'LABOR AND CIVIL

RIGHTS' BOOKET

Vice President Albin J. Gruhn,chairman of the Federation's stand-ing committee on Civil Rights, thisweek urged cooperative action onthe part of affiliated labor organi-zations throughout the state "toimplement the California LaborFederation's policies and programsin the field of civil rights."On behalf of the Committee,

Gruhn sent all affiliates a conven-ient booklet titled "Labor and CivilRights" containing all the importantcivil rights policies and programsadopted by the 1959 convention ofthe California Labor Federation inSan Diego.Members of the committee in-

clude, besides Gruhn, Vice Presi-dents Robert Clark, Harry Finks,C. T. Lehmann, Robert O'Hare, andJerome Posner.

In forwarding the booklet, Gruhnwarned "programmatic resolutionsadopted by state labor conventionshave only a minimum value unlessthey are implimented by the affili-ated organizations of the CaliforniaLabor Federation.""We count on your organization

to help follow through on theseprograms and policies set forth

(Continued on Page 3)

Atekly Nov. 13, 1959N7 Vol. 1-No. 42

Ne ette r~~~~~~~~~~~~

Published by California Labor Fdoratlon, AFL-CIO

16=,15i

New T-H Curbs Take EffectAs Steelworkers Get Axe

Five hundred thousand steelworkers forced back to work against theirwill provided the backdrop this week for new Taft-Hartley curbs takingeffect under the Landrum-Griffin Act.

The new law's restrictions on "hot cargo" agreements, recognitionpicketing and secondary boycotts are among Taft-Hartley amendmentswhich became operative this Fri-day, November 13th-almost simul- ganizations which have remainedtaneous with the application of the "aloof and outside" the politicalT-H emergency injunction to break action structure of the state AFL-the steelworkers' strike. CIO movement, Haggerty asked:The bitter sequence stirred trade "Is there anyone in the labor

unionists across the nation as re- movement who still doubts that eco-peated calls to action were issued nomic and political action are butto combat the anti-labor trend. two sides of the same coin?"State Political Action Call "This is a desperate and an hon-

C. J. Haggerty, Secretary-Treas- est appeal," Haggerty said, "to dourer of the California Labor Council something about a most urgenton Political Education, urged poli- until y C itical mobilization of all AFL-CIO Until every AFL-CIOrnion inunions in the state. tChOePEtathe added "theosta Labor

In an urgent letter to local or- mOPEm,he ain t.h stnatiein lbor

SANTA BARBARA CONFERENCE TO HEAIRROSS ON COLLECTIVE BA$RGAINING

A review of the Road Ahead in Collective Bargaining will be among

the featured events at next week's conference on the new labor law in SantaBarbara, it was announced this Tuesday, by Secretary-Treasurer C. J.Haggerty.

Dr. Arthur M. Ross, Director of the Institute of Industrial Relations,has been engaged to survey developments in this important field as His subject will cover relatedthe concluding conference speaker aspects of law enforcement in Cali-at a luncheon session on Thursday, fornia.November 19, Haggerty said. Dr. Ross, a recognized authority

Ross joins a long list of labor at- in the field of collective bargainingtorneys and other labor relations and industrial relations generally,authorities who will be on hand for will discuss, among other things,the four-day session, sponsored changes in employer bargainingjointly with the University of Cali- practices; the developing issue offornia at the Mar Monte Hotel in working rules and practices; the ef-Santa Barbara, November 16-19. fect of monetary policies, concernAs previously announced, state over inflation, and the problem of

Attorney General Stanley Mosk is foreign trade; and the possibility ofscheduled to address a luncheon further legislation on industrial dis-session on Tuesday, November 17. (Continued on Page 3)

MVVIUL DJUwav pualv;alsoias pVIsv-saman fighting a difficult and toughbattle wth one arm tied behind hisback."The AFL-CIO leader called for an

immediate decision on the part ofall unions to join COPE.New T.H RestrictionsUnder the Landrum-Griffin bill,

signed by the President on Septem-ber 14th, some provisions becameeffective immediately, others amonth later on October 14th.

