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United Automobile Worker
-
1952-05-01
-
Vol. 16 No. 5
-
y
BT
INTERNATIONAL
VOL. 16, NO. 5
AUTOMOBILE,
Entered as 2nd Class Matter, Indianapolis,
AND
AIRCRAFT
MAY,
Indiana
AGRICULTURAL
PRINTED
1952
A Report to the UAW-CIO
OF AMERICA—U.A.W.-C.1.0.
WORKERS
IMPLEMENT
IN U.S
© —asp
A,
a
Membership
By Walter P. Reuther
Another Year of -
EFFECTIVE TEAMWORK
—on the Wage Front
n
o
i
t
a
z
i
n
n
a
—o the Ong
’
‘
¢
t
u
o
v
¢
has been one of effective
teamwork and sdteady progress for the UAW-CkIO. Our steady progress has require not only effective teamwor
but hard work and
a potsaeietiicve, lisvting faintihte. in our iddeeaels, becgause itnahiaisodbceleenriamiaade in
ini
bla
inis
af thet
honin inte
mad
ie
3
eb
5
P
8
mounting
world.
fear
and
y
t
n
i
a
t
r
e
c
n
u
among
At the same time that we have worked
our basic trade union problems
n
ganizatio
people
t
u
o
h
g
u
o
r
th
hard and worked
the
well at
,
on the collective bargaining
or-
obly fronts, we haye also devoted ourselves earnestly
and ujs
ment,
ientio
and consc
to our long range goals whose
we hope, will lead to a world of peace, abundance
d
hood. We have rededicate ourselves to the task we
ago of trying not merely to patch up the old world
t
n
e
m
y
o
y
l
d
r
,
p
l
e
g
wou
be hulyn,
less often wher
unem
achieve
and brotherset some years
so that people
would come
frequent
where the gaps between wars would be stretched
out a little bit—but to build a new world in which people needn't
less
ggoailhyungry and in which war can be abolished from the face of the
Along with our sister unions and with men and women of
goodwill in every walk of life throughout the world, the UAW-CIO
has been and will continue to be an important and powerful force
in this struggle. The UAW-CIO is important because the UAW-
C1O is people, It is workers, It is men
i
;
p
i
:
h
O
s
I
r
C
e
b
To the Mem
of the UAW
The year since our last Convention
ee
ne
S
S
E
R
G
O
R
P
Y
D
A
E
T
S
AND —on the Joh trout
™"
|
UNITED
x
|
UNION,
4
and their wives and their
kids at home. The UAW-CLO
is a part of the struggle for human
rights against property rights, the struggle to establish the sovereignty of people over profits, to mobilize the wealth of the
e; everyday
l
p
woorpllde, and ngderaerds ee wealltiyonsi ened
o
f
e
e
o
h
p
pe
hu
of mil
o
ittle people whose names have
never been heard, but who share with their fellowmen throughout
the world the same hopes and aspirations for a decent,
happy, peaceful life for themselves and their children,
We
in the UAW-CIO
| how to make
to build
|
li
|
i
havne the will, the strength and the known
o
i
t
u
b
i
r
t
n
o
a c
the economic
healthy,
|
o
i
t
a
z
i
l
i
b
e
to th mo
on
foundati
on
which
peace
of free
can
people
rest, where
people can live together as neighbors and enjoy a fuller measure
of social and economic justice, We can make a contribution to
a future fashioned in the image of freedom, in the image of social
d,
o
o
h
:
r
S
e
C
h
N
t
R
d
e
o
e
H
J
an
in th
an
of br
;
,
It is in that spirit and with tOhose ends in view that the men
‘
year and
is
and
women who
UAW-CL
are the
it a8 that spirit that
has
have worked during
this past
shaped and inspired the effective
theaat mworkespeocftfuthlely leadbemristhip of uthe Cs AW-CoIrOt. at is in thgart esss.pirit
t
L r
su
to yo
thi rep
of our pro
f
J us
Le ae
/
ko)
Lal
7
|
|
be
s
Page
9
fully laying the ground work for moving ahead both in the field of pensions
and the field of hospital and medical care.
We have set as our next goal the winning of $200 per month
pensions with an escalator clause provision to protect retired workers against the increases in the cost of living and for comprehensive
hospital and medical care for workers and their families fully paid
by the corporations.
Reereation
and the
Retired Workers’ Program
Our recreation program has been expanded during the past year to help
local unions sponsor activities for all age levels and every member of work-
ers’ families.
We do not limit our program to sports and recreation, but
make an effort to give our members
and their families a chance to use their
leisure time to develop cultural attainments as well.
of the best principles
of the UAW-CIO,
we
In accordance with one
cooperate
in these programs
with community agencies everywhere possible. One of the most significant
developments in this area of activity has been a program for our retired
members to which each department of the International Union contributes
with the Recreation Department coordinating their efforts.
This tiny premature infant weighs only one and one-half pounds
and it will be many weeks before he will reach five pounds and be able
to leave the special incubator. Specialized care in this case, including
around-the-clock vigil by trained hospital personnel, will cost $1,700.
The UAW believes that protection and care should be provided
from the moment of birth, so that children will have every fighting
chance that modern medicine and the hospital can offer.
THE
The bills usually run high—often very high. Even for a one-day stay, you
can rarely get out of the hospital with a bill of less than $20. Every day, on the
average, five UAW workers get a hospital bill for a thousand dollars or more.
The top in hospital benefus was hit by a machine operator in Detroit, whose
hospital bill of $7,511 was paid for by his UAW-negotiated health security
program. Without this care he and many other UAW members and dependents might not be alive today.
Most of the hospital bills were paid in full under the plans negotiated
by the Union.
The need for hospital care is often sudden, usually unpredictable.
As many as 385,000 actually received such care during 1951. They
stayed an average of one week and received benefits totaling $50,-
CITIZENS
Our senior members encounter some special problems which we must
help solve. One of them is finding ways to make good use of the new-found
leisure time. Medical coverage is an extremely serious problem. Many of
our retired workers simply cannot afford the kind of medical care they need,
and often they don’t know how to gain the benefits of medical care that is
available.
In Detroit, the largest concentration of retired workers, the senior
members of our Union are helping us develop a program which will
be extended throughout the UAW-CIO as the need for it develops.
In five different sections of Detroit, retired workers have been meeting
each month. The first section of the sessions is devoted to discussions of
their problems, led by experts in the field. For example, they learn about
all their rights under Social Security laws, or what health services are available. After that comes informal entertainment and a general social gettogether.
At Christmas, we had a combined Christmas party attended by more than
1,000 retired workers. No other union in the world has ever sponsored anything like it.
We are planning drop-in centers where these retired workers can
come any day. They will include facilities for developing hobbies,
playing games, holding discussion groups. Each center will have a
library and a television set.
But even more important is the fact that 3,000,000 workers
and dependents were protected against the cost of hospitalization during the whole year.
Although great gains have been made, existing health security plans
need improvement in many important ways. Temporary disability benefits
in many cases do not provide adequate levels of income maintenance and,
with increasing living costs, are offering less protection than when they
were originally negotiated. Coverage of surgical care and medical care administered in the hospital is far from complete and workers are still charged
substantial extra amounts. More adequate arrangements for maintaining
workers’ protection during layoff§ are badly needed. More effective ways
need to be found for providing hospital-medical protection for retired workers whose medical needs are even greater than when they were still working.
No health security program is really complete without rehabilitation.
no medical care program is complete without preventive services.
