t

Truman Labor Policies Condemned
By Philip Murray, ClO President

WASHINGTON, D.c. — Mass strikes in the basic industries of the United States,

. “ts in. Detroit are
kitchen. While officials of United Auto Workers
er President Truman’s back-to-work

keting in December is eold work, so these General Motors
quick to take advantage of their mobile

(CIO), | F
proposal, they continue ;}2 $2 a day wage increase were

fight for UAW’s 30 percent wage demand on the picketiine.

which began as straight econo
developed into a major politica
in American politics and may

This became clear this week
as CIO president Philip Murray,

leaving no doubt as to his com-
plete break with the Troman
administration, reiterated the
CIO’s opposition to President
Truman’s proposal for 30-day
“cooling - off” legislation as
“viciously anti-labor and an at-
tack upon our basic democratic
rights.” Murray’s latest attack
on Truman came in connection
with his announcement that the
650,000 members of the United
Steel Workers of America would
strike the nation’s steel, alum-
inum and iron ore industries on

| January 14 unless demands for

met.

liners Raise

iner Demand For Sound
age Policies, Ask Controls

A realistic program on wages and hours to meet the new conditions arising in the

ers,
in Boilermakers Hall..

7) -ommenting on-the convention, Harvey Murphy, District Representative,
gence of the International Union of Mine,

organization in British Columbia as a mature and effective
sful struggle to achieve the results desired by the

convention marks the emer

Ser Workers’

It prepares the union for a succes

= sership.”’ =}
— union is united and con-
© that it will win the mini-
@ ourly wage demands and
| 2cure and a better life for
= people”.

chief demands raised by
vention, include:

40-hour week with over-
ety of time and one half.
'y for unworked statutory
»: and double pay if holi-
oorked.
— suarantee of at least 1900
.f work a year or it wage
e nt.

_ minimum rate of $1.10
_r for miners and corres-
adjustments. for al}

-orkers.

sie week’s vacation with
workers with seniority
‘year or more and two
- or every two years’ gser-
; more. :

=k leave pay up to two
jach year.

e month’s severance pay
-ployees with one year’s
-and two months for two
©1 the case of permanent

ENGE EMPLOYERS

hallenge to employer
who are taking advant-
f what. they consider
‘weakened’ position fol-
the conclusion of the
made in the recommen-
of the Wages and Policy
jtee. “While employer
-express their arrogance
‘labor by refusing to ne-
in good faith, by reducing
‘andards and by pursuing
uit offensive against la-
ranks of labor are clos-
“orkers are joining our
‘ greater numbers than
fore ... War veterans,
the press-inspired cam-

[C ADVOCATE — PAGE

‘version and postwar activities of the International Union of Mine, Mil and Smelter
Distrist 7, was adopted at the 3rd District Convention; held in Vancouver this

=

told P.A.,
Mill and
organiza-

mic struggles over wages and conditions, have inevitably
I battle whose outcome foreshadows an entirely new lineup
vitally affect the outcome of the 1948 presidential elections.

Earlier the CIO president had
announced that two and a half
milion workers in other major
industries will have taken strike
votes by January 1 on the same
general demand for a 80 percent
wage increase to offset cost-of-
living rises and postwar de-
creases in pay envelopes.

BREAK WITH TRUMAN
Interest in the progress of the
General Motors strike and the
coming tieup in steel was temp-
orarily overshadowed, however,
by the significance of Philip
Murray’s break with President
Harry S. Truman last week. In
a nationwide broadcast, Murray
strongly rejected Truman’s pro-

posal to Congress for resolving.

labor conflicts, declaring that
ths CIO “is opposed to the basic
policies of the administration.”

It was the most serious at-
tack on a Democratic adminis-
tration by either the AFL or the
CIO since the late President
Roosevelt took office in 1933,
and taken with an earlier at-
tack on Truman’s’ proposed
legislation by AFL president
Green, placed a big question
mark before the labor move-
ment’s continued support of the
Democratic. party.

At a later press conference,
the CIO president made it clear
that although his criticism of
the Truman administration did

paign of slander against labor
to which they~ have ben subject-
ed, emerge from the battle front
fight against fascism aware that
their interests lie with those of
their fellow workers’’.

PRICE CONTROLS

Delegates to the convention
also went on record as favoring
‘vigorous and unrelenting fight
to maintain price controls to sup-
plement the wage program.”
“We know that wartime profits
have swollen their already well
filled treasuries. We know that
the cost of bread. butter, meat
and clothing, and the other
necessities of life have risen far
above any meager wage im-
provements labor has secured
during the war. Canada must
have improved wage conditions
in order to maintain even the
wartime standards of living”.