Reports on the structure of un-ions, their constitutions and by-lawsare due on December 13th.The following restrictions went

into effect this Friday, November13th:Secondary boycotts. T a f t-Hart-

ley's ban was tightened by applyingit to pressure put directly on a sec-ondary employer instead of throughhis workers, persuading workers ofa secondary employer to join theboycott individually and inducingrailroad and public employes, other-

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S-tate EmployeesContest SocialSecurity VoteA rally of State Employees back-

ing litigation to contest a recentelection in which a proposed coor-dination of the State EmployeesRetirement System with the Fed-eral Social Security program wasdefeated, was held this Monday inSan Francisco.Announcement of the meeting

was made by Frank D. Rohmer, aconsultant in the State Departmentof Industrial Relationes. An initialmeeting had been held a week ear-lier with 50 State employees fromthe Bay Area and northern andsouthern California in attendance.Monday's session considered the

petition for a w r i t of mandate,sought by Rohmer, to invalidate therecent election. The matter wasscheduled to come before SuperiorJudge Orla St. Clair, this Friday,November 13, at 10:00 A.M.The complaint a 11 e g e s among

other matters that "vicious and mis-leading propaganda was distributedwith the ballots.""Among t h e misleading state-

ments," Rohmer said today, "ap-peared the following: that SocialSecurity was not safe and was a'welfare' program and implied thatthis kind of charity was beneath thedignity of State employees. Yet60,000,000 citizens are contributigto Social Security and 13,400,000,approximately, are being p a id$10,000,000,000 a year out of thisfund. This large sum is security forthe aged, unemployed, w i d o w s,children and disabled, and a cushionthat protects us against a repetitionof a depression and a means ofmaintaining a sound economy in anation with the highest standard ofliving in the world. Wild chargesagainst this basic American systemwere unjustifiable abuses, whichshould invalidate the defeat of ef-forts to bring more security to Stateemployees."Some 42 states and thousands of

cities, counties and other politicalentities already have such a plan ineffect."The vote of the State employees

was 43,000 Noes to 32,000 whofavored the plan. A majority vote infavor of Social Security would havestill permitted those who wished toretain the present State retirementprogram without change.

Aitomation Spurs Negotiated Layoff Pay PlansThe increased pace of technology,

coupled with spreading joblessnessin recent years, has led to a sharpstep-up in the rtumber 6f severancepay plans written into labor-mange-ment agreements, according to theOctober issue of the AFL-CIO Col-lective Bargaining Report.

Approximately 25 percent of allcurrent contracts- covering some35 percent of all workers protectedby collective bargaining agreements-now contain some severance payprovisions, the monthly publicationof the AFL-CIO Dept. of Researchpointed out.The publication singled out for

special attention the severance payprovisions in Newspaper Guild con-tracts, which "help deter arbitraryor hasty firing," and the specialprogram recently negotiated withArmour & Co. by the Meat Cuttersand the Packinghouse Workers todeal with workers problems arisingout of automation.

Severanee plans, the publicationsaid, "have gained increasing ac-ceptance as a helpful and desirablemeans of easing the impact on work-ers of loss of employment." It point-ed out that such programs help com-pensate the laid-off worker "insome measure" for loss of such jobrights as seniority, vacations andpensions.

In addition, severance pay "isalso warranted as compensation fordisruption in living patterns" and"to provide financial aid to thelaid-off o r discharged worker,"Collective Bargaining Report con-tinued.

Added Job Protection"To some extent," it went on,

"severance pay also may serve as aform of job protection. Particularlywhere the plan calls for relativelylarge severance payments, the em-ployer may have a financial incent-ive to keep the worker on the joband to take steps other than layoffor discharge to meet changes inoperating conditions."Although severance pay provi-

sions date back to before WorldWar II, the Dept. of Research said.it is only in recent years that theyhave spread widely.A Dept. or Labor study made in

1944 found severance pay provi-sions in only 5 percent of agree-ments. This percentage inched upto 8 percent by 1950, and to 16percent of contracts - covering

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about 25 percent of the workers-by 1956.

