Toledo union journal. [volume], November 27, 1942, Image 4

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Page 4
ivLissier Joins
Benedicts
TOLEDO UNION JOURNAL
Published every Friday by Local No. 12.
L.A.W.-C.I.O. 425 Winthrop Street
Toledo, Ohio
Editor......... ......................................................
.Managing Editor........................................
Board of Trusteed
Walter Murphy, Melvin Schultz, Thomas Burke
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
One year, by mail, in Advance...............................
"UM1ED
II
Our Choice For Council
Council will do well to give Tom Burke its careful con
sideration, and should it see fit to honor him, it would have
no regrets so far as performance is concerned. Name Tom
Burke to Council, and secure for Toledo a man who will work
for good city government and be against anything that is
detrimental to our community.
Freedom for India
Nothing could have been more appropriate at this time
than the resolution passed at the recent Boston convention
of the CIO favoring freedom of India, and asking President
Roosevelt to intervene.
No better time could be choosen to reopen negotiations
between England and India with a subsequent granting of
the latters freedom than at a time when the United Nations
have taken the initiative in the war.
For England to grant India her freedom at this time
would be as great a political and military stroke, perhaps
even greater, than Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Not
only would it have a tendency to disrupt Axis morale but it
would be doubly effective by giving India something tangible
to fight for.
A free India would be a greater asset to the United Na
tions in its war effort than the one which now seethes and
rumbles with unhealthy pent-up discontent and requires
military policing on such a scale as to actually prevent Eng
land from its maximum war effort. I
To free India would indeed be the proof of a Pacific
Charter as wide in scope as the Atlantic Charter, for would
be, an actual demonstration of the principles of freedom,
rather than a promise to come in the hazy future when
Unitc^ Nations shall have won the war.
Manpower Waste
Charges of shocking waste of manpower made at
CIO Boston convention and turned over to the NWLB
serious enough to warrant a sweeping investigation.
At a time when efforts are being made to destroy
Wagner Act, and draft men or freeze them to their jobs, the
accusation of waste and inefficiency made in the CIO con
vention should cause hesitancy to arbitrarily conscript the
manpower of the nation for the effort.
Evidence that workers in plants overloaded with employes
are instructed to “fake” an appearance of being busy that
a plant visited by President Roosevelt had several bombers
flown in which were borrowed from another plant and re
turned the day after the President’s visit, and similar stories
told under oath, are well worth the investigation which the
convention called for.
WAGES PILE UP FOR MISSING
SEAMEN
Wages will be paid to all missing
seamen until a certificate of pre
sumptive death has been issued for
them. A ruling to that effect was
issued recently by Chairman Ed
ward Macauley of th# Jluritunc
War Emergency Board.
basic
Such payment® include
wages and emergency wages
rate provided for in the
articles.
at the
ship’s
The marriage of Walter Missler
of the Willys-Overland Unit and
Virginia O’Rourke, daughter of Mr.
and Mr*. Mark O’Rourke, took
place Thanksgiving morning at the
Holy Rosary Cathedral on Colling
wood Ave.
Rev. Othmar Mls.«ler. of St.
Charles Seminary, Carthegena, O.,
brother of the groom, performed
the ceremony.
Brother Missler caught for the
CIO team in the City federation
League last season and is well
known to local followers of the
sandlot teams. Prior to going to
work at the Overland, Missler
caught for two seasons in the Ohio
State League for Lima and Mans
field.
BOSTON (FP}—A single admin
istrative body incorporating the
activities of war supply, war man
power and economy stabilization is
the way to victory, the fifth annual
convention of the CIO told the
nation Nov. 11.
One tanker can in a‘ year carry
across the Atlantic enough gaso
line to run 20,000 army trucks 10,
OQO miles eack
Melvin Schultz
O. J. Pecord
E STAyD”
Thomas Burke, financial secretary of Local 12, UAW
CIO, has been named by the CIO Political Activities Com
mittee as its candidate to fill the unexpired council term ok
Judge-elect John Q. Carey.
If Council ia seeking a man who is honest, sincere anc
capable of competently fulfilling the duties of councilman
if it seeks a man experienced in public office and legislation,
then it need look no further, for Tom Burke has all these
qualifications.
