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Show IReview Current Events ofi EDUCATE ORGANIZE COOPERATE W Price: 5 Centa Per Copy SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, DECEMBER VOL VIII; NO. 23 News and Comment ON LABOR'S HONOR LIST By M. ,r .' 4 ?5 :, ,, 1 MOST PEOPLE CAN BE HAPPIER hwwhmi . wu. I. 1. JR5 - - i l?j. 0. DESIRES HONORABLE PEACE '.v:- By James Morgan, C. A good many people are unhap- I. O. Regional Director py because they are not tinglingly 0v alive. They are not tinglingly alive c ::. because their liver is sluggish or As some of their other organs or glands are not functioning prop'a' j erly. ' This condition may be due to 1 & if y r overeating or other excesses; lack y of exercise or lack of attention to i, 's the intestinal tract. Or, they may . r 4 ' ' have been enjoying (mark the . $' ,,i'.: 'L i too much mental sore'' word) j picking, otherwise known as worfs11 :VX x?vX; rying. We can be, within some limits, about as happy as we make up our minds and wills to be. Most of us know how to make our blood rich, clean and vital. The same inertia which lets us a sluggish life in continue rf 4 a prison-lik- e to lead body, keeps us from &?V making friends and otherwise getting into the fun of the community swim of life. DisFirst Abe Utahs progressive congressmen, Murdock, people are also unhappy trict, left, and J. Will Robinson, Second District, were among forMany lack of a new idea or perspecbill out for tive. But do they want to be happy the first to sign the petition to bring the wage-hou- r a vote, and deserve to be recorded on an honor roll. (Continued on page 7) Paul R. of and Greever CongressCongressman Wyoming, man Compton L White of Idaho were also among the progresr f&A & ?'.' - izi vfy :s .: f ra nr a ir: sives who signed the petition. Perhaps the most important event that has occurred in the past half a century, so far as the labor movement of our nation is concerned, took place in. November, 1935, when the Committee for Industrial Organization was launched. Organized by a group representing eight national and international unions for the purpose of carrying the message of organization to unorganized and practically unorganized workers in mass production industries. The workers in steel, automobile, rubber, radio, textile, metal mining, oil industry, and many others, have joined by the hundreds of thousands, until today 32 national and international unions, and several hundred directly chartered industrial unions, are in the C. I. O., and the combined membership is around four million workers. Thousands of contracts have been negotiated, covering millions of workers. These contracts have brought .improved working conditions, better wages and shorter hours to the workers. This spells better living standards for the worker and his family, and increased prosperity to the business men of the communities in which they live. Every member of organized labor deplores, I believe, a division in its ranks. Certainly the members of the C. I. O. unions would welcome a peace that would be an honorable one. If a peaceful solution can be found that will protect the millions of unorganized and nearly unorganized workers who in the past two years have manifested their willingness to become organPolitical Outlook ized. This is true even in the most hard-boile- d n indusIn if tries permitted tp organize in industrial unions, without the Utah and U. S. splitting up process that held them back for years. The C. I. O. desires peace, but not peace at any price. Not Compiled From Reports a peace that will disorganize and discourage the workers in mass of Observers production and basic industries. Even a division in the ranks of labor is better than a labor WAGES-HOURBILL movement TO BE CONSIDERED standing still and refusing to meet changing processes and new industries; and refusing to change forms of unions to IN HOUSE DECEMBER 13 meet such conditions. ; y The necessary 218 signers to a We hope for peace, but we must also recognize the fact petition to bring 'out the wages that never in any period of the labor movement has it shown and hours bill from the reactionthe healthy growth and improvement as it has in the past two ary rules committee were securec iym-unio- The Labor Movement In America Today S Congressman Maury Maverick of Texas, in addressing a meeting of Machinists union,, A. F L., in San,. Antonio, Texas, said: There is, they say, great division in labor. In so far as the rank and file of the American people are concerned, this is not true. Stick together I I have spoken to labor ing people all over the eastern part of the United States, near great factories, and those who work in small places, the build ing trades and in the mass industries, and I find working people have a greater feeling of justice for each other and the necessity for organization than has ever been had before. I shall frankly restate to you that I am for any labor orwhich dominates a particular field and serves justly ganization the members of that particular craft or industry. For that rea- - recent , son I definitely approve of all labor organizations, and when I say all,' I mean all of them; and that means the American Federation of Labor, of which you are members; the Committee for Industrial Organization; and the rail brotherhoods. Let us review the charge that labor has suffered by the recent controversy. About 16 months ago there were around 3,000,000 orthe workers. Today ganized American Federation of Labor has more than 3,000,000 members, and the C. I. 0. has more than 3,500,-00This means that the movement has grown from around to 7,000,000; at the same time the rail brotherhoods have increased