The CIO news., March 15, 1943, Image 1

About The CIO news. (Cumberland, Md.) 1942-????

Image provided by: University of Maryland, College Park, MD

                
WESTERN MARYLAND EDITION . __
YU <§Df) KElilS
771- V/ > .
Vol. VI, No. 9 *&£&> \T„,,_|, 1 IQI • ®Jk *.i Matter. Post oniri*, Washington.
* • 82 JTiarCll 1, lVl.) \ug. 21, J 912 and Feb. 28. 1925.
JET CO. SWEATSHOP > HTS CIO
fteocf This—
“BULLETIN NO. 7
“EFFECTIVE FEBRUARY 1, 1943:
“ALL HOURLY EMPLOYES WILL WORK A SIX (6)
DAY WEEK. MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.
“HERETOFORE, IT HAS BEEN NECESSARY TO
OPERATE ON A SEVEN (7) DAY WEEK IN ORDER TO
MAINTAIN CONTINUOUS OPERATION IN THE PLANTS
OF OUR CUSTOMERS. WHILE PRODUCTION HAS IN
CREASED SOMEWHAT IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS, IT
IS STILL FAR SHORT OF OUR REQUIRED SCHEDULE.
IN GRANTING THE SIX (6) DAY WEEK, IT IS OUR
HOPE THAT EACH AND EVERY OPERATOR WTLL PUT
FORTH AN EXTRA EFFORT TO INCREASE AND MAIN
TAIN THEIR DAILY PRODUCTION AT A HIGHER
LEVEL THAN HAS BEEN DONE SO FAR.
“IT IS ONLY THROUGH THE INCREASE AND
MAINTENANCE OF INDIVIDUAL PRODUCTION THAT
IT WTLL BE POSSIBLE TO CONTINUE THE SIX (6)
DAY WEEK, AND WE TRUST THAT EACH AND EVERY
INDIVIDUAL WILL PUT FORTH THEIR BEST EFFORTS
TOWARD THIS END.
“NATIONAL JET COMPANY,
“E. H. CUPLER.
“ASST. GENERAL MANAGER.”
On Feb. 1 the management Is all for more production. Note the
veiled threat In the la*t paragraph. Workers complained (hat the strain
of this exacting work seven days a week was ruining their health.
Unions Boost Red Cross;
Bosses Hold Back
.
CUMBERLAND—CordiaI endorsements from unions in the
whole Cumberland area poured in to the Red Cross drive as Mrs.
Albert Dean, Executive Secretary of the Allegany County Chap
ter, announced that American prisoners at Zentsuji, Japan, are
now definitely getting relief goods and mail from home.
Local 1874 unanimously endorsed the drive and voted to re
quest the company to cooperate by making payroll deductions.
But the company has always balked at such deductions. So have
other plants in this area.
The Western Maryland Industrial Council has also
voted endorsement of the drive, and the W. Md. Utility Labor
Conference voted its support and sent a check for $lO.
RKD CROSS ONLY LINK
The Red Cross is sometimes the
only link between this country and
prisoners of' the Axis, and can get
information that the U. S. Army
cannot get, said Mrs. Dean.
For example, a • Lortaconing
mother had a son in the Philippine
Islands at the time of Pearl Har
bor. Following the conquest of the
Philippines by Japan, the mother
had no more news of her son, and
the war Department on being
queried by the Red Cross on her
behalf, reported only that he was
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• MOVING tiP—Papuan carriers of the Southwest Pacific Islands
•re shown here as they cross a river in the jungles bearing a case
filled with Red Cross comfort articles for U. S. servicemen in the
front lines of the Pacific theatre of war.
‘‘missing.'* Finally after laborious
negotiations conducted through the
medium of neutral Switzerland, the
Red Cross established that this boy
and two others from Allegany
County were held as prisoners by
Japan.
The Allegany County chapter has
sent more than 300 inquiries re
garding persons in enemy territory,
including also civilians who were
marooned. A nurse from Lona
coning who had malaria and could
(Continued from Page 1)
Firings
Hit War
Production
Refusing point-blank to rein
state a worker who had agitated
for a union, General Manager
John A. Cupler of the National
Jet Co. in this city deliberately
crippled his working force by
“furloughing indefinitely” near
ly half his 33 non-supervisory
employes, with a hint that they
should apply for work else
where.
Selection of workers for
“furlough” had no relation to
seniority. There is reason to
believe that the management
chose for layoff the half of the
working force which it thought
was “tainted” with unionism.
Employes who had expressed
hostility to unionism were kept
at work.
CONTRADICTS HIMSELF
Only as recently as February 1.
the management of the National j
Jet Co., which produces fine drills
for military uses, complained of
being unable to keep up with its
required schedule, and in a posted \
bulletin urged its employes to pro- .
dure as much in six days as they I
had been producing in seven. Elimi
nation -of the day of rest was
nothing for a staff containing sev
eral girls under 18. who also worked
at all hours of the night in viola
tion of the law.
But when half the non-super
vision force was “furloughed” Feb
ruary 19, the “Notice of Furlough”
stated:
“For the past four to five
weeks, there has been a drastic
curtailment in our production
schedules due to engineering
changes being made in products
manufactured by our customers.
It is impossible to reconcile this
statement with the February 1
bulletin quoted above. Ironically,
Mr. Cupler had the same day post
ed a notice that all were free to
join a union.
VIOLENTLY ANTI-UNION
Further inconsistencies in Mr.
Cupler’s statements were noted by
Horace B. Davis, newly appointed
field represntative of the Western
Maryland CIO Council, who called
on Mr. Cupler February 18 to de
mand reinstatement of the lired