Should it be that Council is going to be awayed by
political consideration, it should take note that the CIO can
didate has a large and enthusiastic political following, as at
tested to in this and previous years elections. Moreover, there
are 40,000 CIO members in Toledo who certainly are entitled
to political representation in city hall.
S1.50
the
the
are
the
Cooperatives
Denied Air
(Amin Stores
Protest
NEW YORK—Nov. 25, (FP) Re
fusal of the National Broadcasting
Co., and the Columbia Broadcast
ing System to sell consumer co
operative radio time was con
demned in an editorial in the
November issue of the “Chain
Store Age,” monthly magazine of
that industry.
The cooperatives, the editorial
said, “are entitled to whatever
place they can legitimately make
for themselves. Keeping them off
the air is apt to harm the existing
order more than the co-ops.”
Senator D. Aiken, (R. Vermont)
has also questioned the wisdom of
the radio chains’ action, and has
asked the Federal Communications
Commission whether it would auto
matically bar the air to credit
unions, farm marketing cooper
atives, mutual insurance compa
nies, mutual savings banks,
ings and loan associations.
sav-
you, r.w
CAM SINK, U-0OVTS
1 1 a BUY a
Uristed State? War Savinqs 8o«Is Stamp,
Regional
Or could the real reason, the rea
son behind the reason, be that the
thought of complete conversion
holds certain post-war horrors.
It surely would be a catastrophe
if our apprehensive employers
couldn't be the first to grab the
porcelain work the minute the Axis
members are put in their respective
places.
The boys, the few that are left,
now face the task of, shall we say
“existing,” for that is precisely all
they have accomplished in the years
they have invested in this stock
holders’ paradise. True, the Toledo
Porcelain has “converted” to some
extent but merely with the purpose
in mind to “say open” until peace
comes.
There has been promises heaped
upon promises that we would be
the beneficiaries of a considerable
amount of “overtime” work but to
date these oral agreements haven’t
been worth the paper they were
written on.
We, the workers at the Porcelain,
are as much, if not more so, inter
ested in the post-war future of our
work as the company but our prob
lem is NOW. we cannot exist de
cently under present conditions with
its increased cost of living. We
know that with the facilities our
plant has to offer that there is un
limited work that could be done to
help further the war effort and at
the same time furnish us with a
little higher standard of living.
WE WANT ACTION—NOW! I
HOW TO ADDRESS MAIL TO
MEN IN SERVlCa
The address of all mail to indi
viduals in the Naval Service should
show the following:
1.
2.
First Nam«.
Middle Name.
Last Nam*.
Rank or Rating.
Organization (Navy, Marine
S.
5.
Corps, or Coast Guard).
6. Ship, Base or Squadron to
which attached.
7. Location of base or c/o Fleet
Post Office, at San Francisco, Cal
ifornia, or New York, N. Y.
Fi
By RICHARD GOSSER.
Regional Director, UAW'-CIO
YOUR NEW PAPER
Between being a columnist for the Willys-Overland Unit paper,
and now the Toledo Union Journal, with a cut and all to decorate the
article, I am beginning to wonder if I ought to get myself a syndcate
and go after anti-union writer*.
But seriously, it seems to me that this new paper has great pos
sibilities and will reach its goal if our membership is
interested and will get into the spirit of our move
ment.
The difference between good union men and in
different ones spells the differenc between our suc
cess or failure.
If we who daily work to provide our families
with a living, and a few of the comforts of life do
not realize where our best interests lie, if we do not
try to- discover what our real interests should be,
then it will be tragic for us when the days of crisis
come and we must prove our rght to call ourselves
free men.
EXPECTATIONS
One of the things which we all have the right to expect from our
paper is the truth. Facts which we can learn from no other paper are
the meat upon which which our progress shall nourish itself. And
these facts we shall find in our own paper.
Our paper shall not become a medium of attack against anyone,
unless they force us to defend ourselves from untruths, half-truths, or
deliberate efforts to injure us by clever propaganda.
For my own part, I have a feeling that the new paper will become
our greatest asset in our own organization in promoting a greater
feeling of unity, and in helping us help each other as we did back in
our early days, before we were able to command the respect we do
today.
