» All India TUC Confere Establishment Of N FE pect AFL 'o Take Part -ONDON (ALN)—There (2 good chance that the at- lide of the AFL executive meil against participation . be reversed before the next por conference is convened in is in September, Courtney rd, president of the Ohio neil of Painters, Paperhang- and Decorators (AFI) told ed Labor News. Ward, who mice the executive council’s meott of the world labor con- Bnce and came here as an of- ul observer for his union, ex- sed appreciation for the fine epiion he received from all gates, “especially the CIO.” ‘ard stated that he is short- eturninge to the U.S. to tour 4 unions in order to report @he conference, adding: “I am i} the Federation must even- Phe Red Army had this 550-pound, six-foot cake for its 27th birthday at a party given by Russian War Relief Inc. at Cargenie Hall in New York. Presented to Russian War Relief by Bakers Local 1, Bakery and Confectionery Workers Intl. Union (AFL), the cake was actually eaten next day by wounded US. veterans at Halloran Hospital. Here Ist Lt. F. E. Suehle, USAAF fighter pilot, makes the presentation to Lt. Col. A. Strogalev, Red Army hero. | SIDNEY HILLMAN affiliate to whatever organization is set up by onference.” He said that j & of the British Trades Congress, had advised him est applying for permission (tend the sessions of the sence continuations com-|he as an observer because it 7 Offend the AFL. WwW # an interview with the lester Guardian given ito his departure for Paris, e, Hillman stated: “The Hbership of the AFL, | from its political heads, Fund to be drawn into fw current of thought. Just @2 AFL membership threw § vote with the CIO-PAC’s #n program last year, so do Beve it will respond again | Hillman further stated Whe progress made toward Shment of a new world ® organization “exceeded Puy brightest expectations” filed the “absolute unanim- st the constitutional com- © 2S well as the “singleness irpose” of the entire con- to. its power to help. world trade Kyne ie Unions LONDON (ALN)—Sidney Hillman, visiting Paris on Hilman went Paris at the conclusion of the union conference accompanied by Martin of the United Retail, holesale and Warehouse Work- re, ers, Michael Ross of the Indus- trial Union of Marine and Ship- building Workers and John Abt, general counsel of the Amalga- mated Clothing Workers. Praising the work of the French delegation at the London conference, Hillman stated: “The conference recognized the posi- tion that the General Confedera- ticn of Labor (CGP) occupies in the life of France and in the international sphere. the basis of merit that France received a place of full equality with Hngland, the Soviet Union and the U-S. on all the leading bodies of the new international organization. It was in recogni- It was on as tion of the decisive importance behalf of the CIO at the invitation of the French trade union movement, told a meeting of 3,000 French labor leaders that the CIO is aware of the grave problems confronting the falter Citrine, general sec-|French people and will do all-in of France and of the French trade unions in the reconstruc- tion of Hurope that Paris was selected as the headquarters of the new organization.” The French trade unions, which are united with the Soviet unions in the Franco-Soviet Trade Union Committee and with British vnions in the Anglo-French Trade Union Committee, have proposed that a similar tie be established with American labor. CIO delegates have indicated that they will propose the forma- tion of such a committee to in- elude the AFI and railroad brotherhoods. Louis Saillant, CGT general secretary, who made a similar proposal, to the AFL representative at the meet- ing of the International Federa- tion of Trade Unions here re- eently, pointed out that although American labor is divided, it Continued on Page 15 Volume 1, No. 18, March 10, 1945 |. BOMBAY (AEN) —= twenty-first session in Madras Since the AITUC session in Nagpur in May 1943, member- ship was reported to have in- ereased by almost 50 percent, nearing the *500,000 mark today. At Nagpur, the membership of 352,000 had set a record. Hight hundred and fifty-five delegates, nearly three times the number at Nagpur, attended, and the number of affiliated unions Similarly increased from 209 to 416. All industries and all prov- inces of British India, together with some of the largest Native states; were represented. Textile and railways, with the largest memberships, sent 200 and 108 delegates respectively; engineering sent 117: mining. 34; jute 41; shipping 30; transport other than railways 44> and minor industries 165. One of the most important features of the sessiens was the fact that 24 huge majority of the delegates were actual industrial workers, coming direct from workshops, mines, ete. Speeches had to be translated into two or more languages, unlike in previous sessions where English was used. In addition, 145 new unions, whose applications for member- ship were accepted, attended, in- eluding the Calcutta Seamen’s Union, led by Aftab Ali. The latter union had been affiliated with the government-backed In- dian Federation of Labor, which fell apart last December with the resignation of Ali, who was vice-president, and the IL president Jamnadas Mehta. Ali, whose union was the only large IFL affiliate, attended the Phila- delphia sessions of the Interna- tional Labor Office last year along with Mehta. COMPLETE UNITY The highlight of the meeting: was its complete unity—all reso- lutions were passed unanimous- ly, something which had never before happened in the ATITUC’s history. The sessions were epen- ed in the absence of ATITUG president S. A. Dange, who was in London attending the world labor conference, by Qurban, a Communist from the Punjab, whose designation was by unani- mous vote. He paid tribute to the work Dange was doing: in London for Indian labor. Criticizing the existing wage policy, @urban, the first CGom- munist to preside over AITUG sessions, said -that the increase in the cost of living since 1939 had reduced the purchasing pow- er of every rupee (33 cents) from five to eight annas (11 to 17 cents). The dearness allow- ance, where granted, was too small and in many cases “con- stituted utter mockery,” he to be the voice of the countrys workers. the most representative in Indian labor history. nce Demands ational Govt. Declaring that the All-India Trades Union Congress has spread rapidly from the textile and transport industries to the plantations and engineering industries, Vice-president F. E. ‘Qurban told the AITUC’s recently that it can now claim The session was ban declared, profits -since 1939 in the jute industry had risen by 100 percent. in cotton by more than 600 percent, in engineerine by 225 percent and the general index by 327 percent. PRODUCTION SABOTAGED Referring to the country-wide shortage of coal, he declared that the mine owners were sabo- taging production in order to raise their profits, adding: “The government is responsible to the people, it should have taken over the control of all mines and operated _ them.” Qurban pro- tested the continued detention of Congress and labor leaders, stating: “The release of na- tional leaders forms the key to the present political that the deadlock (between the Congress and the Muslim lLea- gue) be ended and that a nation al government really represent- ing the people be immediately installed so that our full resour- ces and manpower can be util- ized in the democratic ‘cause of defeating Japan.” Congratulatine- the workers on their “exemplary patience and patriotism,” Qurban con- tinued: “We realize that in the midst of famine, when our coun- trymen and countrywomen are hungrily looking to us to bring: their food from distant places, it would “have been wrong to withheld labor even though we had our grievances.” A unanimously adopted poli- tical resolution demanded the establishment of a national £ov- ernment, responsible to the peo- ple, and pledged labor’s whole- hearted support for the efforts of such political leaders as Mo- handas K. Gandhi and Moham- med Ali Jinnah to resolve differ- ences and secure the transfer of power to the Indian people. Another resolution demanded the release of Congress leaders and the removal of all restric- tions on civil liberties. In othes resolutions, the AIT UC sent its fraternal greetings to the workers of Britain and acknowledged their support for India’s national demand. An in: vitation was extended to the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions of the USSR to send a delegation to visit India. The victories of the Red Army were hailed as “helping the cause of freedom of other na- tions.” The newly-elected presi- dent is Inalkant Bose. General secretary N. M. Joshi was re- elected and Dange, former presi- dent, was elected one of five added. Qn the other hand, Qur- vice-presidents. situation. ~ Labor has repeatedly demanded.