worker.
This worker, said Mr. Cupler, had
the belt on his machine running
wrong. The foreman had ordered
him to change the belt, and when
he remonstrated, had fired him.
However, it was learned independ
ently that the next day another
member of the force found the belt
as the fired worker had always run
it, and asked if she should change
it The foreman said. “It is not
necessary. ”
Hostility of the Cupler family
to unionism Is notorious. Work
ers being interviewed for em
ployment have been queried as to
their union sympathies, although
such questioning is a violation
of the law. A move for unioniza
tion in 1942 was met with dismis
sal of an active union member,
and a warning to the whole day
shift that unions would not be
tolerated.
SWEATSHOP WAGES
Mr. Davis estimated that wages
at the National Jet Co. are about
half those paid for comparable work
in the vicinity.
Mr. Cupler is cooperating 200 per
cent on the war bond payroll deduc
tion plan, as far as his employes
are concerned. Workers whose pay
check would have amounted to sl6
for a 40-hour week have $2 deduct
ed for bonds—the amount is set
by ,Idr. Cupler. This leaves them,
—and This: 2 Weeks Later
“NOTICE OF FURIX)UGI(
“For the past four to five weeks, there has been a dras
tic curtailment in our production schedules due to engineer
ing changes being made in products manufactured by our
customers. While this condition is temporary, we have no
way of knowing just how long it will continue.
“For this reason, it has become necessary for us to fur
lough indefinitely the larger portion of our personnel em
ployed on drill making. As soon as this condition improves,
you will be notified when to return to work. However, in
the meantime, should you he desirous of obtaining employ
ment elsewhere, your employee’s release will be granted
upon request.
“During this period of curtailment you are entitled to
receive unemployment compensation from the State of
Maryland Unemployment Compensation Board. Form UC
307 is herewith attached to facilitate your making this
claim.
“NATIONAL JET COMPANY
“J. A. Cupler,
“General Manager
“E. H. Cupler
“Asst. General Manager.”
Note that the furlough notice complains of curtailment of pro
duction schedules “for the past four or five weeks.” These notice*
were passed out Feb. 19. Union-minded workers, go elsewhere, Is the
plain message conveyed.
Day Care Centers
Needed Now, Says
Cumberland Woman
CUMBERLAND. —Women in the Cumberland area who have
war work or who plan to get such work, and w'ho have no ade
quate provision for their young children under 15. are to be
numbered in the hundreds, it is now generally agreed.
lu order to establish this fact definitely, so that child care
centers may be set up with tbe aid of federal (lainliam Act) funds,
Mrs. Evelyn Coleman, president of the CIO Women's Auxiliary,
has written a letter to the Chairman of the local War Manpower
Committee, Mr. Dave Staley, urging a poll of the women In war
plant*.
Private provisions for the chiM
dren of mothers on war work are
frequently unsatisfactory, mothers
are saying. One mother who hud
been leaving her baby with a neigh
bor was late to work because the
neighbor had sickness in the fam
ily and was unable to take the
child that day. Another found the
shift system too complicated to tie
in with the schedule of her own
mother.
The pool of woman power in Alle
ghany County will not be fully uti
lized until adequate day-care cen
ters are set up. in the opinion of
observers.
Su|M*rintendent of Education
Kopp agrees that the situation Is
one that calls for a remedy, and
plans to apply for I.anliant Act
funds as soon as the information
at hand has been checked and
after social security deductions,
less than sl4 to take home.
CIO FILES CHARGES
Charges of unfair labor prac
tices have been tiled agulnst the
National Jet Co., and it Is an
nounced that a National I,abor
Relations Board examiner will ar
rivo In Cumberland shortly to
probe the charge*. The workers
at the National Jet Co. have a
right to a union and are de
termined to have one.
Many jobs at the National Jet
Co. require n precision that recalls
the work of a jeweler. The drills
which the company manufactures
have at the point a thickness of
only three ten-thousandths of an
inch (.0003 inch*. Employes being
broken in were formerly paid 20 to
25 cent in violation of the Wages
and Hours Law: they are now re
ported to receive 30 cents, which is
gradually raised to 40 cents. Some
receive more: Mr. Cupler says cyni
cally: ‘There is no maximuty.'*
6, ■
supplemented, perhaps, as early
as the end of March.
The Western Maryland Indus
trial Union Council at Its Feb. 2k
(Continued on Page 7)
I jjj | jjj
mmm \ JN -Vy
CHARLES E. FANNING, General
Secretary-Treasurer of the United
Rubber Workers of Amerlca-CIO,
was the scheduled speaker at the
banquet arranged by laical 26 of
the URWA on Sunday, Feb. 26.
I-anning, who is very popular
with the rank and file of his or
ganization, had a message on
labor’s effort In a people's war,
and the difference between this
war and other wars both in Its
conduct and in the peace which is
to follow; also on the vital inter
est which labor has in certain
legislative measures, and on th
need for boosting the sale of
bonds.