Since 1956, about 2 million addi-tional workers have been coveredby negotiated provisions for sever-ance pay, mainly as the result ofnegotiations by the Auto Workersand the Ladies' Garment Workers.

Distressed AreaAction Urged

Labor Sec. James P. Mitchell hasbeen urged to give "priority con-sideration" to a program aimed ateasing chronic unemployment inthe nation's distressed areas.The proposal came from the 24-

member Federal Advisory Councilon Employment Security, composedof representatives of labor, manage-ment and the public. C. J. Haggerty,Secretary-Treasurer of the Califor-nia L a b o r Federation, numbersamong labor representatives on thecouncil.The council unanimously express-

ed "deep concern" over the prob-lem.

In 1958, Pres. Eisenhower vetoeda depressed areas bill. A similarmeasure was passed by the Senatethis year, but was bottled up in theHouse in the powerful Rules Com-mittee. The AFL-CIO has called forits passage during the second ses-sion of the 86th Congress next year.The tripartite advisory council

urged Mitchell to consider estab-lishment of a top-priority programcalling for:* Retraining of idled workers

in depressed areas, coupled withbroadening of unemployment com-pensation to provide maintenanceof income d u r i n g the retrainingperiod.* M o r e effective counseling,

testing and placement services toprovide maximum opportunity forfinding new jobs for unemployedworkers.* Financial assistance to help

workers in "relocation and resettle-ment" if they move from depressedareas to "areas of expanding em-ployment opportunity."At the same time, the advisory

c o u n c i 1 suggested that Mitchellstudy the desirability of modifyingthe unemployment insurance pro-gram "more adequately to meet theincome maintenance needs" of thelong-term unemployed.

(Continued on Page 4)

Santa BarbaraConference

(Continued from Page 1pute procedures and compulsoryarbitration.

It is generally recognezd, that de-veloping trends in collective bar-gaining will be substantially af-fected under the legal atmosphereof the new labor law.

"Dr. Ross' background of exper-ience indicates that we have one ofthe nation's top men to handle thecollective bargaining session at ourSanta Barbara conference," Hagger-ty said.

In addition to Dr. Ross' academicaccomplishments as a professor andfrequent writer in the field of in-dustrial relations, he has served ona number of boards and panels bothin a private and public capacity.Included among these are:1953-1958-A member of the

Atomic Energy Labor Panel.1952-A public mmeber of the

U.S. Wage Stabilization Board, andchairman of the Regional WageStabilization Board.

1945-1950-Associate Umpire forGeneral Motors and the U.A.W.

1945-1946-Vice chairman of theWar Shipping Panel of the U.S. WarLabor Board.1944-1945-Hearing Officer Au-

tomotive Section U.S. War LaborBoard.

1942-1944- Assistant to the Pro-gram Director of the U.S. War Man-power Commission.At the present time, Dr. Ross is

Vice President of the NationalAcademy of Arbitrators, a memberof the National Arbitration Associa-tion, and an Executive Board mem-ber of the Industrial Relations Re-search Association.Advance registration for the San-

ta Barbara conference indicatesthat a new record will be estab-lished for attendance of a labor-sponsored educational conference.As of this Tuesday, better than 225applications have been received, in-dicating an attendance of betterthan 250.

Following the four-day confer-ence on the new labor law, theTenth Annual Labor Press Confer-ence will be held at the Mar MonteHotel, November 20 and 21. Hag-gerty said that based on advanceregistrations, attendance at this con-ference will approach 100.

LABOR AND CIVILRIGHTS BOOKLET

(Continued from Page 1

which by your action will carrylabor and the cause of civil rightsanother significant step forward be-tween now and the 1960 state con-vention," Gruhn added.

