The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1951-01-11
Low Latin Wages
|Can Affect US
Pay Says Meany

Pay Says Meany
Mexico City (LPA)-Low wage
in Latin America can drag dowl
the standard of living of American
workingmen, according to George
Meany, secretary-treasurer of thu
American Federation of Labor.
Addressing the opening session
here of a regional conference O
the International Confederation o.
Free Trade Unions, Meany said or
ganized labor in the US is deeply
concerned with conditions below it!
own borders.
eve recognize the fact that the
maintenance of low wages in Latir
America is, in effect, an attempt t
depress living standards in the
United States" Meany said.
The answer, the AFL leader de
clared, is for workers of the
Western Hemisphere to get togeth.
er, closer than we have been il
the past, pool our resources, ex'
change information, and plan con,
certed action.
He promised that "this solidarity
will be especially beneficial where
the workers of Latin America are
opposed by the power of US corp
orations. AS we are always ready
to fight their attempts to exploit
the workers of the United States
we are equally determined to fight
their attempts to exploit the work
ers of Latin America. The old say
ing, I'm Unity There Is Strength
fits our case perfectly"
Meany said the major task fac
ing people in Latin America is the
development Of industry and agri-
culture. He said it is a mistaken
idea that Americans oppose such
advances. On the contrary, he con-
tinued, they know from experience
with Canada that a nation prospers
as its neighbors prosper.
Meany said there must be a
"gradual but steady increase in
wages" to increase the purchasing
power Of people so that they may
absorb production and avoid a de-
preston.
He advised the countries to get
as much capital investment as pos
sible from sources within their own
lands before looking overseas.
Meany pointed to Mexico as an ex-
ample Of what a nation can do to
it's national economy by
relying on native Financing, initia-
tive, and skill"
Foreign capital is an issue which
has caused great deal of argu-
ment and hard feelings, Meany
said, but he made it clear that or
gani2ed labor in the US believed
each country "should have the SOW
ereign right to fix the conditions"
under which foreign capital is per-
mitted to make investments.
Meany also said that US labor
believes every country should have
the right to choose leaders in its
own democratic way. That is the
stand of labor towards countries
receiving Marshall Plan and Point
Four assistance, he said. Fascist
which consistently sup
press civil liberties and deny free
dom of trade union organization
should get no financial help from
Meany insisted.
"We place special emphasis on
trade union freedom" he said, "be-
cause recent history has clearly
that there cannot be
genuine freedom in any country un-
less, in that country, labor is free.
Freedom of labor is the gauge by
which one can measure the free
dom enjoyed by the people at
large"
A 15-man AFL-CIO group is at
tending the ICFTU conference
here, the main purpose of which is
the establishment of an lnter-Am-
erican labor organization. Dele
gates are also here from Canada,
most of the countries of Central
and South America and the West
Indies. Europe has had confer
ence and Asia and Africa will.