In support of the demands for
the maintenance of controls, the
statement points out that “it
serves no purpose to secure a
30 percent greater wage if next
day we must pay. 40 percent
more for our clothing, food
and other commodities necessary
for our sustenance. This fight to
contrel prices which labor all
over America has carried on dur-
ing the war is basic in the whole
struggle of the people. Manufac-
turers are sitting on their hands,
und the promised automobiles,
refrigerators, badly needed hous-
ing, the so-called pent-up demand
for every kind of consumer goods
remains unfulfilled because em-
pleyers do not choose to produce
goods unless they are permitted
to take advantage of. scarcity

Continued on page 8)
See WAGE POLICY

Jobless Rally

Will Urge

Action On 4-Point Program

Cambie Street Grounds in Vancouver will be the scene
of the first postwar unemployed rally, when it is expected
that hundreds of Vancouver jobless will meet to demand
action by all goverments to meet the growing crisis.

The meeting, called under the

sponsorship of the Labor-Pro- j

gressive Party, will hear Austin
Delany, LPP City Organizer.}|
Maurice Rush, LPP Provincial
Organizer, Jack Phillips, Chair-
man LPP Veterans’ Commission,
all three of whom are veterans

with overseas service, and Garry |.

Culhane, Secretary Shipyard
General Workers’ Federation.

A four-point program to end
the unemployment crisis will be
placed before the meeting. Points
included in the program are:

@ A Federal billion dollar
housing scheme.

® Immediate action on Dom-
inion, Provincial, and Municipal’
public works schemes. ~ |

@ Immediate implementation
of the 40-hour week with no re-

{duction in take-home pay.

@ Increase of unemployment:
insurance: benefits by 50 percent,

In calling upon unemployed to
rally to the meeting, the LPP
points out that there are two and
one half times as many un-
employed as there are jobs with
one thousand men and women be-
ing added to the unemployed
rolls each week. It points out that
a modest estimate of the number
of unemployed. veterans sets the
figure at 8,500, with a 18 per-
cent drop in income from. Sep-

tember 1943 to September 1945.

Austin Delany, urging unem-
ployed to> suport the meeting,
told P.A. “Mass protest against
government inactivity and indif-
ference is the only measure left
to the people of Vancouver to
end unemployment. Mackenzie
King and Premier Hart are ap-
apparently waiting for a major
depression before. they move.
Workers, veterans and labor gen-
erally refuses to wait.”

“From the various suggestions
made to end unemployment the
four ‘main points stressed in our
program to end unemployment

| emerge. If carried out properly,

the present problems would. not
exist.”

“A double edged drive is be-
ing made against Vancouver’s
living standards,” a leaflet. is-
sued by the LPP City Commit-
tee warns. “Thousands of wor-
kers are without employment:
and take-home pay of workers
is dropping sharply.” .

Quoting from an article pub-
lished in the daily press which
stated, “Some observers say un-
employment is caused by .the pri-
mary industries themselves
marking time —~ and adding to
unemployment in the hope that
wage scales will drop,” .the-leaf-
let charges that Federal, Provin-

(Continued on page 8)
See RALLY

Action Committee.

| present

break between the CIO and the
Democrats, it did mean that. la-
bor would not support President
Truman for reelection in 1948.

In his. message to Congress,
President Truman proposed that
legislation be enacted providing
a 30 day cooling-off period be-
fore strikes can be called, and
for presidential authorization to
establish fact-finding boards in
major industries where disputes
threatened.

Murray charges that Presi-
dent Truman’s proposals, already
put in the form of a legislative
bil, were designed to ‘weaken
and ultimately destroy the trade
unions,” and that the adminis-
tration was yielding in “abject
cowardice” to the arrogance of
the big industrialists. :

“This legislation marks -a
very serious | departure from
the policies which the people
of this country have repeatedy.
approved in recent years un-_
der the leadership of President
Roosevelt,” Murray asserted.
“We have known of previous
periods in American history.
when rapacious industry, by _
greedily seeking ever-increas-
ing profits, has for a time suc-
ceeded in the endeavor. But in
the wake of these policies has
come economic disaster. To
date the federal administra-
tion, while tolerating without
adverse comment a virtual sit-
down strike by industry, has
completey ignored the grave -
human problems whiéh stand
unsolved.”

Such sharp language by the
leader of millions of workers in
basic industry indicates two
major facts, in the opinion of
many labor observers.

First, it shows that the lead-
ership of many unions, both CIO
and AFL, are beginning to rid
themselves of the dangerous il-
lusion, based on their wartime
experience under Roosevelt, that
the administration can be count-
ed upon to “save the situation”
by last-minute intervention, and
are now relying more firmly
upon the organized bargaining
strength of their memberships. |

Second, it raises again the pos-
sibility of a third party move-
ment taking shape, based upon
the trade unions and with the
experience gathered from _ the
activities of the CIO Political
Such a de
velopment, forecast scme two
years ago as “a possibility” by
Murray, will of course depend:

upon the extent to which the

existing leadership -of the AFL:
can either be thrown out or their.
reactionary policies:
changed. aed

Meanwhile no progress has
been made toward -a settlement.
of the General Motors strike
The corporation’s action this.
wek in cancelling their contract

with the United Automobile:
Workers of America has con-.
vinced .the. union membership

that the struggle, contrary to
the over-optimistic assertions of:
vice-president Walter Reuther,
would be a drawn-out affair.

‘This was behind the UAW de-

cision this week to assess the
entire membership at least $1
to strengthen the strike fund.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1945