a

U.S. labor shows political strength ©
hy defeat of anti-labor measures

S & FRANCISCO

One of the most significant de-

velopments of the U.S. election campaign was the strength

displayed by labor in securing the defeat of anti-labor
laws in five out of six states, despite the virulent anti-

to work”

“right

labor campaign of the past two years.

The 1 of defeat ranged
from almost 2 to 1 in Califor-
nia and Colorado to a _ hair-

breadth in Idaho.

The
was
State
Ohio

open shop
Washington

compulsory
rejected by
voters, 5 to 3, and by

voters, 3 to 2.

Kan-
4 to

Only in agricultural
sas did the measure pass,
3.

In Indiana, Republican Go-
rold W. Handley, who
labor by

“right to

ernor Ha
had double-crossed
failing to veto a
work” measure passed by the
legislature, was defeated in his

bid for a US.

~

Senate seat.

fight
work”

In California, the

against the “right to

sroposition stirred the state’s
1,600,000 organized workers
into a fury of doorbell ringing
leaflet distribution un-
d in recent years.

and
equalle
labor generally sup-

the Democratic ticket,
depend on the Demo-

While
ported
it didn’t

erats for leadership in the
fight to defeat the “right to
work” measure — Proposition

18 on the California ballot.

Labor established its own
precinct organization and con-
own campaign. In
one day, through a mobiliza-
tio of trade unionists, it dis-
tributed election material to
251,000 of a total of 284,000
households in Alemeda County.

ducted its

; The question, for the future
i: To what extent will labor
develop its own forms of poli-
tical activity, as in the cam-
paign against the “right to
work” measure, rather than
rely upon its alliance with the

Democratic Party?

The victory of Democratic
Edmund G. Brown over Re-
publican William F. Knowland

in the California gubernatorial
race is more than a defeat
for the man who has become
known as “the senator for For-
mosa” because of his support
for John Foster Dulles . and
Chiang Kai-shek in the U.S.
Senate — it is also a major
blow, delivered in his home
state of California, to Vice-
President Richard Nixon’s 1960
presidential aspirations.

Nixon helped to promote
Knowland over Governor
Goodwin F. Knight as the
Republican Party’s candidate

‘Democratic

L
SENATOR KNOWLAND
The voters retired him

for Now, as one re-
sult of
Nixon will go to the Republi-
1960

does

governor.
Knowland’s_ defeat,

can convention in with

a delegation which not

control its own state.

At the same time, Nixon
faces a new challenger for
the Republican presidential
nomination in Nelson Rocker-
feller, flushed with his vic-
tory over Democratic incumb-
ent Averell Harriman in the
“millionaires’ race’ for the
New York governorship.

Harriman’s defeat was a re-
buff to Tammany Hall and its
boss, Carmine DeSapio. At the
New York state convention of
the Democratic Party, De-
Sapio’s machine over-rode the
Liberal Party, which has func-
tioned as an independent ad-
junct of the Democrats, in its
selection of candidates. It was
a victory for the machine, but
it contributed to Harriman’s
defeat.

One consequence of the
victory, as the
San Francisco People’s World
points out in arguing for in-
dependent political action by
labor, is that “big business at-
tentions and favors will be. in-
creasingly lavished on _ the
party as it controls Congress
and a majority of state houses
and bids fair to take the
presidency in 1960.

“We have witnessed such a
development in California. As
Edmund G. Brown gained in
his race against Knowland, so
did he gain big money ad-
herents including the Hearst
press. And as these influences
grew in the campaign the
position on issues was watered
down.”

Algerian vote
sham charged

CAIRO — The

Algeria, of physically torturing

provisional

cusing the de Gaulle regime in
France of using terrorist meth-

od to force Algerians to
in-

the

candidates and to

the

stand as
fluence outcome of
November 30 elections.

French military authorities

are accused of threatening Al-

gerians who refuse to stand
as candidates and, in one cited
instance at Mila in eastern
Algeria, of physical torturing
men who refused to put their

names forward.

The control commission sent
from Paris to supervise the
elections has reported that
lack of representative Moslem
candidates will deprive the
elections of any semblance ‘of
validity. So far Algiers is the
only in-which candidate
lists been announced

city
have

pepe ae
This coming Wednesday, November 19, has been designate

as British Columbia Day,

swearing in at old Fort Langley (above) of Governor James
Douglas of Vaneouver Island as governor of the new crow?

colony of Columbia.

marked by

British

has been restored at an estimated cost of $250,000.

TEN YEAR SURVEY

U.S. production up 37 percent :
but 12 percent fewer workefs |

NEW YORK Production
in the United States has risen
by 37 percent over the past
decade.

But this tremendous increase
of goods produced was achiev-
ed with 12 percent fewer em-
ployees.

This information, which
would apply equally in Can-
ada, was released recently by
Standard and Poor Corpora-
tion, researchers and statisti-
cians for big business.

The Wall Street Journal, big
business mouthpiece, tells a
similar story of “. soar-
ing output with man-
power.”

The Journal confirmed the
point: already made by union
researchers that the uptrend
in production far outruns the
rate of recall of workers to
jobs.

The indication is that many
workers now unemployed will
not get back their old jobs
in manufacturing industry.

Standard and Poor sees the
phenomenal upswing stemming
from new facilities, lengthen-
ing of the work-week without
going to overtime or adding
employees, tightening up ef-
fected: all down the line dur-

less

ing the
better

recession period and
employee discipline.

In a five year period, when
productivity figures were
reaching an all-time high, em-
ployment fell off in the US.
by better than two million
workers. “The recession led to
elimination of ‘deadwood’ and
a general tightening up of la-
bor force.” is the way -Stand-
ard and Poor seeks to explain
what -trade unionists simply
call “speedup.”

Rising even faster than pro-
ductivity, says Standard and
Poor, are profits, “and with
sales currently rising, profit
margins should widen percept-
ibly "3. there are strong
reasons for feeling that corp-
orate profits . . . will be
running at an annual rate of
$42 billion or more .. .”

At the same time U.S. gov-
ernment economists note “in-
creased resistance by employ-
er to wage demands.” What
the employers term ‘“moder-
ate (low) wage boosts” will
be absorbed, it is noted, ‘‘on an
over-all basis as a result of
the markedly increased indust-
rial productivity.”

Although none of the busi-
ness organizations and jour-

November 14, 1958 —

* 14

the 100th anniversary of

fy

The anniversary will a i

an official ceremony at. Fort Langley, whi ti
iM

oh

. : \

nals that reported this st
ing information on int at I
productivity and employ™ t
decline mentioned it, the 7. \
tire piece reads like 4 P® te |
ful argument for the shor |
work week. sti iy

Here is some of the 5# f \
cal data included in the at

Street Journal article: at we y

e From the low pol ro" ih
1949 to the peak of 1953 Fy
due tion in manufacll the
jumped 43 percent. Duri sy
same period of time wor i
staffs only went up 9 ee
cent. “and

®@ Between mid-1954 be
1956 factory production ‘th fh
ed another 20 percent wi |
increase in staff of 0”

percent. ;

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