SENIOR
As of last January 1, approximately 12,500 workers had retired on the
pensions, but the interest and obligation of the Union does not stop there. —
Most of these UAW patients remain in the hospital for about orie week.
Even those who stay as long as 120 days are usually covered under UAWnegotiated plans.
000,000.
UNION’S
And
In time, this program is going to be one of the biggest activities of our
Union. By July 1, our Social Security Department estimates that the number
of retired workers will increase 33 per cent.
All these workers continue on as honorary members of their local unions.
Thejr local unions will continue to bargain for them. One of our goals is to
get them covered by Company-paid medical insurance. Many of our locals
are
developing
their
own
retired
workers’
programs,
nucleus for expanding our activities in this field.
which
will
form
a
Z)
The development of health security plans was retarded in 1951 by the
Wage Stabilization Board freeze which would have required any improvements to be charged against the allowable wage increases. The UAW played
a leading role in labor’s successful efforts to unfreeze health security benefits.
Now, under new regulations issued by the Wage Stabilization Board, there
is room for continued growth and development of health security plans.
Plans ate now being developed for moving ahead under the new WSB
regulations toward increased health security for all UAW members and
;
their families.
Despite the tremendous progress made both in the field of pensions and
health and medical care, there still remains much
work
to be done before
workers and their families have the kind of complete care and protection to
which they are entitled. In the long run, it will become more and more
apparent that the most significant achievements we have made in the field of
social security was not the amount of benefits currently being paid, but the
fact that the UAW-CIO was willing to start its pension and social security
programs on a sound foundation that would permit steady progress in the
years ahead,
Few, if any, other unions in the American labor movement were
prepared to wage the struggles which were required to establish the basic
principles on which our social security program is founded.
As we move ahead to complete the task of winning a fuller measure of
social security and dignity for our members and their families, we in the
UAW-CIO can draw confidence and inspiration from the struggles that we
have fought and the victories that we have won in this field, We are cate-
;
Scenes like the above at the gates of the Ford Aircraft Engine Division in
Chicago took place all over America as the UAW-CIO pressed its expanded
organizing campaign into high gear, Ford Aircraft workers voted overwhelm.
ingly for UAW-CIO representation,
|
Page
UNITED
10
Guaranteed
Annual
AUTOMOBILE
W. age
Achievement of a guaranteed annual wage that will assure our members
and their families a full week’s pay, 52 weeks in the year, is the next major
goal of our Union.
This is, perhaps, the most fundamental
and far-reach-
ing bargaining demand that-the American labor movement has advanced
throughout its history. The guaranteed annual wage transcends in importance any normal collective bargaining demand, because it is directed at one
of our most basic economic and social prablems—the problem of how a free
people in a democratic society can so arrange their affairs as to achieve and
maintain full employment making the good things of life for themselves
and their loved ones in times of peace.
It is tragic but true, nevertheless, that to date we have been able
to create full employment and full production each time we are com-
pelled to forge the weapons of war and destruction, but have failed
to achieve and maintain full employment and full production geared
to the peacetime needs of the people.
:
The establishment of a guaranteed annual wage for American industry
will be a major contribution in the creation of the economic and social
mechanisms by which we can achieve a full-employment and full-production
economy. America has made great progress in the development of the technological know-how of mass production. We-must now do a comparable
job to insure that our mass productive power is balanced by mass purchasing
power in the hands of the people. Depressions and unemployment are manmade and result from the failure of the great mass of people to receive sufficient wages and salaries to provide the mass purchasing power necessary to
match our productive power.
FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY
MASS UNEMPLOYMENT
CAN’T
LIVE
WITH
The history of the last half-century has proved repeatedly and conclusively that freedom and democracy are not compatible with mass unemployment. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and other dictators built their power upon
poverty and human desperation, and mass unemployment has always proved
to be their greatest source of strength. The lessons of history should teach
us that mass unemployment is one of the major economic and social ingredients out of which dictatorships are made. When people get hungry enough
. and desperate enough, they will trade freedom for the promise of bread.
They will put their souls in chains in the hope of getting some food in their
stomachs. Our task is to prove that men can have both bread and freedom.
The guaranteed annual wage can be our most powerful weapon in this
fight to secure for all people an ever-increasing measure of both bread and
freedom. Since our economy in peacetime breaks down on the distribution,
and because of the imbalance between productive power and purchasing
power, it stands to reason that our major effort must be directed toward correcting this irnbalance. The guaranteed annual wage gets at the root of this
basic problem.
WE
MUST
LIVE
BY
THE
YEAR
The imbalance between mass productive power and lack of comparable
mass purchasing power cannot be corrected so long as workers and the
families (who, as a matter of biological necessity, must eat and live by the
yeat) are paid by the hour or, in many cases, by the piece. As I stated to the
Cleveland
has created
dependent
such wages
UAW-CIO Education Conference, our modern industrial society
a new problem—the problem of living by the year while being
upon wages with which to purchase the necessities of life when
are measured and paid by the hour or by the piece.
Under feudalism, the feudal barons fed the serfs 12 months a year
because they had to keep them alive to do the work; during the
period of chattel slavery, the slaves were fed 12 months a year because they, too, were needed to do the work. Through struggle and
sacrifice, our forefathers shook off the shackles of feudalism to gain
the freedom we enjoy today. It is our task and the supreme challenge of today that we demonstrate that political and spiritual freedom are compatible with economic security and well-being and that
we can all live together in Democracy’s house.
The guaranteed annual ‘wage will go far in the right direction and will
be a major step in shifting the cost of unemployment from the backs of
workers and their families by placing such costs as a proper charge in the
operation of industry. All of the basic costs which industry rightfully accepts
as normal costs of operation are calculated*by the year—interest rates, de-
WORKER
ANNUAL
WAGE
MEANS
ANNUAL
EMPLOYMENT
The fight for a guaranteed annual wage is, in reality, a fight for guaranteed annual employment. We have been asked if we want people to get
paid for not working. The answer to that question, of course, is a most
emphatic NO. What we do say, however, is that we do not want workers
and their families to be penalized, as they are when the worker, who is the
breadwinner of a family, is denied an opportunity to work. All the fine
theory, all the noble rationalizations, all of the economic papers that can be
1952
our industry was organized, as long as the worker sat there and waited
did not get paid, management did little to correct the problem.
But when we fought for and won call-in pay—first one hour, two
hours, and now a minimum of four hours—the situation changed and
management made it their business to schedule the flow of materials
so as to minimize waiting time, since they were paying the bill.
When the situation comes about in America that industry has to
workers a guaranteed annual wage 52 weeks in the year, they will have
incentive to find a way to’ achieve full employment. As I reported to
last convention:
pores |
i,
andip.
7
Y
.
pay)
the.
the
Jt
increases, overtime and vacation pay, night-shift premiums, call-in and holi- ) Mi
day pay, pension and hospital-medical care, cost-of-living and annual wage | efte
improvement are all important tools. The guaranteed annual wage is next |}
on our schedule and certainly it constitutes one of the most important tools
|
in finding the answer to full and continuous employment in a free society. |)
WE
ARE
GETTING
THE
FACTS
e
a)
“During the period of our long-range agreements, we must apply our- ifat
selves to the challenging task of gathering the basic economic data and pre- | noe
paring our position to support our demand for a guaranteed annual wage. |) 6g)
“We shall not win this by wishful thinking. This is a fundamental
'
demand that gets to the root of our basic economic problem and, like
{|
other of our basic economic demands, will arouse resistanc
e from
forces in industry who are unable to understand and unwilling to
accept their responsibilities in a free economy.
|
j
l
j |
i |
“Industry must also come to recognize that a guaranteed annual wage .]
would be an important step forward in giving security to millions of Ameri- —
can workers and toward removing the threat of unemployment and getting |
the needed balance between productive power and purchasing power.
bs
So
“The guaranteed annual wage will be a practical stimulant for. better
planning of production schedules, since, if management will have to pay a
worker a yearly wage, there will be a very real incentive to provide yearly
employment. This will challenge the ingenuity and develop the vast management potential concerning which we hear so much in our collective bargaining sessions with management.”
