International Union of Electrical Radio and Machine Workers (sound)

go in and retime those those particular operations naturally protest that part there they disagree this says look the pressent has been said by UI back in 1948 in case number so and so in building 40 reflector case therefore we're going in and we're going to disturb the entire job how inting can G get to sit across the table and tell us they're going to be the Fellers that're going to determine this to whether the data of sound we ask him as to what measuring what measuring method they use in determining whether the method in question is sound or not sound from the data they have available and they say we have various ways one of those ways is if the man is making too much money we're going to go in and retime the job The Audacity Of The Company telling you there that if you're making too much money if they think you're making too much money on on on the average earnings they're going to go in they're going to go in there and re time the entire job that's what you're up against and some of the old boys the UI boys are trying to put the blame on us because as of lately the company's going in and continuing and car we're going to be G on that particular Pa thank you thank you very much brother Nichols uh I understand that Edward hin president of local 119 would like to discuss the holiday question brother hin from Philadelphia come up here please would you come up this way please Mr chairman president carry fellow delegates I think the question of holidays should be given very serious consideration again this year at National negotiations I say again this year because we have taken this up and Years Gone by the strings the General Electric succeeded in placing on holidays in the first contract negotiated regarding holidays back in 1947 which the uee accepted has been a very Troublesome subject ever since we have well back in 48 I believe was the first time we lost holidays due to those thingss on the Christmas and New Year holidays of that year as a result of that we had over 400 grievances processed from Philadelphia local they went to the New York level and they got buried over there by the UEI during the succeeding years we went into IE and last year we were faced again with the same problem we tried to get the company generally elected to agree in contract negotiations to pray for Saturday holiday even after the westing house agreed to do that GE still refused the last holiday battle in Philadelphia regarding May the 30th and July the 4th holidays we had a pickup line around the Philadelphia plant before we got any concessions whatever from General Electric regarding payment to be made for people that were on six days schedule they did finally succeed a to pay some of them but a lot of people that we thought should get paid did not get paid now we're approaching negotiations in this spring of this year of 1954 and uh during 1954 we're going to come up with the same problem of Saturday holidays Christmas and 54 and New Year's 55 will also fall on Saturday I think it's very important that we make an honest effort of negotiations with GE and even if it means that we've got to give them a fight on it I favor doing just that I thank you thank you brother hon anyone else want to speak on the holidays I think that that covered it pretty well that's the thinking of the conference board last year and negotiating committee this this time I'd like to call upon Alano vice president from local 255 to talk on the union shop brother Lano come around this way please that's the thinking of the conference board last year negotiating committee this time I'd like to call upon Alano vice president from local 255 to talk on the union shop brother L Tel come around this way please Mr chairman president Carrie and members of the G conference board and guests just recently way back in our hometown some members of our local union have assisted in organizing a couple of shops that uh after the wind up of the campaign and negotiating contracts and in the contracts they negotiated for Union shops believe me being part of that campaign and organizing these shops done my heart good to see that the people after the contract was signed the way they stuck together on grievance procedures and other demands that would made that were made on a company now we feel that all employees should contribute to the cost of running the local and the international Union which is required to represent members and nonmembers of by law there should be no OD oing the load should be carried equally by all workers taxes on every wage earner AR undemocratic and neither are dues on every GE employee the requirement of members includes the right to speak and vote on all issues concerning the union this gives a broad support and Democratic base to all Union positions the confusion created by unknown positions of the non-union members will be removed the company will have notice that all these all their employees support the demands of the Union that once an agreement is reached the union will guarantee observance of the agreement by every employe employee since all our union members the education provided by the union and to its members makes them better citizens and better workers that every employee in the GE into the union for the good of the country and for for the good of the GE and oue and to turn around Wilson's statement what's good for the G is good for the country let's get a union shop and what and what will be good for the country is good for GE and since it's good for the country it's also good for uee we hope back in our local since recently we've had an educational program for success thank you brother Lano in this morning's Road call there was one little guy who we missed and he's from a GE service shop in Cambridge Massachusetts certainly wouldn't be good to overlook this little guy because you happen to be in his home territory there's a little story about that group they're part of General Electric it's local 262 these people haven't been organized until recently uee lost an election several years ago they had a strike and the company was able to defeat the uee when I first met these people it was as a result of Angie Kella our field representative calling me up and asked if I could give assistance to a group of people who had just won certification to see if they can negotiate a contract with General Electric strange as it may seem even though they're not part of the GE chain