The Butler County press. [volume], April 30, 1937, Image 1

About The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946

Image provided by: Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH

                
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Lewiston, Me. (ILNS)—Labor
knows now that Maine was only run
ning true to Maine form when she
went for Lancion. In dealing with the
strike of the shoe workers, here and
in Auburn, Maine has produced a
judge whose injunction against the
strikers forbids absolutely all union
activities, police who break up with
their clubs crowds in which there was
no disorder, and a governor who calls
out state troopers to use gas bombs
on men going peaceably home from a
mass meeting. Later Governor Bar
rows ordered out National Guards
men.
Courts, Police and ftimtia
Used Against Maine Strikers
The shoe workers, 6,400 of them,
are asking recognition of the United
Shoe Workers of America, a 15 per
cent increase in pay, and shorter
working hours. They have been out
for four weeks, and until Judge Harry
Manser, of the state supreme court,
issued his injunction, no one had even
charged that the strikers had been
guilty of any disorder.
Judge Manser's injunction is almost
as sweeping as the Wilkerson injunc
tion against the striking railroad
shopmen in 1922, which for 15 years
has served as a model of judicial tyr
anny. If union organizers so much
as address a meeting, they are com
mitting contempt of court. Judge
Manser tried to justify his action by
accusing the union officials of violat
ing the Wagner labor relations act.
"If employes had stayed at work
and organized," said Judge Manser,
"and then sought union recognition,
they would have been in accordance
with the provisions of the act. In
stead, in my opinion, what has been
done is a direct violation of the act."
In spite of the injunction, union or
ganizers and officials have not been
silent. Powers Hapgood, New Eng
land secretary for the CIO, addressed
a meeting urging the strikers to stand
fast. John D. Nolan, secretary of the
United Shoe Workers, declared that
he would be on the platform until re
moved by force, and added:
"If this be treason, I am here to
accept the consequences."
The first violence came when the
police, acting under the injunction,
tried to break up pickets. Some women
Pass Labor Relations Bill
Madison, Wis.—The Wisconsin sen
ate passed the La Follette administra
tion's labor relations bill at the end
of a twelve hour, non-stop session dur
ing which 60 amendments regarded
by the La Toilette forces as seeking
to cripple the purposes of the meas
ure were voted down.
The bill as passed by the senate
would establish a labor relations board
composed of three persons to inves
tigate and act in labor disputes.
The board would have power to
guarantee to working men and women
jl the right to organize in unions of
their own choosing and bargain collec
tively, determine representatives of
the employes for collective bargain
& ing, outlaw company-dominated un
ions, forbid employers from discrim
inating against workers for union
activities, set up machinery for elec
tions for choosing employe represen
tatives for collective bargaining, and
provide for arbitration and concilia
tion of labor disputes,
Observers were of the opinion that
the La Follette administration forces
in the assembly would adopt the bill
as passed by the senate'without ser
ious changes.
The board to be appointed by Gov
ernor La Follette to administer the
measure will consist of three mem
bers—one to serve a two-year term
one four years and one six years
After that, all will serve six-year
terms. A salary of $5,000 a year is
provided for each member. The ap
pointment must be confirmed by the
senate.
A Home Owned Store
JlXSj^SiPRj^
threw stones with unfeminine accur
acy, and slightly damaged a police
man's face. A procession of a thou
sand strikers, marching peacefully
toward a meeting—some of them
merely going home from an earlier
meeting—was broken up by clubs and
tear gas.
Eight companies of state troops
were sent to Lewiston and Auburn,
and dispersed even the smallest
groups of strikers. The shoe manufac
turers announced that they would not
ecognize any union.
More light was today thrown on the
question, "Who are the Job Seek
ers?" when James Wittenbrook, direc
tor of the Ohio State Employment
Service, made public a report show
ing 161,918 of the 330,808 applicants
with the service at the close of the
fiscal year were included in semi
skilled and unskilled occupational
groups. The report is based upon a
survey made by the United States
Employment Service with which the
state service is affiliated.