Gruhn's appeal for action wasunderscored in a forward to thepamphlet by Federation Secretary-Treasurer C. J. Haggerty."A careful consideration by local

unions of the social, political andeconomic 1 o s s e s incurred by allAmericans as a result of continuedpatterns of discrimination," Hag-gerty noted, "would transform thisbooklet from a mere guide to a well-spring of action."

Pointing out that "the fate oflabor and minority groups are in-extricably woven together," Hag-gerty said "we cannot slight the onewithout inflicting identical injuryon the other."The civil rights booklet has also

been widely distributed among civilrights groups generally. As part ofthe educational program of the CivilRights Committee, it is aimed atserving as a guide toward realiza-tion of an increasingly higher levelof respect for the civil rights of allpeoples in our communities, ourplaces of work and in labor unions.

Its contents set forth the detailedposition of t h e California LaborFederation on civil rights issues asadopted a f t e r discussion by the2,000 delegates at the San Diegoconvention.The Federation's basic views on

civil rights are given in a reprint ofthe complete text of the lengthystatement on civil rights adoptedby the convention. This statementoutlines the legislative and adminis-trative objectives in the civil rightsareas to which the labor movementattaches primary significance in thebattle for a democratic and free wayof life.

In addition, all civil rights resolu-tions adopted by the convention areincluded in the pamphlet.

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New T-H CurbsTake Effect

(Continued from Page 1wise exempt from Taft-Hartley,from taking part.

It is provided that a worker canrefuse to cross a picket line wherethere is an authorized strike andthat publicity other than picketingis allowed if it does not cause asecondary boycott.Hot cargo agreements. Any agree-

ment between a union and employerwhereby the employer agrees not tohandle products of or do businesswith any other person is declaredvoid and an unfair labor practice.There are two exceptions: in theconstruction industry, on contract-ing or subcontracting work at thejobsite; in the apparel and clothingindustry, involving jobbers andmanufacturers.

Recognition picketing. Picketingfor purposes of winning recognitionis sharply curtailed. Such picketingis banned where the employer haslegally recognized another unionand the labor board wil not enter-tain an election petition and alsowhere an election has been held inthe preceding 12 months.

In other cases, the union canpicket for 30 days without filing apetition; once it is filed, the NLRBmust hold an election without re-quiring the union to show a 30 per-cent interest.Sweetners

So-called "sweetners" purported-ly designed to soften the impact ofthe new T-H curbs on unions alsotook effect this Friday. Includedare:Economic s t r i k e r s. Economic

strikers who have been replaced areeligible to vote in any election heldwithin 12 months after the strikestarted.

Building and construction indus-try. Pre-hire agreements are legal-ized in this industry. Such pacts maymake union membership compul-sory after sexen days; require em-ployers to notify the union of jobopenings and specify minimumtraining or experience qualifica-tions or base job opportunities onseniority. This section on the seven-day union shop cannot apply in so-called "right-to-work" states.

in-7rTA1 sel3tiOft3LibrarianIIofn al RelatOl ons

2a4California Hall2JWI .S-tY tyof CaliforniaBerkeley 49 Calif.

Labor-Buyer Alliance UrgedLabor and buyer groups should 2-Various types of bait advertis-

join forces in an affiance to protect ing are practiced with only an occa-purchasing power, Professor Col- sional tap on the shoulder from theston E. Warne, President of Con- forces of the law.sumers Union, told the 4th National 3-Appliances that are unsafe orConference on Community Services that provide shock hazards are soldsponsored by the AFL-CIO recently. without any control at all.The following are excerpts from "I could go on at considerably