We can never hope to entirely win over everybody to a^ree with
us. I hope we never shall, for then we would become too satisfied with
ourselves but we can, when called upon to do so, defend ourselves
from those who have reason to dislike us, and our paper shall be our
medium of expression.
CIO DEMOCRACY
We realize that there are certain objections, some honest, some not,
to a few unions but this is not sufficient reason for anyone to refuse
to join our Union. Rather, he should join to help improve the organi
zation.
It is only the exceptional union, and not all unions which are guilty
of some, of the things which people find objectionable and undemo
cratic. It amounts to about the same thing as disliking an innocent
child because his father has done something wrong.
Our Union, the UAW-CIO, is completely democratic. We have full
freedom of expression in our meetings, freedom of choice in our of
ficers, freedom from intimidation or coercion. The only freedom which
we fight is the freedom of individuals or groups to destroy us, and this
is not freedom but predjudice and blind hatred often kindled by utter
ignorance.
TOWARD PROGRESS
It is our hope that our great union, the efforts of a majority of
Its officers and members will march steadily forward and progress
along the road of the uncertain future, aiding each other, working for
the common cause, meeting whatever comes to us with faithful courage.
Our paper can become the arsenal of truth to guide us, and will guide
us as long as we guide it as we march forward to whatever time may
hold in store.
Porcelain Unit
Grows Smaller-—
Why?
By Dick Smith
Contributing Editor
Is it because Mr. Earl Smith,
President of the Toledo Porcelain
Enamel Products Co., and well
known civil leader, doesn’t know a
guy in Washington, or know a guy
who knows a guy, that the Toledo
Porcelain Co. is not getting it’s fair
share of war contracts, and as a
consequence, our Unit is steadily
but surely growing smaller.
TOLEDO UNION JOURNAL
Roses of tlu* WeeJi
Beginning Bext week, and
every week thereafter, there will
appear in this space the picture
of a member of Local 12 who has
made some outstanding contribu
tion to the Local er the unit to
which he belongs.
Anyone who has a candidate
for this honor should submit the
name of his or her choice to
gether with an explanation of
what the member has done that
merits public recognition.
The decision of which one of
several candidates merits recog
nition for any given week will
rest in the hands of three mem
bers of the editorial board.
NOVEMBER
Fj-Thanksg^mg Artemus
I
V Ward, revolutionary
war
"X general, bom, 1727.
27—Nazis break through,
Hank Moscow, 194J.
Mass,, $5.UOQ,OlX) loss,
1889.
29—Indians massacre Ftench
cblotfiists at Naichei,
Miss., 1721
30—Samuel Clemens Mark
Twain") author, born,
Hannibal, Mo., 1835.
DECEMBER
1—First
patent for typewriter
iMued, 1O
3—President Monroe ex
plains his doctrine to
World. 18231, wevteYtw
Chiselers Active
in War-Time
LANSING, Mich., Nov. 24 (FP)
The Michigan Dept of Labor &
Industry reporta that federal
wage-hour inspectors have caught
employers paying “as low as 4c
per hour, where children of 8 and
9 years of age have been em
ployed in violation of state as well
as federal statutes, and where em
ployes have been employed for as
many as a hundred or more hours
per week without payment of
overtime compensation.”
Also discovered was an em
ployer paying a watchman $4 for
a 77 hour week. In fact, according
to Supervising Inspector Harry A.
Roifin of the Wage-Hour Division
of the U. S. Dept, of Labor, “com
plete or substantial compliance was
found in only 17 per cent of these
establishments” (626 plants in
spected from July 1, 1941, to Jan.
1, 1942.)
-J
er-
By Edward J. Duck
Educational Director,
Local li, UAW-CIO
LONESOME for music
Back in February 1939, when
was working at the Auto-Lite,
conceived what I then considered
to be an original and novel idea.
I
I
It was 8:30 P. M., and my
thoughts turned inward. I was
feeling sorry for myself because
at that particular moment my
favorite radio program was going
on the air, and here I was working
from 3 P. M. to 11 P. M., miss
ing good music, football games and
everything else.
