Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1957-01-26
Labor Facing
Crucial Problems
In New Year

American labor is faced with on.
of its busiest and most crucia
years.
1t is a year when organized la
Dor plans to press forward vigor
ously on many fronts.
1t is year that will see renewed
labor efforts to set in motion pro
gressive social and welfare pro
grams that have been fading away
during the past four years.
There are many vital questions
to be answered.
What will 1857 mean in terms OF
jobs, wages, new labor contracts ?
What kind of legislation can be
expected from the newly elected
85th Congress
What are the jobs that labor
must accomplish during the year
within its own house, on the polit-
ical front, in the legislatures, fed
eral and state?
Here are some of the answers
Labor and Jobs: What kind of
year will 1857 be in terms of
jobs and wages and hours?
All indications are that the
American economy is slowing down
from the strong gains that were
made in 1866 after the recession
of 1854.
Labor economists are not too
sure that whatever gains are made
will be enough to provide the kind
of expanding economy that will be
needed to absorb the 100000 or so
new workers who will be looking
for jobs during the year.
They point out that estimates
of capital equipment expansion for
the first three months of 1857
show a decrease over the figures
for the last half of 1856. They
point to growing inventories as
ales resistance increases and a
crop in home building in part due
to the administrations hard
money" policy.
All in all economists see a gen.
orally high level of economic &C
tivity for the first half of the year,
but are uncertain as to what the
last half of the year will bring.
Labor and Legislation: There are
number of important pieces of
legislation in which organized labor
has deep interest.
One is expansion of coverage in
the field of minimum wages. Es-
pecially string labor efforts will
be made to bring the retail trades
under the Fair Labor Standards
Act.
But it IS in the more general field
Of social welfare for the commun-
ity as a whole that labor is ex-
pected to put forth vigorous eff
forts. The upward march of So
cial legislation that has marked
the past quarter of a century has
slowed down greatly during the
past four years. Labor efforts to
correct this will be made in a num-
Der Of fields.
Housing is one area in which
labor is expected to fight vigorous
ly for a resumption of the old
efforts to assure all Americans
decent living conditions.
Federal aid to education is an
other area Of vital concern to labor
particularly during this period of
hard money" which already has
made serious inroads on home
building.
Sen. Paul Douglas (D-Ill) will
get strong labor support for his
efforts to bring federal aid to the
depressed areas of the country
where unemployment has become
chronic.
Civil rights, also will receive
heavy union backing.
Labor and Politics: Efforts to
drive labor out of the political
arena during the 1856 presidential
campaign failed, but there is every
indication that they will continue
through 1857 and the years to
come.
Instead of yielding to this pres
sure, organized labor fought hard
and with much success in the 1856
campaign and is planning to carry
on vigorous political educational
campaigns in 1857 despite the fact
that it is an off year.
The AFL-CIO Committee on Po-
litical Education already has drawn
plans for stronger efforts during
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