CAREFUL
PLANNING
NEEDED
The last UAW-CIO Convention, in endorsing the guaranteed annual
wage as our next major goal, recognized the need for careful planning, so
that our approach to this fundamental problem would be made on the
soundest possible basis.
In accordance with this decision of the Convention,
|
the International Union has set up a special Study Committee on the guaranteed annual wage. We have drawn together the most competent technological personnel, who in cooperation with the International Officers, are
making a comprehensive study of this problem and are developing the economic facts and data on which to project our demand for a guaranteed
annual wage.
Like our efforts in the field of pensions, we are determined to do
the job right. We are not looking for an easy answer that looks good
on the surface, but which does not rest on a solid foundation and
which, therefore, breaks down just when the workers who will depend upon it will need the protection most.
|
The work of laying a solid foundation for a guaranteed annual wage is
|
progressing steadily and carefully. As soon as the preliminary work is com|
pleted, we shall submit the issue to management well in advance of contract
termination dates, so that the problem can be jointly discussed and explored
|
under circumstances that will prevent management from trying to avoid its _ |
responsibility by arguing that they lack® adequate time to give the matter
proper consideration.
Between now and the time actual bargaining begins on the guar--
anteed annual wage, we shall continue to discuss the economic and
moral justification of our demand publicly, so that both management
and the general public will understand the merits of our general demand and will fully realize that we are deadly serious in our determination to win a guaranteed annual wage the next time we go to bat.
Organization
Progress
Following the 1951 Convention held in Cleveland, Ohio, the UAW-CIO
International Executive Board undertook an expanded organizational pro-
gram.
This action was consistent with the views expressed by many conven-
tion delegates during debate on resolutions and constitutional amendments,
particularly the one concerned with the increase in dues. The delegates voted
the needed dues increase in order to increase tools for expanded organiza-
tion activity.
During the calendar year of 1951, our Union maintained the
largest average dues-paying membership in its history, despite heavy
layoffs amounting to more than 175,000 toward the end of the year.
written by students seeking their Ph. D. degrees in the schools of higher
learning will not find an answer to this basic problem until the cost of unemployment is transferred from the backs of workers to the back of industry, where it properly belongs.
The average dues receipts showed a membership for 1951 of 1,184,507, indicating a good standing membership of well over 1,250,000.
We have said many times that our experience as it relates to call-in pay
can be applied in this situation. As Jong as workers had to pay for sitting
That position has been further improved in the first four months of 1952.
In March of this year, per capita tax was paid to the International Union
around and waiting for material, as we used to do in the early days before
‘
“In the past 15 years, your Union has worked and fought hard to create))}}ig8
the tools with which democracy must do its job. Seniority protection, wage | Par
pfeciation costs, taxes, executive salaries, etc., and labor costs must also be
considered as an annual cost.
May,
(Continued
on next page)
|
11
Despite the outstanding organizational progress which has established the
ODE
MUTT
y
Page
WORKER
AUTOMOBILE
UNITED
UAW-CIO
must continue
we
in the world,
free trade Union
as the largest
to press our efforts to complete the organization of the unorganized so as to
bers.
conditions of our mem-
and working
standards
protect the job security, wage
MICHIGAN STOVE
One of the most soul-satisfying organizing victories the UAW-CIO has
ever had came when workers at the Michigan Stove Company voted to join
the UAW-CIO despite gangster éfforts to keep them out of our Union.
The stove works received national publicity during the Kefauver hear-
SS
SS
ings in Detroit early last year when UAW-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Emil
Mazey and other witnesses introduced evidence showing that Santos Perrone,
notorious Detroit gang leader, has a lush scrap contract with the Company
and in return handled the union-busting activities for the Company.
Organization of workers at the Detroit-Michigan Stove Company was aided
by workers from other locals in Detroit. Above, members of Briggs Local 212
demonstrate their support of the stove workers in front of the plant.
on
of
definitely showing a good standing membership
1,271,000 members,
-
more than 1,300,000.
There are now 1,170 active local unions chartered by the International
Union, representing thousands of collective bargaining units.
During the year since our last International Convention, we have won
more than 350 representation elections. These elections have been won through
outstanding work done by the Regional Directors and their staffs, and by the
mobile organizing staffs of the Competitive Shops, Aircraft, Skilled Trades,
Agricultural Implement, Foundry and Die Cast Departments. Vice-Presidents
Gosser
and
deserve much
been made.
Livingston,
crédit
for
under
the
organizing
Outstanding
whose
Oklahoma,
where
,
directed by Perrone.
In a previous organizing drive, Union leaders within the plant and our
organizers had been brutally beaten.
4
This time, bribery and attempts at intimidation failed to stop us.
Although Perrone watched proceedings from his filling-station headquarters across the street, the workers still chose the UAW to represent them in the NLRB election.
Subsequently, Perrone and other members of his gang were arrested on
charges of union-busting activity. Michigan Stove, its hand exposed, hastily
signed a contract with the UAW.
which
Union has made for more than a million workers and their families. The
results of the NLRB election for the main unit at the Chrysler New Orleans
plant, which covered production workers and certain maintenance employes,
was
as follows:
American
:
ploy more than 5,000.
Studebaker Aircraft, Chicago; Kaiser Aircraft, Oakland, California; AVCO,
Bridgeport, Connecticut; Dixon Aircraft, Coffeyville, Kansas; and Mallard Aircraft, Stratford, Connecticut, were among the many other victories scored in
aircraft.
A victory over the FE-UE at the South
Bend plant of the Oliver Company featured another year of steady progress in
the organization
of agricultural
workers.
implement
The increase in dues made it possible to
enlarge, among others, the staffs of the
Competitive Shop, Skilled Trades, Foundry
and
N
A \ASX
J
Die Casting
partments,
T. Gosser,
under
Departments.
Vice-President
cooperate
in many
These
de-
Richard
organization
drives.
In selecting
the
first consideration
plants
was
to be organized,
given
to “runaw ay”
plants; second, to unorganized competitive
plants which constituted an immediate
threat to the jobs of our members; third,
to the unorganized plants of corporations
with which we have contracts; and fourth,
other unorganized plants which fall within
RICHARD
T,
GOSSER
the jurisdiction of the VAW-CIO.
