
chairman of the Loyalty Review
Board, letter from 33 prominent
citizens asking that the board use
the utmost care in protecting
rights of federal employees under
the loyalty check program.
Among the signers were H. l..
Mitchell, president of the Natl
Farm Labor Union-AFL; A.FWhit-
ncy, president of the Brotherhood of
Railway Trainmen; Rep. A. c.
Powell 3D., N. W; artist Thomas
H. Benton; Jerry Voorhis, execu-
tive secretary of the Cooperative
League of U. S. A.; Clarence Pic
ket of the American Friends Serv-
ice Committee, and Reinhold Nei-
buhr of Americans for Democratic
Action.
After affirming the governments
right to require undivided loyalty
from its employees, the signers criti-
cized the failure of the board to re-
quire investigating agencies to
make available accusing witnesses
and documents for examination by
counsel for employees whose loyalty
has been questioned. They asked
that such terms as "subversive"
and Sympathetic association" be
more carefully defined and that
organizations appearing on the
attorney generals blacklist" be
given hearings to contest their in
clusion.
The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22
Bosses TO S pic e
Up Conferences

New York NPA)-Management
conferences are often pretty dull
affairs, the Natl Foremen's Insti-
tute admits. So they have pro-
gram to liven 'em up a bit. From
now on a booklet called 100 Out
standing Jokes for Conference
Leaders" will be part of the reqnir-
ed reading for the boys who get
behind closed doors to discuss "em-
ploye relations.
Tops in the laugh parade accord
ing to a bulletin from the NFI is
one that goes like this:
An American sailor bribed his
way into a Turkish harem, where
a eunuch was squirting lineup of
comely damsels with a garden hose.
Religious rites ?" asked the sail
or.
"Nope," replied the eunuch. Cord
ers. When one of them sizzles /
send her into the Sultan"
Another hint from the NFI to
management men with poor MEM
ories is that if you're going to have
to write on a blackboard in front
of your audience, sneak in a bit
ahead Of time and trace your ma
terial on the board with a pencil.
Then all you have to do is go over
it with chalk after the meeting
opens.
Demand the Union Label.