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FEARLESS NAVY TO SPEED POINT RELEASES The WASHINBTON, Jan. 14—The Navy announced plans today to ex pedite discharge of personnel near ing eligibility on points for whom suitable assignments are not avail able. Vice Admiral Louis E. Denfeld, Chief of the bureau of personnel, said orders have gone out to com manding officers authorizing them to cut the time for releases in such cases by as much as 45 days. With some minor exceptions, he said, the plan will apply to any transient enlisted personnel “for whom suitable work cannot be found in the naval district or in the man’s or woman’s home naval district.” “This,” he said, “will tend to meet complaints that men’s time is not being used to advantage.’* Admiral Denfeld said it is the Navy’s intention “to continue to announce reductions in release scores in order that the Navy’s previously announced schedule can be met and maintained. At this time we can foresee nothing that will interfere with the continued speed of Navy’s demobilization.’* As of Jan. 8, he said, Navy’s de mobilization had cut 1,316,299 of ficers and men from the peak strength of more than 3,330,000, which was slightly ahead of sched ule. While carrying out the task of demobilization. Admiral Denfeld said, his office is also confronted with the task of building up the regular Navy to the planned peak of 500,000 men by the time de mobilization is complete. GEORGIANS NAMED TO FREEDOM DAY PARLEY ATLANTA, Jan. 14 (ANP)— Gov. Ellis Arnall has named two Georgians to represent the state Feb. 1 in Philadelphia when repre sentatives from over the nation will assemble to celebrate National Free dom day. The delegates chosen by the gov ernor are: C. A. Scott, editor and general manager of the Atlanta Daily World, and A. T. Walden, at torney and president of the Georgia Association of Citizens’ Democratic clubs. The Feb. 1 celebration is a project of Major R. R. Wright, president of Citizens and Southern Bank in Philadelphia, a former Georgian and president of Georgia State Col lege, Savannah. By Frank Marshall Davis CHICAGO, Jan. 14 (ANP)-— Some 40,000 Negroes comprising around 35 percent of the 120,000 membership of the United Packing house Workers of America, CIO, are involved in that union’s struggle for a wage increase to meet the cost of living which was expected to re sult in a strike Tuesday aimed mainly at the “big four” packers: Swift, Armour, Wilson and Cudahy. Union leaders contend their work ers are among the poorest paid in industry and say this condition ex ists because of the huge number of Negro employes. They have also pointed out that an extended strike resulting in a scarcity of meat may cause the public to inject the racial issue and blame “Negroes getting uppity and out of hand’-for this hardship. In Chicago, center of the packing house industry, the Negro member ship of 15,000 is half the total union strength of 30,000. Negroes also hold key posts in UPW, both locally and nationally. Phillip Weightman is internation al vice president Frank Clay is president of Local 69, Detroit Sam Parks heads Wilson local 25 John Lewis is president of G. H.„Ham mond Local 26 Peter Brown, John Hackney and William Rix are field representatives and Oscar Wilson and Leroy Johnson are internation al representatives. These leaders work closely with white union offi cials. In keeping with CIO policy, there are no separate locals for col ored and white. Although packing house workers are still poorly paid, their status has been greatly improved since organi zation of UPW. In pre-union days, colored workers suffered the tradi tional fate of being the last hired and first fired. They were given the worst jobs such as common labor, in the freezers and on the killing floors. The hide cellar departments were invariably worked by Negroes. These cellars are damp and workers there are susceptible to “cattle itch” and “ticks.” Lily white departments are now virtually a thing of the past. Women have also been brought in as work ers, a condition which seldom ex isted before unionization. Condi tions in general have been greatly improved with Negroes now em ployed in many capacities. Combined With THE OHIO EXPRESS Combined.. With THE OHIO EXPRESS ONE OF THE TWO ONLY NEGRO DAILIES IN THE WORLD VOL. 4—NO. 309 DAYTON, OHIO. MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 1946 Price 3c' TOLL PHONE TIE-UP CONTINUES HERE 40,000 NEGRO WORKERS INVOLVED IN PACKINGHOUSE