Then came what I believed was
an original idea: Why, I thought,
shouldn’t a public address system
be installed in factories to furnish
musical programs for workers
whose hours prevented them from
hearing any type of entertainment
except the gags of their fellow
workers
COORDINATION AND RHYTHM
Time study men have mentioned
coordinaion as ft facto? in com
puting the standard for piecework
rates,
rhythnt
thing
workers
“clown”
to make the time go faster, eases
fatigue and consequently tends to
facilitate production.
Isn’t coordination and
approximately the same
Isn’t it true that many
sing to themselves, or
it as a chorus. It seems
When I spoke to several of the
fellows working with me about my
idea, they “ribbed” me and one of
them closed the discussion by say
ing, “Maybe we should just stay
home and have the company mail
us our checks.”
Then I mentioned my Idea to the
executive shop committeeman, and
he too threw cold water
telling me he knew the
ment would frown o*
“stunt.”
REJECTED IDEAS
on it by
manage
such a
Emerson once said, “Ws often
recognize in ths works of genius
our own rejected thoughts.** And
while this is no claim to genius, it
now comes to light that aircraft
plants throughout the country are
installing sound apparatus and
profiting by accelerated produc
tion as a result.
According to a recent magazine
article, aircraft workers are
pleased with the innovation of
work-to-musie programs. Many
are discovering that they like
music better than they believed
they did, and the resulting im
provement in production has
proved
worker
effort.
LOCAL
beneficial to employer,
And the war production
APPLICATION
Stimulated by the successful ap
plication of what I considered an
original idea three years ago, I
have discussed the subject of a
work-to-music program with sev
eral Toledo employers. All have
agreed that if the results obtained
by the aircraft industry can be
verified, they too would he heartily
in accord
equipment
gram.
with installing sound
and adopting the pro-
installing sound equip-
Costs of
ment in plants would be negli
gible in comparison with the bene
fits of better workmanship, in
creased productivity and perhaps
more good will on the part of em
ployees toward employers.
Presidents of two Toledo con
cerns advanced constructive ideas
favorable to the work-to-music
proposal. One pointed out that sol
diers can march great distances
without undue fatigue when music
is provided as an accompaniment
to the marching cadence. The other
executive expressed the idea that
music is stimulating and tends to
promote a feeling of happiness,
and that hapy workers usually are
the most efficient.
One of Toledo’s most prominent
and progressiva employers sug
gested that news flashes be pro
vided workers on a two hour daily
schedule.
It seems to me that ft would be
wise for all industries to consider
the work-to-music plan, insofar as
it is practicable. Locally, all that
is needed is the right employer
or group of employers to lead the
way to prove that music and more
efficent production can go hand
in-hand.
NEW YORK (FP)—A candidate
for the meanest man in the United
States is President William F. Elli
son of the United Package Service
Inc., who was arrested on charges
by the International Ladies Gar
ment Workers Union (AFL) of
cheating on the contents of gift
boxes sent through him to union
members in the armed forces.
It has been estimated that 82%
of Americans normally get to their
jobs in automobile!^
Women In Politics
By FLORENCE WOLFF
SCAPEGOATS
From the first recordings of the
ancients, women were blamed for
the sirs of this world, Down
history, women
nave been ac
cused of caus
i ng all the
tears, suffer
ings, wars and
hates of hu
manity.
And now,
women have
been accused of
contributing greatly to the up
heaval in the November 3 election.
It was the fault of the women
that the Democrats were thrown
out of office all over the country
and the Republicans voted in. Ac
cording to newspaper editorials
and radio commentators, it was the
women who caused the repudiation
of President Roosovqit
conduct of the war.
SUFFRAGE
iufl
and
may
know
not
but
For the women Who
know its history, or who
a part of it, it might be well to
briefly outline the Woman
frage movement in this country
Legislation to give woman the
ballot was first introduce and de
feated in Congress in 18(78.?
Thirty-six years later, the ^Oman
Suffrage Bill was again defeated
in Congress, and it remained for
President Woodrow Wilson to se
cure its passage after recommend
ing it to Congress on September
30, 1918, when it was defeated, and
again in 1919, when the amend
ment granting the vote to women
was finally passed on June 4, 1919.
Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan
ratified the amendment within a
week following its passage by Con
gress. Ohio, Kansas and New
York ratified the act in June, 1920,
and Tennessee, the 36th state, mado
the law effective by ratifying the
amendment August 26, 1920.
Prior to the extension of suf
frage to
protected
industry
ing more
political field, additional benefi
cial legislation has been adopted ia
practically all states.
women, they had been
by law in business and
but with women becom
active each year in the
Since 1933, women have been
recognized by law on an equal basis
with men. This is as it should
be, for women engage in most eco
nomic activities which men do, and
for that reason should be recog
nized equally before the law.
POLITICAL INTERESTS
shall
bene
itself
Whether their conditions
continue to be improved by
ficial legislation resolves
simply into a question of whether
or not women wish to take an
even greater interest in politics
than they have in the past. If
women are satisfied that there are
no better laws needed to protect
their children, or to care for their
families in time of need and unem
ployment, then, they may sit back
content.
Unfortunately, women dare not
lose interest in their stake in the
political field, for that which does
not progress, goes into reverse,
and going backward never yet has
proven a winning strategy in poli
tics.
Women would do well to adopt
the creed of organized labor, which
seeks to defeat its enemies and
elect its friends. To let down for
just one election, such as the last
one, can be the means of teach
ing us a lesson and giving us an
experience which might prove
costly. The saying that “experi
ence is dear teacher, but fools
will have no other** is often a
harsh truth even though we may
dislike both the experience and the
truth.
llie Shutter Bug
Local 12’s camera club which
continues to show rapid growth,
now has a completely equipped
dark room and studio for the use
of its members,
Every camera addict who owns
anything from a box to a Graflex
is invited to attend one of the
meetings which are held on the
first and third Tuesday of each
month.
camera club memb
photography, picture
dark room technic to
Advanced
will, teach
taking and
new members who may desire the
instruction. Discussions and ex
perimental work form the program
for the more advanced members of
the dub. 1
Wm. Close, camera dull director
may be contacted on any'j meeting
night by those who are interested
in jointing the shutter bugs at the
club headquarters on the third
floor of the UAW Bldg., 425 Win
throp St.
WASHINGTON (FP) Mont
gomery Ward & Co.’s threat not to
recognize union security if granted
by National War Labor Board was
answered by the Aboard when it
unanimously ordered union secur
ity.
OUR FAULT
Frankly, we must admit that in
the list election we were in a
lethargy gnd awoke only to dis
cover that our friends were defeat
ed and doubtful politicians were
in. But they really Should not
blame that on the women.
Getting down to brass tacks, it
is a fact that a few thousand votes
would have had the power in the
last election to Swing it for our
own candidates, a fact which we
can see now clearly, but may pay
for dearly.
Women did not repudiate the
party in control of the government,
but the mass apathy of both men
and women workers who took no
interest in the political campaign
and then capped it by neglecting to
vote. Or are the women to blame
for that tool
It is not only the right of women
to vote, but it is their duty to
do so. The trouble probably is that
too many women are satisfied with
things as they are, and failed to
remember that keeping things as
they are for the workers, means
voting for the party and officials
who have helped them secure the
things they now have*.
Shoner or later, if women neglect
the right of suffrage, they shall
learn a costly lessen.in way
that will particularly affect them.
We can determine our own political
fate only by interesting ourselves
in the political field and voting
our convictions. I
WOMAN’S SPHERE
Women workers, together with
their male fellow-workers, have the
power in their great labor organi
zations to swing the balance of
power in our own part of the
state but to accomplish this we
must become aware of the political
situation which confronts us. We
must pledge allegiance to our own
best interests and dedicate our
selves to take a more active inter
est in future elections, in order
that we may elect our friends who
are for our cause. We are in poli
tics as we are in every phase of
our every day lives, or as Kate
Fields so truly puts it:
“They talk about a woman’s
sphere, as though it had
a limit,
Why, there’s not a place, in
earth or heaven, there’s
not a task to mankind
given,
There’s not a blessing or a woe,
there’s not a whispered
yes or no,
There’s not a life, or death, or
birth, there’s not a feath
er’s weight of worth,
Without a woman in it.”