Indicative of the wide area in which
ganization drives were conducted, the UAW-CIO
or-
participated in elections
occurring in 26 states and throughout Canadian Provinces,
Even
1 vote.
the
among
made
a
Pipefitters—AFL 4
Operating
;
Engineers—UAW-CIO
9
Engineers—AFL
Millwrights—UAW-CIO
has been
will ultimately em-
which
Aviation, Fresno, California,
no union,
462 votes;
ctuited from AFL craft unions in the building trades, the UAW
remarkable showing. The results were as follows:
Pipefitters—UAW-CIO 14
9
Carpenters—AFL
Toolroom—UAW-CIO
IAM 11
No Union
1
4
68
6
Electricians—UAW-CIO 20
IBEW—AFL 5
Carpenters—UAW-CIO
Hayes Aircraft, Birmingham, Alabama, with a future employment of more
North
UAW-CIO,
skilled trades groups, where the majority of the workers involved were re-
has
i
a respect based upon the record of achievement that our
for the UAW-CIO,
work,
10,000;
They will be sen-
CHRYSLER NEW ORLEANS ELECTION
As this report is being completed, we have just received the results of
the National Labor Relations Board election held on May 5, 1952, at the
Chrysler tank engine plant in New Orleans, Louisiana. I cite this election
specifically because it clearly demonstrates the high respect that workers have
Ford Aircraft Engine Division, Chicago, with a future employment of some
12,000 workers;
than
entered guilty pleas to
charges of “interfering with the formation of a union.”
tenced later in the month.
is expected
employment
the
staffs
which
industry,
in the aircraft
expanding rapidly because of the emergency, were:
Douglas Aircraft, Tulsa,
to reach a total of 15,000;
progress
organization
outstanding
victories
organizing
these
direction
to survive the campaign of physical terror and intimidation
never managed
This month, Perrone and four of his henchmen
*
-
YY
The Company had a long record of breaking unions. It had been organized several times by various unions, including the UAW-CIO, but they had
7
Carpenters—AFL
9
Only among the carpenter group did the AFL craft unions get a majority, and in this case certain irregularities occurred and the results of the
election are being challenged.
Political Action
The
the need
legislative
for more
and
record of Congress
intense
political
Legislation
the past year shows
during
action
and
part of labor
the
on
sharply
other
progressive groups in the nation,
Every major piece of legislation aimed at
every major
that was
improving the lot of the common people of America and of strengthening
democracy at home was either defeated or buried in committee. The unholy
alliance of Dixiecrats and Northern Republicans had the strength to shape
piece of legislation
passed
so that it protected
wealthy to the disadvantage of the lower-income groups.
the
To cite a few examples:
Amendments
to
the
Defense
Production
Act,
particularly
those
having to do with price controls, were a major triumph
tors and profiteers.
for specula-
The new tax law added
lower-income groups.
of
to the already
unfair
burden
taxes on
Fair Employment Practices and other civil rights legislation were
killed by the threat of Senate filibuster.
Dixiecrats and Northern Republicans teamed up with the American Medical Association to prevent the passage or even any intelligent Congressional discussion of a National Health Bill.
This bleak legislative picture is not because UAW-CIO officers and their
Union's Washington Legislative Representatives have not w orked hard
(Continued on next page)
UNITED
WORKER
WHO BENEHITS UNDER THE MILLIONAIRES TAX PLAN?
BASED ON MARRIED COUPLE -TWO DEPENDENTS
=e TAX SAVINGS
|
AUTOMOBILE
ON25%
LIMITATION
co
$100,000
cL
$1,000,000
gg 7500.00
during the past year on efforts to get progressive, constructive legislation
support of it had the effect of prodding government mobilization agencies
legislation and have spent many hours on Capitol Hill in Washington with
ment.
We
have testified at numerous
individual Senators and
our legislative program.
EFFORTS
NOT
ALL
Representatives
Congressional hearings on pending
in efforts to win
their support
for
IN VAIN
Nor have our efforts been entirely in vain. Bad as the amendments to the
Defense Production Act were, some of the worst ones proposed were defeated as a result of united labor opposition. These included the Lucas
Amendment which would have encouraged resort to Taft-Hartley injunctions in industrial disputes by destroying the tri-partite character of the
Wage Stabilization Board and denying it jurisdiction in labor disputes. On
last-minute roll call votes the House also rejected some of the worst inflationary amendments it had approved on earlier teller votes.
Even
on the tax bill our efforts showed results.
In midsummer
the Na-
tional Association of Manufacturers launched a drive to promote a hidden
federal sales tax. The NAM scheme would have raised the total tax take
from families of less than $1,000 a year cash income to-substantially more
than 50 per cent. This would have resulted in a tax reduction of 25 per cent
for families in upper-income brackets. It would relieve wealthy families of
more than $5 billion a year in taxes, shifting that burden to families with
incomes of less than $5,000 a year.
TAX
BILL
TESTIMONY
On behalf of the UAW-CIO, I testified August 7 before the Senate Fi-
nance Committee and submitted a proposal for a progressive tax on spending
that would increase the tax yield, decrease the inflationary pressure and
_prevent even more of the tax burden from being placed on the low-income
groups.
Speaking for our membership, I called upon the Congress to enact
legislation that would cut the standard of luxury of the few who have
too much before cutting the standard of living of the many who have
too little.
Our spending tax proposal would have achieved this purpose. No family would have been hampered in the purchase of necessities. Every wellto-do family could have maintained a high standard of living, but its standard of luxury would have been somewhat curtailed.
Congress has not adopted our spending tax proposal, and did enact an
income tax law that placed a still heavier and unfair share of taxation on
low-income groups.
But neither did it pass the NAM sales tax proposal, which would have
meant, in effect, a wage cut of about $200 a year, or $4 a week, for the average auto worker with a wife and two children.
ANOTHER
TAX
THREAT
into taking some practical steps to meet the problem of defense unemploy-
Several officers and staff members appeared before Congressional Committees and otherwise worked for the enactment of FEPC and other civil
rights legislation. While legislation in this area is still stymied by the DixieGOP coalition, I believe we have laid the basis for an effective campaign to
abolish Senate Rule 22, the rule which permits unlimited debate (filibusters)
by requiring a two-thirds majority vote of the Senate to close debate. Our
work in this respect is discussed at length in the section on “Civil Rights” on
Page
12.
However,
I want to emphasize here that even more is involved in
this issue than just civil rights legislation. Rule 22 is the roadblock to the
promotion of economic, social and political justice through federal legisla-
tion. As a people and a nation, we shall continue to enjoy the poor health
of economic and political chills and fever until the American people rid
themselves of this impediment to orderly democratic implementation by the
Senate and Congress of the people’s will to meet their needs through majority rule as intended and provided by the Constitution.
In the field of foreign affairs, Congress has voted billions for weapons
and munitions, but continues to fail to meet boldly and realistically the prob-
lem of economic aid abroad. A majority of the present Congress refuses
obstinately to recognize that the threat of Communist tyranny cannot be
overcome by guns alone. Human hunger and poverty are Communism’s
most effective weapons, and the causes of hunger and poverty cannot be
removed by munitions. -For a detailed discussion of our position on this
point, see the section, “Working for Peace,” on Page 15.
FOR FAIR DEAL LEGISLATION
In cooperation with the CIO, the rest of the labor movement and with
all other progressive forces, we in the UAW-CIO shall continue to fight fos
the Fair Deal legislative program, the major items of which are:
1. Effective price control and a fair tax program.
Expanded social security.
SAI AAARYN
enacted.
National health program.
Repeal of Taft-Hartley Law.
Civil rights program.
Adequate housing.
Aid to federal education.
Foreign policy program to strengthen America in the face of Communist aggression, and to work with the free peoples of the world
to win the peace.
9. Abolition of the Filibuster Rule 22.
However, the key to the success of our legislative program lies in our
political action program. In accordance with the mandate of the last Convention, the International Union has acted to increase the size of our PAC
staff, which, in conjunction with the Education Department, is carrying on
a day-to-day, year-around political education campaign among our members.
While the NAM drive for a sales tax stalled last year, it is threatening
again at the present time in cognection with the proposed Constitutional
Amendment, already approved by some states, which would limit the amount
This campaign is directed at the two basic problems of (1) mobilizing
people to get them to register and then get out and vote on election day,
and (2) developing an understanding of the basic issues on which political
it through a sales tax.
