Labor outlook hinges on defense production pace
A Twentieth Century Fund survey warns current labor gains remain safe only if defense production does not surge. If defense work expands by up to 50 percent, hours or wages would rise, boosting living costs and hitting middle incomes. Optimal output may require 48 to 60 hours weekly, with cross‑country data suggesting variations by occupation. The study is led by Lloyd G. Reynolds with a panel including Labor officials, editors, and university and union leaders.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York City
SLNS
National Defense
Twentieth Century Fund
Fund
Britain
Perkins Says No Need for Strike Ban in Defense Work
Secretary Frances Perkins stated labor’s right to strike should not be curtailed and has not been abused in defense production. She noted adequate mediation exists or can be created to promptly resolve disputes. Her office reported 4,869,693 man days lost to strikes in the first nine months of 1940, versus 14,264,264 in 1939, and November non agricultural employment rose to 36,535,000, fueled by defense industry hiring.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington, D. C
ILNS
Frances Perkins
Perkins
Office of Information
Defense Workers Hit By Housing Shortage
East Hartford, Conn. A few months ago only 4,000 persons were employed in what are commonly called defense industries in this area. This number has been increased to 12,000. Although new houses are being rushed for those who may want them, hundreds of workers who have come here in trailers from states as far distant as Florida and Montana temporarily at least solve their housing problems by living in the conveyances that brought them. A trailer camp has been provided with its own store, sanitary system and other equipment.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
East Hartford
Conn
Defense
Florida
Montana
Women's Bureau Head Calls End to Tipping in Chicago
Mary Anderson chief of the U S Bureau of Labor urges abolition of tipping at the American Association for Labor Legislation annual meeting. She calls tipping unwholesome and undemocratic noting irregular employment worsens income instability for workers relying on tips.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Women’s Bureau
Chicago
Ilns
Mary Anderson
Women's Bureau
United States Department of Labor
Miss Anderson
American Association For Labor Legislation
Manpower pledge from Secretary Perkins sparks rallying call
Secretary Perkins urges American workers to rise to the emergency and supply manpower with wholehearted intelligent and patriotic dedication for the common good of the nation. The appeal frames labor as essential and loyal, stressing unity and national effort.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Perkins
Longshoremen Forbidden To Hold Union Election
New Orleans civil district court has issued an order restraining International Longshoremen's Union No. 2419 from holding an immediate election. Judge William H. Byrnes Jr. requires H. E. Augustine and other union officials to show cause why they should not be enjoined. Petitioners John Mackie and ten other in good standing claim the planned election violates the union constitution.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New Orleans
ILNS
International Longshoremen’s Union
Civil District Court
William H. Byrnes, Jr
H. E. Augustine
John Mackie
British Labor Pioneer Dies at 86 in London
London obituary notes Frank Smith a pioneer of the labor movement and former Labour MP for Nuneaton Warwickshire who died at his London home on December 28 at age 86. He first won Parliament in 1928 after decades of unsuccessful campaigns and later served as parliamentary secretary to George Lansbury when Lansbury was Commissioner of Works.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
ILNL
Frank Smith
Labor Party
Salvation Army
Smith
Labor
Nuneaton
Warwickshire
George Lansbury
Coal Mine Accident Trend Alarming Warns Ickes
Secretary Ickes urged higher safety vigilance in coal mines citing 1940 fatalities already surpassing any year since 1928. He blamed mechanized loading for greater gas and dust release and warned that winter and spring 1941 could see higher deaths without strict adherence to ventilation lighting electricity and explosive safety rules.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ickes
Washington, D. C
ILNS
Secretary of the Interior
Harold I. Ickes
Bureau of Mines
Washington
R. R. Sayers
Sayers
Expel Union Official For Communistic Activities
Seattle Washington ILNS reports that Don Keppler vice president of the A F of L Aero nautical Mechanics Union was found guilty of communistic activities. A 420 to 344 vote sustained a union trial board recommendation to expel him and fine 6000 dollars. Keppler denies wrongdoing and will appeal the charges.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Seattle, Wash
ILNS
Seattle A. F. of L. Aeronautical Mechanics Union
Don Keppler
Keppler
Pennsylvania Unemployment Benefits Hit 43 Million
The report from the Bureau of Employment and Unemployment Compensation shows Pennsylvania jobless workers received unemployment compensation checks totaling 630,072 for the week ending December 6, pushing this year’s benefit disbursements toward a new total.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Harrisburg
Bureau of Employment and Unemployment Compensation
Department of Labor and Industry
Pennsylvania
International labor unity across Americas urged
William Green argues in American Federationist for a strong inter American labor organization formed in 1919 to unite bonafide labor groups, defend democratic institutions, and ensure equal representation for workers worldwide in inter American cooperation across fields. It stresses democratic participation over imperial dominance despite language and cultural differences.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Americas
Red Caps Sue For Back Pay Amid Rail Porters Suit
A Federal Court suit under the Fair Labor Standards Act seeks minimum wage recovery for 22 Pennsylvania Railroad red cap porters from October 24, 1934, when the act began, to June 1, 1940, when regular wages replaced tips. The total sought is nearly $80,000.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York City
ILNS
Pennsylvania Railroad
Also Mentioned on This Page
Lloyd G. Reynolds
Johns Hopkins University
William H. Davis
New York State Board of Mediation
William L. Chenery
Collier's Weekly
William M. Leiserson
National Labor Relations Board
Frazier Maciver
Phoenix Hosiery Company
Sumner H. Slichter
Lamont
Harvard University
Robert J. Watt
American Federation of Labor
Phillip Murray
Congress of Industrial Organizations
Edwin E. Witte
University of Wisconsin
SEC
GEO. Kappel
Chicago Market CO
THE
March OF Labor
HALT
Lafollette Civil Rights Committee
Secretary of Interior
Bureau
Inter-American Labor
William Green
United States
RED Caps
Krebs. Igh
Courn
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