November 27, U942
It’s News Ed
To Me
... ...- By O. J. 'Pecord---
WAGES AND HOURS
Before the official verification of
the November 3 election results
could be tabulated, the newspaper*
of the country carried the story
under a Washington dateline, that
the next Congress would attempt
to repeal the Wages and Hour
Law and eliminate the 40 hour
work week.
Despite the President1* publfo
disapproval of any attempt on the
part of Congress to nullify, even
“for the duration,” the Wages and
Hour
realm
thing
if we
acter of the next Congress.
G. O. P. AND THE SOUTH
Law, it is well Within the
of possibility that this very
might be done, particularly
carefully analyse the char-
In view of the proposals to null
ify the Wages and Hour Act com
ing from a Republican senator, and
a Democratic southern congress
man, the significance of the politi
cal set-up of the next Congress
should not be too difficult to un
derstand.
Should it happen, and there is
no indication that it will not oc
cur, that the Republican minority
which has grown up in the new
Congress, and the southern Demo
crats, team up on the Wages and
Hour Act, there is nothing that
can save it except perhaps the
Presidential veto.
Certainly, there was nothing in
flection that would indicate
that either the Republicans, who
won an outstanding coast-to-coast
political victory, pr the Southern
Democrats, are -going to be any
more impressed by ,U*a voice of
labor than they were by the labor
vote on November 3. Organized la-^
bor can only command respect' 4
when it evidences its powei^*"/^5^
to the politician, the only f'
that speaks commandingly i
power of the ballot.
Despite its failure to vote in
convincing numbers in the Novem
ber election, organized labor is not
indifferent to its interest. Its pre
occupation with the business of
working for winning the war
should not be confused with apathy,
or taken by those who wish to in
terpret it their own way, as a
“mandate” to try and take away
labor’s gains.
FEELING THEIR WAY
Those who were successful in the
election just passed would do well
to feel their way slowly along the
lines of anti-labor legislation and|f
not put too much confidence in a
70 per cent vote. Moreover, if the
Presidential bee is buzzing in the
gubernatorial bonnets of Governor
Bricker of Ohio and Governor
Dewey of New York, both would
do well to lead the fight against
anti-labor legislation certain to
come in their two states, rather
than tolerate or wink at it.
In the long run, the next two
years will be productive of a rap
idly changing picture, and judging
from the past, those who place too
much confidence in a wave or anti
labor reaction will be making a
grave error in believing organized
labor is ever going back to the
Hoover era. Labor has come to a
realization of its great power, and
though it may not always show that
power, it still has the ability to use
it, and will use it whenever it be
comes apparent that its enemies
are trying to turn back the clock
under the guise of patriotic neces
sity.
24
DEARBORN, Mich., Nov.
(FP)—The revised contract
tween the Ford Motor Co.
the UAW-CIO, carrying no wage
increases except tool and die and
a number of maintenance classi
fications, but giving a vacation
bonus worth almost $10,000,000 a
year was announced signed Nov. 5.
and
Union shop and check-off clauses
are continued from the previous
contract which will run for the
duration of the war. Wages may
be opened up in any six-month
period.
Country, Flaq and Creed
By Don Parson
Humanity is stirred by its emotion and
the springs of action lie deep in the hearts of
men.
Is it Hot a wonderful thing to know that
of all the countless millions on earth, we are
fortunate to live deep in the heart of freedom.
Let us be not ashamed if we seem to
Choke with emotion as we think of, “My
Country”—-“Mr Flag”—“Mv Creed.”
MY COUNTRY
Gay, laughing waters lap the shore
Three thousand miles apart, or more
And towering mountains guard the gates/
While fertile valleys feed-the states.
Its virgin forests sparkling streams,
See freemen born with hopes and dreams
Enchanted land where truth is free
America—the land for me.
MY FLAG
Born of courage and of faith,
Borne by rich man and the waif
Honors all for whom it waves
Affairs of state soldiers’ graves.
Owned by none, it waves for all,
Oppressed of earth hear its call
The stars and stripes, ’round the world,
Demand respect where unfurled.
MY CREED
To be proud of my land
And its flag that waves high
To live and respect them—
Or, O God, let me die.
O this creed I must have
If I’d live like a man,
With respect for myself
As an American.
Don Farson,
‘The Bard of Flatrock*