In 1950, only 44 per cent of the people eligible to vote cast their ballots.
That's why today we have a serious legislative problem. That’s why we have
as poor a Congress as we have.
of federal income tax to 25 per cent of income. This amendment, if adopted,
loads even more of the tax burden on lower-income groups, and would do
The entire labor movement is fighting the 25 per cent limitation
amendment and its accompanying threat of a sales tax.
MOODY-DINGELL BILL
One of our most important legislative projects this year was to
actment of the Moody-Dingell Bill that would provide for federal
mentation of state unemployment compensation for workers laid
result of the defense program. The Moody-Dingell Bill is discussed
seek ensuppleoff as a
in detail
in the section of this report, “Fight for Jobs,” on Page 2. I only want to
comment here that, although, the bill has not been passed, our vigorous
decisions are being made and where the interest of the people lies.
We have a tremendous job of getting
cannot defend the things we are trying to
make democracy work. Democracy cannot
realizes that for every democratic privilege
bility, and a major responsibility is to vote.
people to
defend in
be made to
there is a
understand that we
the world unless we
work until everyone
democratic responsi-
If the American people can be made aware of the issues—if they register,
if they yote—there is no question that they will elect to office candidates who
stand for progress, freedom, peace, abundance and democracy.
_
UNITED
AUTOMOBILE
The UAW-CIO
has for the past year centered its fire on Senate Rule 22—
The UAW-CIO
filed a brief with the Senate which, we believe, proves
WORKER
Bthe filibuster rule which permits a handful of Senators to block by unlimited
“debate” the enactment of legislation, particularly civil rights legislation.
fi the Rule unconstitutional. I presented the UAW testimony in support of this
tq posjtion during the hearings conducted by the Senate Rules Committee last
» | October.
The campaign against filibuster Rule 22 was glimaxed by a dramatic twoday Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in Washington. The Conference
was sponsored by the UAW-CIO, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and 50 other organizations,. The UAW-CIO, I am
;
proud to say, had the largest delegation present.
6b
#
a@
4
The UAW-CIO
also published a booklet on Rule 22 which received
One
‘At the Washington Conference, I underscored the statement which we
| had been making in meetings and conferences all over the country, “Aboli| tion of filibuster Senate Rule 22 and passage of civil rights legislation must
| be made the most important political and moral issue of the coming elec-
Left to right, Dr. Arthur Thompson; Walter White,
drive for members.
NAACP Executive Secretary; Reuther; Dr. J. J. McLendon, NAACP National
Board Member.
tions.”
~
Cleveland Education Ce ference
The International Executive Board also took action in the recent outbreak
of repeated crimes of violence against Negroes, protesting and demanding
action from the Attorney General and the President.
It has been said that history is a race between education and chaos, This
has never been more evident than in the period of the cold war—and the
atomic age in which we live.
The UAW-CIO can make its maximum contribution in finding solutions
to the basic everyday bread and butter problems of its members—we can
help in shaping the decision on which war and peace hang in balance only
to the extent that the membership of our Union understand the problems of
the world in which we live.
A democratic rank-and-file-controlled Union such as the UAWCIO will be as strong and as effective in helping to win security and
dignity for our members and their families in a world of peace and
freedom in direct proportion to the level of understanding and consciousness of our members,
Developing understanding of the basic day-to-day problems and the broad
The UAW-CIO has been in the forefront in the fight to establish a permanent FEPC law in order to end discrimination at the hiring gate. We have
repeatedly testified before Senate and House of Representatives committees
in support of FEPC and other civil rights legislation, and we have worked
with civic, religious and other groups to make civil rights progress at the
community, state and national levels. The fight for civil rights and an end
to every ugly form of discrimination in American life must be placed high
on our agenda;
and
we must not slacken our efforts until we have enacted
the full civil rights program as recommended by President Truman.
In this struggle in the world between freedom and tyranny,
thing that we are failing to do which is giving the forces of
tyranny and aggression a tremendous advantage, and that is the
in America are still tolerating double standards in citizenship
nomic opportunity. We are permitting discrimination in many
there is one
Communist
fact that we
and in ecougly forms.
problems of our interdependent
pect of our union work.
The people with dark skins in America are in the minority, but in the
world in which we live, in the world in which this struggle between freedom
and tyranny is being fought, two-thirds of the people of the world have
dark skins.
RANK-AND-FILE
matter of democratic survival, because if we don’t, we turn the rest of the
world, these hundreds of millions of people, over to the Communists.
The fight against speedup, for better working conditions, is one that requires continued vigilance on the part of the officers and committee members
of every local union, supported by the membership and the International
Union. The change in production schedules during the past year which
resulted from government mobilization directives created certain problems
both
carried
out
and
supported
was
in cooperation
with
local
unions,
by militant
nat
educational
purposes.
members participated in
The highlight of UAW-CIO
the International
Educational
educational activities during the past year
Conference
held
in Cleveland
during
the
Approximately 2,000 delegates and almost a thousand guests from all
over the United States and Canada participated in the four-day Conference.
In opening the Conference I stated, “If we are going to solve the problems
of our people, we have to equip them with an understanding of the world
in which we live. We have to work not only on the economic front but on
the political front; we have to work to solve our problems on the basis of
helping people everywhere move ahead together in the solution of their
problems.”
I am
sure
the
Cleveland
Education
Conference
was
an
important
step
toward the achievement of these goals. Delegates worked diligently to get
all the information possible from the many experts on hand, and I am sure
that the knowledge they gleaned will be of great service to them and to
will con-
their locals in the days and years ahead, While the list of outstanding speakers and authorities was impressive, of much greater significance was the seri-
tinue to carry out this policy in all parts of our’ Union, in large and small
plants alike, in order to protect and improve the working conditions of our
members,
:
levels—to
This Educational Conference—both in its size, its range of subjects and
the new techniques developed—constitutes an important milestone in the development of workers’ education,
“It is our policy to authorize strike action in any plant, large or
small, big corporation or small shop, when the facts show that an
employer is attempting to drive his workers to make them produce
more than a fair day’s work.”
Union,
at the local and international
first week of April of this year.
“The UAW-CIO is unalterably opposed to and will fight against
any attempt by employers to endanger the health and safety of workers by forcing them to perform an unreasonable work load. One of
the major reasons that our Union came into existence was the revolt
of workers against the inhuman speedup that existed in the automobile industry before it was organized.
International
as-
UAW Summer Schools—held throughout the country—in classes scheduled
in local unions, week-end education conferences and in other activities.
a result of the change in the number of units being produced. The policy
of the UAW-CIO as adopted and reaffirmed by repeated Convention action
is based upon the principle of a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. The
been
an important
PARTICIPATION
During the past year, many thousands of UAW
on production standards, since many plants have to reallocate manpower as ,
has
has therefore been
The UAW-CIO rejected this unsound and undemocratic philosophy. We
believe that the payment of dues is but the first responsibility and that the
rank and file must be involved in an ever-broadening area of union pattictpation. It is for this sound and compelling reason that we in the VAW-CIO
have placed an ever-increasing emphasis on our educational activities.
No union in America devotes as large a portion of its income—
Fight Against Speedup
UAW-CIO policy, which
action, reads as follows:
world
The strength of a democratic union flows from the knowledge and active
participation of the rank and file.
One of the serious shortcomings of many old-line unions is their opposition to educational. programs. Too often such unions take the position that
the less enlightened the rank and file, the easier they are to control. This
narrow and bureaucratic attitude considers that the essential function of the
rank and file is to pay dues and that all other activities can best be performed
by the leadership.