the person we negotiated with was cobber who is out of Louisville whom our local people in Louisville negotiate with on the local level so they all part of the same game but they seem to keep this group apart and I'm going to tell you why they keep them apart I met with this group here in the Parker house so I went over some of the things that they had and listen what they had they get two weeks vacation after one year they wear overhauls and they're all on salary they get 11 paid holidays they have the highest paid rates in the metropolitan area that's what we call the metropolitan area here in Boston and also they have 20 days sick leave 5 days personel and 5 days death in the family plus the fact that they are able to use trucks the little trucks that they use every day they also take their families to the beaches on Sunday so meeting with these people I said would you answer one question to me why do you want to belong to a union and these people have worked for G for a good many years and they said we like the local people we do business with but we don't have any security and we want security and knowing the reputation of General Electric we want it in writing and that's why we want a union so I said well why not just go in and sign a contract you don't want anything else you've got everything we certainly would like it in the g chain and these guys is oh no we won the union and now we want to get something out of this company well as a result of several meetings they finally were able to get an extra paid holiday got 12 now they also got an 8 and half cent an hour increase they also have something that none of us have as far as everyone in the shop they have a hiring rate the lowest hiring rate of a dollar and a half per hour but they have automatic progression to the top of the race which is $210 per hour well I say it's nice to have him here today because he certainly got a contract that we like to shoot for and Ray rot is over there from local 262 and he's the president of the local I wish that you take a bow R [Applause] please at this time we are going to discuss the guaranteed annual wage and I see there's a a hand up over there from UAW CIO Gus Larson want to come up here D please I send that strike the reason I like to do that is because that we know of all the vicious lies that the General Electric Company sent out here to your papers out here East during a strike and since that strike he like to make you believe that we and even deal were busted up and broken down to backing nothing and of course that is not so in July I was elected together with our new person Jack Conor who at the present time is in unemployment conference in Maron DC and could not attend and since the strike I must say that we lost a posim about 600 members during the strike you know the contract we have have this 30 de 30-day deal that you're kicking out of the Union one day and in the union the next day and of course be talking about Union shops that's part of the reasons we want it but since the time of the strike I shall give you a su picture of what we are doing and signing up the people in that pl we really have a problem because the people that we have to sign up are the people who broke up picket line and of course we have a lot of dissension there on the good Union people who stayed out for nine weeks and rightfully sto but at the same time we had to get down and talk things over and we could only come to one conclusion and that was that we had to work to try to get those people back into the union for give and forget and that we are doing and I like to tell you that we have been in office we have signed an average of 130 members a month that is not the net net gain that we are gaining was this last month right before all that we had the report in from the company and we gained in the last month 90 members and we are continuing G by the time that contact come contact time comes around which will be one month later and ie we are going to be prepared one of our programs that we campaigned for while we was running for election was the program of getting together with the IE CIO around contract time because we thought that there was nothing more important and that we all were United and stood together against one of the most richest companies that I have ever had contact with in contract negotiations so the reason I'm telling you those things so you can understand that we are in the uaci in Evendale fully behind your proposals and your program and that we will back you to the hill on the annual we program I don't think that I have to say too much we all know that our beloved President we believe us for the car told you that we are entitled the workers and the plant and the shop are just as much entitled to a guaranteed annual wage as of the big shot or any of the office workers in the G and we are certainly going out to get it I thank you you heard from a fellow who knew something about a nwe strike with GE we also have a fellow here who's got his hand up that's finished up a strike recently with g uh Tex Harman the president of local 925 in Linton Indiana would you come up this way please Tex [Applause] other delegates friends uh we concluded a strike down there in Linton against GE of 10 weeks duration I am not too proud of the fact of the way it was concluded however we did get some wage increases that uh helped us considerable what we had but it sure as heck wasn't enough we uh suffered a job down there in the way of a sellout told the foreman that their job depended entirely upon selling the people of Linton the fact that the plant was going to move immediately They didn't accept this wage offer that the company had offered uh these people were somewhat under pressure after 10 weeks and with their majority of their leadership gone in the three days the company was able to sell them on that proposition and we'd gone to New York fully expecting and being endorsed to getting two bits across the board and when we got back we got a return to root returned to work boat at us and we like to got run out of the hall but anyway those things uh in the wages we probably have another chance and we're going to try very very hard to to uh get some more out of it and get up to where you other people are we did get I think one of the best supplements through uh constant bickering and negotiations with them on layoff and rehiring procedure and seniority that there is in the chain I've read quite a few of of them and I believe ours