Warne's address before the confer- greater length to cite chapter andence on "Safeguarding L a b o r' s verse of how consumers are beingDollar What the Consumer Can put through the wringer. Consum-Do." ers need not sit still and take it."THE AMERICAN wage-earning "The fact that the AFICIO Com-

consumer, a large proportion of the munity Services Committee has de-time, is as an individual consumer veloped an increasing interest in

at the mercy of the same big com- the consumer problems of workerspanies which, when he meets them appears to me a highly encouragingas an employe, he wisely does so in indication of growing awareness ofthe collective bargaining process, the problem.using the full collective strength of "WE NEED CONSUMER EDUCA-his union. tion, more and more of it. If union

"It is not surprising that as a con- leadership, and rank-and-file unionsumer he gets pushed around, just members begin thinking in termsas he once got pushed around in his of consumer protection to a greaterrole as a producer and wage-earner, extent than in the past, the benefitsuntil he came to realize the benefits will be innumerable.of union strength and collective bar- "These b e n e f i t s will includegaining. It's wise to organize . . . greater purchasing power for thenot only for trade union protection individual and a vast accelerationbut for consumer protection as well. of necessary measures to regulate

"What, then, can the consumer the chaos that exists in the marketdo? Primarily, to realize that he is a place today.consumer; that he has rights as a "Secondly, we need more con-

consumer; that, in one way or an- sumer legislation, in the cities, inother, he can band together with the states and in the national Con-other consumers for mutual protec- gress. We need far more stringenttion. legislation to protect the consumer

"If wage earners' organizations against exorbitant interest rates onand consumers' organizations were installment purchasing.to join hands more enthusiastically "We need, thirdly, the establish-m an effective protest, I feel con- ment of v i t a 1 consumer counselfident we can produce real reforms. agencies in the various states. (An"A listing of the areas where such office of Consumer Counsel was

a spirit of dedicated attack against established this year in Californiamalpractices c o u 1 d b e effective, with labor support. Helen E. Nelsonwould fill a book. To name just a was recently appointed to fill thefew: post.) We need a revision of grade1-The cost of consumer credit is labeling laws; the old ones have

a national disgrace. Interest rates been by-passed in so many respectson many types of installment pur- that they no longer offer the pro-chases are a form of usury that once tection intended at the time of theirwould have led the guilty parties passage.into the courts and the jails. Today "Finally, we would all benefitthese practices flourish, "respect- from the creation of a U.S. Depart-ably" and almost unmolested. ment of Consumers, along the lines

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NON-PROFITORGANIZATIONU. S. POSTAGEP A I D

Permit No. 7085San Francisco, Cal.

suggested by Sen. Estes Kefauverof Tennessee. The function of sucha department, as the senator hasnoted, would be to protect and pro-mote the interest of the people asconsumers of goods and services,by placing the responsibilities ofseveral existing agencies under oneeffective government umbrella."We need to start acting now;

none of these objectives can beachieved without high education,agitation and effective lobbying."We need to make what purchas-

ing power we have travel the great-est distance with the greatest effec-tiveness. That requires organizationand a willingness to roll up sleevesand fight out legislative battles withtough opponents. It is a job, I sug-gest, that both the consumer move-ment and the labor movement mustwork at cooperatively, for the bene-fit of ourselves and for our demo-cratic society."The alternative is a waste of

buying power, an overwhelmingsupply of shoddy goods and a con-tinuation of sharp practiees that Ifeel are economically wrong andmorally indefensible.

"Labor's dollar can be safeguard-ed, provided w e demonstrate togovernment and business that con-sumers are first-class citizens, notsuckers."

Distressed Area(Conti,nued from Page 3)

In giving its uanimous approvalto the resolution, the council di-rected its chairman, Dean FedaleF. Fauri of the School of SocialWork at the University of Michi-gan, to appoint a special committeeto study the problem of persistentunemployment.

In a companion resolution, thecouncil pointed out that continuingjoblessness has put a severe strainon the unemployment funds in sev-eral states, and called for a con-tinued study of steps that should betaken at the federal level "to assurethe continued solvency of the sys-tem."

California Labor Feration, AFL-CIO"5 Mas St.San Francliso 3, Calif.

FORM 3547 REQUESTED

;5-rl