Not only as a matter of human decency should we square our preachings
with fair practices in the field of civil rights, but we ought to do it as a
The
in the
field of civil rights is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People, Above, Walter Reuther takes out a NAACP membership during a
) nationwide distribution and much favorable reaction.
|
organizations with the UAW-CIO
of the strongest co-working
dd
Yy
VM
ous and untiring way in which the delegates applied themselves.
(Continued
.
on neat page)
arrears
This was apparently one of the lighter moments of a very serious Education Conference, probably resulting from one of the many pointed (if not
“‘loaded’’) questions from the delegates. On the platform, above, are: from
left, Senator William Benton of Connecticut, UAW President Reuther, Senator
Wayne Morse of Oregon, Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, UAW |’!
Political Action Coordinator Roy Reuther, and UAW Region 1-D Director }
Leonard Woodcock.
The three Senators, statesmen all, were possibly the
““stars’’ of the Conference.
DELEGATES
senators, first made
WORKED
HARD
For example, on Saturday, the third day of the Conference, the CleveJand Music Hall was packed at 10 a. m. for the addresses of Senators Hubert
Humphrey,
William Benton and Wayne Morse.
At 1:30 p. m.,-the various
discussion groups were filléd solid. At 3:30 p. m., the Music Hall was crowded again as delegates returned for a question and answer session with the
senators. That evening we had another full house to hear talks by Willard
Goslin, the National
Education
Association's “Educator of the Year,” and
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Professor of History at Harvard University.
At the end of the general evening session, delegates were told that
purely optional conferences would be held at 10:30 p. m. Since it was
Saturday night, and the delegates already had been in four meetings,
it was felt that the turnout would be small. Nearly 800 persons took
part in those extra sessions.
A lot of ground was covered. The guaranteed annual wage was explored.
We discussed foreign policy and the race prejudice problem with Walter
White, Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, and the attack on-our basic freedoms with Zechariah
Chafee, Professor of Law at Harvard University.
We heard an address on the economic outlook by Leon Keyserling,
Chairman of President Truman’s Economic Advisory Council, and later the
delegates put a lot of questions to him. Insight was gained into what scientific developments will do to our bargaining problems from T. Harrison
Davies, Acting Director of the Institute of Radiobiology and Biophysics,
University of Chicago. Victor Reuther, National CIO Representative in
Europe, outlined the problems of workers in Europe and the relationship
of their problems to our problems in the struggle between freedom and
tyranny.
Every one who spoke had to answer a great many penetrating questions
from our delegates so the speakers had little chance to pull their punches.
In
the
summary
address,
Brother
Emil
Mazey,
UAW-CIO
Secretary-
Treasurer, supplied some figures to show how important educational work is
to our organization.
“In checking our financial returns since 1936,” he said,
“I find that the membership of our Union has turned over almost three times.
If we would have given these new workers in our plants some basic training, some orientation as to what we have accomplished, these workers who
worked in our industries a short time and then go on to other fields could
be goodwill ambassadors for our labor movement. We have got to carry on
mass education among our membership so that everyone in our Union can
have a full appreciation of the meaning of belonging to a labor organization.
The Conference also was a great help to us in getting the facts of life to
people who do not belong to unions. Not only did the delegates learn firsthand about the need for intelligent political action from the three senators,
the entire country received a lesson in political science as the senators discussed Congress in a coast-to-coast television program originating at our
Saturday morning meeting. Brother John W. Livingston, UAW-CIO VicePresident, was the moderator.
NEW
YORK
TIMES
-
COMMENT
The Cleveland UAW Education Conference did a lot to open the eyes
of people with stereotyped ideas about unions. The New York Times, one
of the few papers in this country chiefly concerned with presenting the truth,
had this to say about us in an editorial carried April 18: “With organized
Jabor’s strength increasing daily, it is axiomatic that union power be matched
by responsibility. It was this goal that was set by the United Automobile
Workers (CIO) at its recent Educational Conference at Cleveland, where it
was agreed that those who have or seek power must also have the proper
tools of knowledge if they are to understand the complex world in which
we live and mold it closer to their heart's desire.
“Representing
the
1,300,000-member
Union
were
some
1,900 delegates
and 1,000 wives and visitors, and 95 per cent of these men and women were
able to participate in the discussions because of the unique set-up of the
Conference. The chief speakers, who included scientists, educators, and
their formal addresses and then the gathering divided
into round-table discussion groups of ten each.
“These groups talked over what they had heard and selected questions
for the invited speakers. These questions were further clearéd with larger
groups until a representative series of nearly 200 questions were agreed upon.
It was then that the big meetings were again called to order and the entire
gathering heard the speakers’ reaction to that of the rank-and-file participants. Authorities on adult education who were present agreed that the
Conference was a landmark in the history of adult education in the United
States.
“There have been many fine accomplishments by pioneer organizations
in the field of adult education, like the International Ladies’ Garment Work-
ers’ Union and others. But the method which marked the Cleveland meeting
opened-up a vista of the Union as a “university” with great future usefulness in the age of television.”
Skilled Trades
The abnormal and increasing demand for skilled trades workers to meet
the greatly expanded tooling requirements of the defense program has created a number of difficult problems for skilled trades workers, In the early
part of
1951,
it became
evident
that if the machine-tool
bottleneck was to
be broken, the skilled trades workers would be required to take on the job
of training additional people in order to expand the skilled trades manpower
to do this essential job.
The International Union, in an attempt to minimize
the dilution of the
skilled trades, and to protect the job security of skilled trades workers, and
avoid a repetition of the widespread unemployment that resulted following
the last emergency, developed a program which provided for a systematic
induction of non-skilled trades workers into the skilled trades jobs on a
basis that would
facilitate the training of required
workers,
while at the
as the “Change-over
Agreement,”
same time protect the job security of journeymen.
by
the
International
Union
and
known
This program developed
was approved by the National Skilled Trades Conference. It is believed that
the universal acceptance of the Change-over Agreement will both protect
the job security of skilled trades workers and at the same time facilitate the
completion of defense tooling as expeditiously as possible, so that unemployed production workers can be re-employed on defense work.
In addition to the problem of protecting the job security of skilled
trades journeymen, the International Union’ has also been making
every effort to correct the wage differentials and wage inequities that
have developed in the skilled trades groups.
The International Union was instrumental in getting the Wage Stabilization Board to establish a special Tool and Die Study Panel.. This Panel
made a complete and thorough study of the manpower shortage in the
skilled trades field in order to determine what could be done to overcome
the serious manpower shortage that was creating a bottleneck in the machine-tool industry and causing widespread unemployment among produc-
tion workers. A representative of the UAW-CIO Skilled Trades Department served as a member of the Wage Stabilization Board Special Tool and
Die Study Panel.
After numerous hearings held throughout the various sections of the
country, the labor members of the special Tool and Die Study Panel, supported by the public members, recommended a wage formula for the skilled
trades workers which they felt would correct some of the wage differentials
and wage inequities and would go far toward expanding needed skilled
trades manpower. This Wage Stabilization Board Panel recommendation
also provided for the implementation of our Change-over Agreement in all
instances where it was-necessary to expand the skilled trades manpower
force.
Unfortunately, the industry members of the special Wage Stabiliza(Continued on neat page)
UNITED
« @
hes
“ee
) «e
Uy.
AUTOMOBILE
gn Board Panel refused to go along, and industry mobilized its full preste and was able to persuade the Wage Stabilization Board to reject the
of the majority of the special Tool and Die Panel.
ommendation
This rejection of the Panel’s recommendation caused widespread unrest
d dissatisfaction among the skilled trades workers.