in power and strength, have put more men to work, and have obtained wage increases without violence or bloodshed. The rail brotherhoods have approximately 300,000 members. Therefore, there are between seven and a half and eight million organized workers in the United States. C. I. O. Violent? Now I understand some have said that it is very bad that I am not unfriendly to the C. I. O. My answer is that as a congressman I play no favorites, but as a matter of legal and moral principle I favor the labor movement. But, someone says, the C. I. O. is a violent organization. Oh, let us review what has happerpd in the last few months. Seventeen members of that organization have been killed by the police; a great majority have been shot in the back. C. I. O. members have killed no 0. one. .The United Mine Workers of America, affiliated with the C. I. O., have a record of having never broken a contract. The Amalga, mated Clothing Workers have the same record, and not only that, but a record that they have never (Continued on Page 2) WQl. w, ..Ml , last week and the bill will come years. for the consideration of the house A unified labor movement, organized along lines to meet on Monday, December 13. (Continued on Page 8) Congressmen Abe Murdock and J. Will Robinson of Utah were among the 218 signers. Prompt enactment of the wage hour bill is a test of the Demo cratic partys responsibility to govern the country. The Democratic President pledg ed himself and his party on this issue in the campaign of 1936. The Democratic senate passed the bill. The Democratic house labor com" mittee approved it. But the house rules committee, on which the Democrats outnumber the Republicans, 10 to 4, took upon itself to defy the President and a majority of congress. It usurped the unheard of power to say that congress shall not even vote on this measure. The situation presented a challenge to the leaders of the Democratic party either to restore sufficient party discipline to permit government to function under their guidance, or to confess that their party is not the vehicle by which the people of the country may progress to a solution of their pressing social problems. The bad situation was saved by the 218 progressive and forward-lookin- g representatives who signed the petition to bring into the house from the reactionary rules committee this important measure. Let us hope and look for early bill. passage of the wage-hour Fair Labor Standards Bill S. 2475 For the information of the readers of he Utah Labor News herewith is published provisions of the bill S. 2475: The policy of the Government under this bill is declared to be: To maintain, so far as and as rapidly as is economically feasible maximum-hou- r and minimum-wag- e consistent levels at standards, and with health, efficiency general g of workers and the maximum productivity and profitable operation of American 1. well-bein- busi-continu- on Page 6) ed Labor on Its Forward March; C. I. O. Is Active After a rising and falling erratically during the six weeks since negotiations were started between the A. F. L. and the C. I. O., the peace barometer has steadied at a point indicating r old difbrighter hopes for an adjustment of labors two-yea- ferences. Among the encouraging factors in the negotiations last week were the conferences between John L. Lewis and William Green, heads of the rival organi zations, and an agreement to boil down the myriad angles of the controversy to five issues. (The five is believed, a majority of the council is ready for peace. Even Dan Tobin of the Teamsters is urging peace. The rank and file are bringing strong pressure upon the leaders of the various national and international unions to make peace. Thomas Urges Peace Among those urging labor peace is Senator Elbert D. Thomas of Utah, chairman of the senate committee on education and labor. Speaking over a nation - wide Dr. Charles Stelzle, radio hook-uexecutive director of the Good Neighbor League and special feature editorial writer for the Utah Labor News, declared that the split in the organized labor movement is the most formidable opponent ever faced by labor. Unless peace is made, the American labor movement will lose the greatest opportunity it ever has had to help shape this countrys economic and political history, Dr. Stelzle said. Saturday, the bishops of the administrative board of the National Catholic Welfare Conference issued a formal statement in which they expressed the hope that the A. F. L.-I. O. breach would be speedily healed. issues were published in this column in the Utah Labor News last week.) It is believed that the agreement between Lewis and Green is close, but neither of them will broadcast the results of last weeks meeting until after the full committee meets on December 29. Will Take Time Neither Green nor Lewis nor any of the conferees will hazard a guess as to how long it will take o bring about a complete conciliation. Observers who have kept in close touch with the controversy are of the opinion that peace cannot be looked for, even under the most favorable circumstances, until spring. The controversy, observers point out, Js such an intricate one and involves so many organizations that only the most careful and studied deliberations will be able ;o bring about a peace agreement that will be lasting, and not blow up at the first pressure from some dissatisfied group. The Utah Labor News Washington observer reports that there Blessed are the peacemakers; on the A. F. are a few for they shall be called the chilexecutive board who have been of God. Matthew 5:9. dren hrowing monkey wrenches into while it the negotiations, (Continued on Page 3) today, p. C. die-har- ds |