WAGE DISPUTE In announcing the strike as the tj E TIN last resort to obtain living wages, Lewis L. Clark, white, national president, pointed out that even after taxes, the wartime profits of the big packers were up 154 percent over peace-time earnings. The tre mendous demand for meat and re peal of the excess profits tax on Jan. 1 will give packers an even greater profit for 1946. “The only way the packing house employes could meet the high living costs of the past four years was through excessive overtime work,” said Clark. “The packers, however, are blunt in telling us that they in tend to reduce the number of work ing hours in order to discontinue overtime payments. “The meat packing companies forced this strike upon us. Under the present wages, the majority of the workers will soon earn $30 or less on a 40-hour work week. This does not include payroll deductions which bring the take-home pay down to an even lower sub-marginal level. We are asking for a 25 cents an hour adjustment so that packing house workers can at least come close to meeting the higher cost of living. The cost of living since 1941 has risen over 40% while the pack ing house workers demand approxi mately a 30% increase above the present wages.” Clark stated that “the meat pack ing companies have not made an honest effort to bargain collectively with us over a living wage. The highest offer of any company of 7 V2C an hour increase, indicates the arrogant and high-handed attitude of the packers. They have never made any effort to consider the wel fare of their employes. “Furthermore,” Clark continued, “we know that the large packing companies can easily absorb an im mediate wage increase of 1714c an hour. The elimination of excess profits taxes for 1946 will mean ad ditional millions of dollars from which higher wages as well as high er dividends can be paid. “The packing house workers are proud of their no-strike record dur ing the war and the many army, navy and War Food administration awards given them for their produc tion records. Their strike vote, aver aging 20 to 1 and running as high as 25 to 1 in some plants, indicates the packing house workers are solid ly together in presenting their de mands for a decent living wage.” PROGRESSIVE A continued tieup of toll tele phone service in Dayton, was indi cated today, as the local labor wa ters were roiled with another strike call. Officials of the National Federa tion of Telephone Workers an nounced late yesterday that a strike of 200,000 operators, involv ing 500 in Dayton, has been set for the end of 30 days. Simultaneously, the same of ficials asked that striking Associa tion of Communications Equip ment Workers (ACEW) withdraw all picket lines to permit operators to go to and from work. ACEW is affiliated with the federation. D. E. Barkelew, Dayton repre sentative of ACEW, said that he is not authorized to withdraw pickets from the Ohio Bell Telephone building and that picket lines will remain there until he receives or ders for their dispersal.- Telephone operators since. Friday have refused to cross picket lines set up by 43 ACEW workers here. Meanwhile, the United Electrical Workers, CIO, polished their strike machinery for ready operation at 6 a. m. tomorrow, a strike which will take about 19,000 Dayton workers from their jobs at Frigid aire and Delco divisions of Gener al Motors corporation. Already the UE picket line is ready to go, E. J. Kraft, president of the Delco local, said last night, and Ralph Moses, president of the Frigidaire local, ordered 6,300 lo cal members out on the picket lines tomorrow at 6 a. m. for assign ments. The United Steelworker Local 3320 at Duriron foundry postponed for a week its walkout originally planned for tomorrow. Herbert Sneed, president of the CIO Utility Workers union, Local 175, said last-minute negotiations were being carried on in an effort to avert a strike at the Dayton Power & Light company author ized last Thursday by a vote of union members. The union, said Sneed, was will ing to drop negotiations or strike action on the basis of an ultimate settlement giving utilities work ers the same wage increase even tually reached in the General Mo tors management-labor dispute. Members of United Rubber workers, Local 87, at Inland Manu facturing division of General Mo tors yesterday rejected the latest management wage offer, which they termed essentially “a similar offer” to the one the electrical workers already had disapproved.