The International Union has been and is continuing to make a
vigorous fight to reverse the position of the Wage Stabilization Board
so that the wage inequities and wage differentials existing in the
skilled trades classifications can be corrected.
© dl In addition to our continuing efforts to have the Wage Stabilization
1 bimdard reverse its position, we have had repeated conferences with manage-
% iffent representatives in our industry in an effort to get them to move on the
Myage problem.
|
One of our weaknesses in dealing effectively with skilled trades problems
2A
si @as the reluctance of other CIO unions to establish skilled trades machinery
/ adi, the National CIO throughout the country coordinating the efforts of the
zuomarious CIO unions as they related to skilled trades problems. I am happy
19%)» report that following the last national CIO convention, I succeeded in
goi¥aving the National CIO establish a Skilled Trades Coordinating Committee
“iw in which there are représentatives of the major CIO
oii ddition
std Yorkers,
ro Vorkers.
“|
to the UAW-CIO,
Rubber
‘Workers,
Steelworkers,
Shipyard
unions, including, in
International Union
Oil Workers,
Workers,
of Electrical
Telephone
WiTice-President Richard
Gosser,
the forces of reaction who are attempting to profiteer at the expense of the
:
American people during the emergency.
It was our hope that the practical day-by-day working solidarity resulting
from association in the United Labor Policy Committee would strengthen
and improve the prospects of achieving a united labor movement on a sound
and constructive basis at the earliest possible date. The CIO's participation
in the United Labor Policy Committee and the continuation of the ULPC
were, in our opinion, completely compatible with efforts to achieve a united
labor movement. Only the enemies of organized labor can profit by the dissolution of the United Labor Policy Committee.
It will be our policy to continue cooperative relationships with AFL
unions at the local, state, national and international level, and representatives of our Union serving on government boards or in government agencies
have continued to cooperate with representatives of the AFL on such boards
and in such agencies.
We in the UAW-CIO believe deeply in the unity of all organized labor.
It is a goal toward which we shall continue to work with all the resources
at our command. The overwhelming importance of the economic, social
and political problems which face American labor far transcend any paltry
consideration of what union gets which worker’s dues dollar.
De-
is Director of the Skilled Trades
who
—"
Siroadening apprentice programs in America’s basic industries.
CIO Jurisdiction Agreement
The Executive Board of the National CIO last October adopted a pro‘@fgram to resolve jurisdiction problems within the “family” of CIO.
| The main points of the program, which was subsequently agreed to by
the International affiliates of CIO, had been worked out by the UAW-CIO
dand the United Steelworkers during their discussions of problems existing
~wibetween the CIO’s two largest affiliates.
While, on the whole, the CIO has been free from the type of jurisdic|
tional dispute
which
has weakened
other segments of organized labor, cer-
jtain practical organizational problems have arisen from time to time because
of the closely related jurisdictions of several CIO unions.
“Many of these cases have been amicably settled by agreement between
‘fthe parties with the aid of the National CIO,”
the Board pointed
“In
out.
other cases, there have been open campaigns in which one CIO affiliate
<< }competed with another in NLRB elections.”
The rules adopted by the Board provide general principles to guide CIO
funions in their organizational drives as they affect other CIO affiliates.
| _ They also provide for the establishment, as a court of final appeal, of the
-Joffice of CIO Organizational Disputes Arbitrator and define his functions.
|
We in the UAW-CIO looked at the United Labor Policy Committee as
an effective instrument by which labor could present a united front against
This Committee has held several meetings and, under the direction of
“Yjartment of the UAW-CIO, the Committee is working to mobilize support
Gehind our efforts to get the Wage Stabilization Board to act favorably on
jhe wage question, and steps are being taken to work out a joint apprentice
hirogram so that all of the CIO unions can move together in expanding and
_.
WORKER
Under
the
procedures
established,
representatives
of the
unions
con-
-}cerned in any jurisdictional dispute will meet promptly and attempt to re4solve it. If they fail, the National CIO Director of Organization will convene the national officers or representatives of the unions in an effort to
settle their differences.
As a third and final step, any union concerned, or the CIO Director of
Organization, may submit the dispute to the CIO Organizational Disputes
Arbitrator. (Dr.
George
W.
Taylor, former
member
of the War
Labor Board, was
selected to fill this post. His appointment was approved by the CIO Executive
Board.)
The Arbitrator will make his determination on the basis of what will
best serve the interests of the employes involved and will preserve the good
name and orderly functioning of the CIO.
The UAW-CIO believes that this jurisdiction agreement is not only
beneficial to the CIO but that it may prove to be an important tool to work
toward labor unity. If this system works well—and we believe it will—then
| we are sure that it will work as well between other unions as it does between
_ unions of the CIO. The question of jurisdiction, of course, is one of the
| most important roadblocks toward the achievement of labor unity.
Labor Unity
The
United
_ dissolved upon a motion by the AFL on August 28.
The ULPC was established to coordinate the efforts and pool the strength
of the various branches of the labor movement in a common effort to make
the maximum contribution to the mobilization program and to protect the
interests of working people during the emergency.
The CIO deeply regretted this move on the part of the AFL, and
urged unsuccessfully that the ULPC be continued and that, parallel
with the functioning of the ULPC, we meet on the problem of or-
ganic unity.
the free labor movement of the world, support the efforts. of the free nations
with whom we are allied in the building of adequate military, strength with
which to defend ourselves. However, we have said repeatedly that the struggle to make peace and freedom secure in the world in the face of the threat
of Communist tyranny cannot be won with guns alone. We need to be
strong to meet the threat of Communist tyranny on the battle front, but we
also must fight the threat of Communism on a positive basis by working on
the economic and social front to abolish poverty and hunger, which are the
sources of Communist power. America must be strong on the economic and
military fronts, but we must also develop the moral leadership to match our
economic and military leadership.
The historic fight of free labor for a better life proves conclusively that
where the average man and his family enjoy a measure of economic and
social justice, there Communism is weak, but where a few people enjoy great
wealth and luxury at the expense of the many who live their lives in the
midst of poverty and privation, there Communism’is strong, because it is
able to forge this poverty and human desperation that results therefrom into
power.
In every country in the world where there is a strong, free labor
movement, with the strength, the courage and the vision to win a
measure of economic and social justice for the great mass of people,
there Communism is without strength. It is an indisputable fact that
the free labor movement of the world is. freedom’s greatest bulwark
against the spread of Communism.
*
The UAW-CIO and the National CIO are affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, which is a world organization
composed of the free labor movements of the world, representing approximately 50 million organized workers in countries outside of the Iron Cur-
tain.
Working
through
the
International
Confederation
of Free
Trade
Unions, we are helping to build strong, free unions throughout the world,
so that workers everywhere can win the security and dignity to which people
everywhere aspire.
The American labor movement has supported the programs of
our government to help other people to help themselves in developing their economic resources, so that by their efforts they can raise
their living standards and improve their lives.
- The UAW-CIO is also affiliated with the International Metalworkers’
industries.
of Labor, CIO,
Machinists, wa’
for Peace
Working people all over the world share the same hopes and aspirations
—they want an opportunity to earn a decent living, to live at peace with
their neighbors, to enjoy a measure of economic and social justice, to have
the status and dignity of free men, and to be able to provide their children
with a better start in life than they had, so that their lives will have meaning
and be worthwhile.
The UAW-CIO joins with people of good will everywhere to win
a world of peace, freedom, justice and brotherhood. We pray-that
negotiations in Korea will result in an early and honorable peace, so
that the lives of our men can be spared.