The survey shows that for the
country as a whole, the unskilled or
physical labor workers numbers
1,548,271, and the semi-skilled or
production workers, 1,523,959. Skill
ed workers numbered 1,244,966 serv
ice workers, 1,026,970 clerical, 437,
301 unassigned persons, 349,984 pro
fessional and kindred workers, 257,
256, and sale persons, 231,184.
The unassigned persons who present
the most perplexing problem include
the youth recently out of school with
little or no work experience, persons
beyond school age whose work history
is so limited that assignment to a
specific occupation is impossible also
those whose age, physical or mental
infirmity make them incapable of per
suing a gainful occupation.
Semi-skilled or production workers
are those whose work requires little
independent judgment but consider
able manual dexterity. The unskilled
are those frequently termed laborers.
While no date yet available com
pletely answers the question, "Who
are the Job Seekers?" the report in
dicates the kind of information the
employment service will be able to
periodically provide to show trends
having great value.
More exact data will be provided
when all persons are required to reg
ister in the employment offices to
qualify for unemployment insurance
Under the present system this in
formation is compiled only upon those
voluntarily seeking aid of the employ
inent service.
Congressman Presses
War Referendum Plan
Washington, D. C. (ILNS)—A vig
orous drive for an amendment to the
constitution, to provide for a vote of
the people on a declaration of war, is
under way in congress under the lead
ership of Representative Louis Lud
low, of Indiana, author of the pro
posed amendment.
Congressman Ludlow has filed a
discharge petition, which requires 218
signatures, to bring his war referen
dum resolution out of the judiciary
committee and before the house for
debate and a vote.
The proposal affects only the ques
tion of a foreign war. It has the en
dorsement of religious leaders, college
presidents, labor unions, women's
groups, and peace organizations.
WHEELING STEEL
SIGNS UNION CONTRACT
Pittsburgh (ILNS)—The Wheeling
Steel Corporation, an independent
steel producer which employs 22,000
men, has signed a collective bargain
ing contract with the Steel Workers'
organizing committee.
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Phone! 116
(f"\ipyrlf*ftf, W. V
VOL. XXXVII. No. 4 HAMILTON, OHIO, FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1937 ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR
Message to Congress Stirs Storm of Debate And
Is Followed by Move in Congress for Even
Sharper Slashes in Federal Appropriations.
Washington, D. C. (ILNS)—Presi
dent Roosevelt's message on budget
and relief has roused a storm of de
bate. He states that present indica
tions are that government receipts
for the fiscal year ending June 30,
1937, will be $604,000,000 below the
previous estimates. This, he says, re
quires strict economy, and strict
economy to all reactionaries and to
many outside their ranks means cut
ting down expenses for relief.
The president does not go nearly
as far in this direction as the pro
fessional budget balancers would like
him to do but he makes a start. He
asks the appropriation of $1,500,000,
000 for relief for the fiscal year 1938.
This is not very much less than the
amount which he asked about the
same time last year for the fiscal year
of 1937. But it is a billion dollars and
more below what the actual relief
expenditures of this year will be.
May Ask More For Relief
Last year, a deficiency appropria
tion of $790,000,000 helped to fill the
gap. In his press conference, he
stressed the point that he would not
hesitate to ask more money for relief
if it proved necessary. Meanwhile, a
drive is already launched in congress
to cut relief expenditures for the fis
cal year of 1938 to $1,000,000,000, and
even that does not satisfy some.
Labor has always contended that
the national government has no right
to economize at the expense of the
poorest of its citizens and that this
is especially true when profits and
dividends are mounting as at present.
To the plea that private industry
should be stimulated to find work for
the unemployed, labor answers that
the best stimulus for such action is
a shortening of the work week. Mr.
Roosevelt tried this—and it worked
—in the NRA but the supi-eme court
knocked that out with the general in
validation of the national recovery
act.
New Pay and Hours Law Looms
There is every reason to believe
that the president will call for laws
fixing minimum' wages and maximum
hours on a nation-wide scale just as
soon as he feels assured that the
supreme court will not annul them.
