The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-04-13

neutrality. The side he habitually
comes out on, he says "is that of
the wage and salary workers. We're
pro-labor and pro-union", he says.
"Why make any bones about it?"
McPeek is 80, married, father of
two sons, an ordained Congrega-
tional Christian minister, who be-
came one because he believes that
"Jesus Christ taught us the only
way of life that can save US in this
or in the world to come. | am an
arden supporter of trade unionism
because | know the score for the
worker. | was brought up in the
home of one. If | ever held either
of these points in doubt, my prison
.chaplaincy dispelled it. Ignorance
and poverty are the prime roots of
human wrong doing. The greatest
American failure is the penitenti-
airy. The greatest American hopes
are in education and in free, demo-
cratic trade unionism."
For McPeek Christianity begins
with worship on Sunday, and then
gets translated practically the
other six days of the week. He's not
interested in unions for the sake of
winning church members. He wants
unions to succeed, he says, "be-
cause they are the economic instru-
ments for bettering of workers
lives. Any outside religious or poll
tical intervention in union affairs
| consider menace. The churches
are the places to preach a partl-
cular from of religion, and not
union halls"
Quite a sound lad, this McPeek,
son of a Pennsylvania railroad en-
gineer who's still active on the
road and in the Brotherhood. While
in school McPeek worked as hash
singer, on the Ford assembly line
one summer, in furniture factory,
as a magazine agent. After ordina-
ton he studied and worked for Is
months in a mental hospital; spent
the next 18 months in rural past
crate; the next three years as a
correctional chaplain in prisons;
then was director of social welfare
for the Washington, d. c. Fedora
ton of Churches and managed to
scandalize the town on public hous-
ing and race issues; also an assist
ant director for summer sessions at.
Yale.
Aside from being on university
summer staffs, lecturing, writing,
ETC., most of his time on his pre-
sent job is spent on: holding Gin
dustrial relations" retreats for pas
tors and laymen; meeting with
church groups on Christian social
action problems all over the coun-
try; answering questions posed by
pastors and church folk on labor
management problems, and trying.
to help out in specific situations
when matters get tense. In his
spare time he edits the Labor Let
ter.
This year he's co-chairman (of
religion) of the National Religion.
and Labor Foundation. His funda-
mental belief is that ministers and
labor leaders must come closer to-
gether in spirit and purpose.
He's composed the weekly Labor
Letter in hotel rooms, sitting on.
packing boxes, while in a plane, in
upper berths, on college campuses,
at the Boston City Club, and on the
Chicago elevated. The content of
the letter hasn't changed, even
though the first few issues were
written for ministers only. A good
deal of the material discusses what
pastors and social action groups
are doing here and there. The ma
terial is either on the basis Of first
hand observation on his travels, or
through the mail from people he
knows, or from union and manage
ment publications, newspapers and
government reports.
What is he after? A better un-
derstanding between religious and
labor groups, and also to show how
this is being done here and there.
''The fact is'', he says, "that in
most communities church and labor
leadership do not know how to get