While praying for peace, the people of the free world recognize and
accept the necessity of building adequate military strength to meet the threat
of Communist tyranny and aggression. We in the UAW-CIO, as a part of
Federation,
Labor Policy Committee, formed in January of 1951, and
composed of representatives of the American Federation
Railway Brotherhoods, and International Association of
Working
which
is an
organization
of
free
unions
At the last conference of the International
eration, I was elected
President of the Automotive
in the metalworking
Metalworkers’
Fed-
Division of the Interna-
tional Metalworkers’ Federation. The Automotive Division of the International Metalworkers’ Federation is coordinating the work of the free labor
unions of the world in the auto and truck industry in an effort to strengthen
their mutual efforts at collective bargaining to win better working conditions,
higher
wages,
shorter
hours,
and,
in general,
improve
the economic
and social position of workers in this industry.
The free labor movement of the world recognizes that peace, freedom
and the economic
well-being of all people are indivisible and that, therefore,
people of good will everywhere must work together if we are to build a
better world in which peace and freedom can be made secure, a world in
which the noble principles of the brotherhood of man can be given substance
in the everyday lives of people everywhere,
Page
UNITED
16
AUTOMOBILE
WORKER
‘Local 600
The
International
Executive
Board
found
it necessary to establish
administratorship over Local 600 on March 14, 1952, after full, fair ang (ii
democratic hearings. There was overwhelming evidence that the officers ol
Local 600 were violating the International UAW-CIO Constitution ang}is »
were
doing
great
damage
to the membership
a whole.
The International Executive
administratorship in order to:
Board
of the International
Union at}
j
voted
unanimously
to establish
a0
the) 4,
a}
1, Put an end to the influence and disruption in Local 600 of a small, Bir
well-disciplined Communist clique which, by maneuvering and a combina}
tion of political deals, had become able to use the official machinery of the) (i
Immediately following the UAW Unemployment Conference, these De Soto
workers, members of Local 227, put on a demonstration in support of their
Union’s program. The picket lines marched around the plant and in front of
the Company's main offices.
Finances
Local Union to exploit the prestige of Local 600 and carry out Communist)
policies detrimental to the best interests of Ford workers and our Union.
|
2. Effectively meet and solve the problems of Ford workers. The pros},
gram of Communist disruption had played into the’hands of the Ford Motos) (79!
Company, which was able to escape meeting its obligations to the Ford) |
workers by taking full advantage of the division created by the Commnunisell He
The Communists were more interested in playing politics with the problems) >
of Ford workers than they were in settling those problems.
3.
Get the truth and the facts to the membership
of Local 600.
Control}
if
and abuse of Ford Facts was the most effective weapon the Communist) })
Party had in carrying out its program of disruption. Through falsification) ++}
and misrepresentation in Ford Facts, the Communists sought to drive a}
wedge
between
Ford
Rouge
workers
who are the UAW-CIO family.
and the rest of the 1,250,000 members}
In doing so, they violated Article XXVIII |
Section 8, of the Constitution, which states:
Under the careful and efficient stewardship of Secretary-Treasurer Emil Mazey,
the
financial
situation
of our
Union
con-
tinues to be sound. Our resources increased
substantially during
1951 and during the
first quarter of this year.
As of the first of
this year, our net worth was nearing the $9
million mark, while our liquid assets were
more than $6 million.
Our
Union
is continuing
its policy of
periodic detailed financial reports, which
are published in the United Automobile
Worker.
These reports are submitted in
the belief that every member is entitled to
know
where
every penny
of his Union's
money goes.
In accordance with the decision of our
last convention, the bulk-of our increased
expenditures has gone into organizing.
This subject is dealt with more fully in the
section of this report headed “Organization
Progress.”
Despite our improved financial progress, we are continuing our efforts
to economize in order to insure maximum results from each dues dollar of
our membership.
EMIL
MAZEY
Solidarity House
Solidarity House, rlew headquarters of the UAW-CIO, was dedicated
June 9, 1951, “to the memory and in honor of the men and women who gave
of themselves—their courage, loyalty and strength in the building of the
UAW-CIO.”
By the end of June, the building was occupied. Many UAW departments
and offices scattered around Detroit were brought together under one roof,
thus contributing immensely to the operating efficiency of the Union and
saving expensive rentals.
The building, in both construction and arrangement, has proved to be
wholly satisfactory—as it must be, since the International Headquarters of
America’s largest and most progressive Union is one of the busy nerve centers of our national life. It is the scene of UAW ‘International Executive
Board meetings, daily conferences with local union delegations, meetings
with industry and government officials, and is visited frequently by trade
union and other delegations from abroad and by student and civic groups.
POSTMASTER:
of
address
67B)
No.
E,
and
3579
on
Send
Form
copies
(Canada,
Washington
notices
3578
returned
labels
St.,
of
(Canada,
under
No. 29B)
Indianapolis
change
Form
labels
to 2457
7,
Ind.
e Local publications shall conform with the policies of the International)
Union.”
4. Stop irresponsible action which was doing great harm to the whole+ |
Union. Publication of malicious and false material and other irresponsible } |||
actions by the leadership of Local 600 have been exploited to the utmost by}
4|
in our organizational
|)
anti-labor companies, other enemies of our Union, and by competing unions
work.
The
Board’s
action was
taken
after numerous?
UAW-CIO local unions had bitterly protested the irresponsible actions of } |
the leadership of Local 600 and had repeatedly demanded that the Interna-} |
tional Union
take steps to protect the membership
against these irresponsible actions.
A number
of critical NLRB
of the Union
as a whole
collective bargaining elections were
lost by the UAW-CIO as a direct result of the anti-union character of
FORD FACTS and other materials published by the leadership of
Local 600.
There
has never
been
at any time
in this situation
right of local union officers or any other UAW-CIO
disagree
with
the officers of the International
any question
of the
members to criticize or
Union.
That
right is fully
guaranteed in our Constitution and will be fought for as vigorously by the
present administration of the International Union as by anyone else.
actions of Local 600 officers have not been
ship—they
anti-International
Union
The
leader-
have been anti-union and have been exploited as such by anti-
labor forces throughout the nation.
It was the compelling necessity to put
a stop to these activities of Local 600 officers that forced the International
Executive Board to establish an administratorship over the Local Union.
Eternal vigilance is the price that every individual union mémber must
pay for the preservation of sound unionism. The International Union,
UAW-CIO,
is proud of the manner in which the rank-and-file members of
UAW-CIO
Constitution, rid their local unions of any Communist influence.
the UAW-CIO have successfully met with courage the Communist penetration into labor unions and have, through the democratic processes of the
We are confident that the workers at the Ford Rouge plant will meet this
challenge with equal courage and success.
Teamwork
More
in Leadership
than four years after our historic 1947 International Convention,
where we solidly welded our ranks together, the slogan we raised then still
holds good—"Solidarity in the Ranks; Teamwork in Leadership.”
The steady progress we have made on all fronts has been due to the solid
backing by the rank and file of the cooperative efforts of our International
officers and International Executive Board members. I want personally to
thank Secretary-Treasurer Emil Mazey, Vice-Presidents Richard Gosser and
John W. Livingston and members of the International Executive Board for
their cooperation, their hard work and their unfailing devotion to union
principles. Their contributions to the work of the Union have made possible
the year of progress recorded in this report.
With sincere and fraternal good
CIO and their families, this report is
wishes
to all members
of the
UAW-
Respectfully submitted,
be
President.
}//)
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