What that would mean to the un
employed may be guessed from a
study made for the A. F. of L. by
Boris Shiskin. Mr. Shiskin studied the
increased hours of more than 4,000,
000 workers, following the destructoin
of the NRA. He wrote, in a statement
released by the A. F. of L. in July
1936, that—
"As a direct result of this lengthen
ing of the hours of work, 839,123 wage
earners have been deprived of possi
ble re-employment in the current re­
Continued From Last Year
t-l"im-i
mxMrWAA
wUmA
GATAla-Ot
rastic Reduction in Relief
covery. Tn other words, more job
opportunities were lost owing to the
lengthening of hours than there are
jobs in any single industry in the
United States."
Workers Alliance Protests
This, let it be repeated, was pub
lished on July 9, 1936 and Mr. Shis
kin's figures covered only the period
from the supreme court's decision to
April 1, 1936. Recovery has pro
gressed with .giant strides since then.
If 839,000 jobs would have been open
ed by NRA hours then, surely 1,250,
000 jobs would be opened by NRA
hours now. And with 1,250,000 more
persons on the payrolls of the nation,
there would be some sense in talking
about cutting down relief.
David Lasser, national president of
the Workers Alliance of America, de
clared that the budget message would
come as a sharp disappointment to
the great mass of the people.
"On reading the president's mes
sage, if I had not known who had
written it, I certainly would have felt
that it was a statement of the United
States Chamber of Commerce, or per
haps of Senator Vandenberg, of Mich
igan," he said. "We especially regret
the fact that not only will this ap
propriation call for a sharp reduction
in the WPA rolls at a time when the
rolls should be increased, but it will
also mean that WPA wages will be
frozen at the present low level and
the WPA workers will face increased
suffering because of the rising cost
of living."
La Guardia Backs New
Federal Housing Bill
Washington, D. C. (AFLNS)—The
Wagner-Steagall billion dollar fed
eral housing bill was enthusiastically
supported by Mayor F. H. La Guardia
of New York city, before the senate
committee on education and labor
which is holding hearings on the
measure.
Among the reasons cited for the in
ability of private capital to build
houses "to rent within the reach of
low income groups," the mayor in
eluded "land and labor costs."
He claimed that "proper and decent
low rent housing is not possible with
out great government subsidies.'
Stressing the point that no city in the
country can afford to provide all the
money for the low rent houses, "al
though they can help," Mayor La
Guardia added: "The only hope is for
the federal government to come in
and provide the subsidies that are
necessary. The Wagner bill is
start—a hope."
Advertise in The Press.
WPA GUIDE FOR DISTRICT
OF COLUMBIA IS ISSUED
Washington, D. C. (AFLNS)—The
WPA Guide for the nation's capital
is a 1100-page book entitled "Wash
ington: City and Capital." Price, $3.
It is called the most exhaustive de
scription of Washington ever written.
THIRD
MERCHANTS
Boost Food Prices 7.4 Per
Cent
Washington, D. C. (AFLNS)—Mer
chants continued their activities
against the masses by increasing the
retail price of food products an aver
age of 1.1 per cent between February
16 and March 16, according to an na
nouncement by the U. S. Department
of Labor.
A statement by Isador Lubin, chief
of the department's Bureau of Labor
Statistics, said that fruit and vege
table merchants were responsible for
the major part of the increase with a
3.1 per cent boost in the price of fresh
fruits and vegetables.
Although dealers in meat products
were able to raise prices in general
only an average of 1.1 per cent during
the month, they elevated lamb 7.7
per cent above the price exacted dur
ing the previous month, and boosted
roasting chickens 2.5 per cent.
Taking the retailers of food as a
group they had boosted prices, ac
cording to Mr. Lubin's figures, 7.4
per cent above food prices in March
a year ago.
All of which, translated into plain
facts for the masses of American
workers, means that for every dollar
of wages received in March, 1936,
they should now be receiving $1.-08
merely to break even on the racketeer
ed prices imposed on them by food
merchants alone, not to say anything
of the extortion levied by dealers in
clothing, shelter, and other necessi
ties of life. Or, expressed negatively,
the food-buying power of every dollar
of the worker's wages was reduced to
92 cents during the year.
It is well to remember this fact
when editorial penny-a-liners and
economists servilely attached to the
apron strings of big business keep
stressing the bagatellish wage in
creaes handed out to working men
and women by "generous" employers.
Worn*- i who buy collectively lend a
helping hand to workers who bargain
collectively.
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