Veterans and Labor
Biemiller, Andrew J.
Veterans and Labor Postwar Clash Between Ex-Soldiers and Workers Will Aid Reaction By Andrew J. Biemiller Member of Congress from Witotui* THE period of economic readjust-I ment will coincide...
...The 16,000,000 workers now in unions eagerly await the time when millions of veterans will join with them...
...Congress deemed it sufficiently important to provide specific protection for it in the Selective Service Act...
...Why is there all this stress on seniority...
...That point about wages is important...
...Unions have established special funds to sid in the rehabilitation of the disabled veteran...
...Under many agreements all promotions made during the veterans' period of service are temporary...
...The law also provides this, but forces the veteran to go to court to secure his rights...
...And if ypu begin by setting veteran against civilian, you will end by setting Protestant against Catholic, Catholic against Jew, white against Negro—and you will wind up by having the very thing we are fighting the war to destroy...
...For veterans are workers...
...Yank then went on to say: "It is going to be tough enough reconverting to full civilian production without starting a fight among the men who will do the producing...
...These will help skilled workers to catch up with new developments in their*neld of work, teach them to use new implements devised during the war, and help them to polish up skills, grown rusty from disuse...
...They were unemployed, or students, or on the family farm...
...Some of our men in uniform are aware of the danger...
...He cells attention to the fact that the tiret tuggestion thot veterans 6« gives eenioritg privilege* for the amount of lime spent in Anny or Navy eervioe rnmr from the Auto Workers Union...
...researchers, which the agency has so far refused to publish, indicates that by the end of 1946 this country can have 10,400,000 people walking the streets for jobs, while at the same time we can achieve a level of production higher than in any peacetime year, and industry can make the highest -profits ever achieved in history...
...Large numbers of veterans had no jobs when they entered the armed forces...
...While protecting the veteran s job rights, the anions hsve not neglected to protect his rights within the anion...
...Some 16,000,000 American workers hsv* found it necessary to form and to join unions to pursue these objectives...
...During the war the unions supported the G.I...
...That process will never start if the veteran gets a chance to learn how much labor is doing on his behalf...
...Some 3,000,000 union members sre in the armed forces, Additionsl millions in military and naval service are the sons, husbands, and daughters of union members...
...Grievance and arbitration machinery in union agreements provides for swift settlement of the veteran's claim without the delays and the expenses that court procedures involve...
...Veterans and Labor Postwar Clash Between Ex-Soldiers and Workers Will Aid Reaction By Andrew J. Biemiller Member of Congress from Witotui* THE period of economic readjust-I ment will coincide with the time when millions of our fighting men ere being brought home end demobilized...
...Veterans, Unions and Jobs washington (LPA Exclusive) — A study by...
...seniority, the less is the dsnger that he may be laid off...
...The labor organisations are seeking, end in many cases have already obtained, agreements with employers providing that disabled veterans should be reemployed in other jobs which they can handle at the prevailing wages for the jobs they receive...
...It is natural that labor should do this...
...Union agreements with some employers provide severance pay allowances for workers entering the armed forces...
...Franklin D. Roosevelt called it "an institution in American industry...
...Most have already decided to waive payment of initiation fees by veterans who apply for membership after discbarge from miiitsry service...
...The unions have made possible a decent i'u tu re for' wage - earning veterans through their protection of wage scales...
...I think it is safe to ssy that no group in our population has been more concerned than the...
...Bill of Rights and every improvement in veteran's benefits I hat was proposed...
...The A FL and <'K) worked out an agreement with one of the major veterans' organisations providing that to the maximum extent possible this situation will be remedied by union contract...
...Veterans who work for wages know that without the unions they would have a mighty meager future to look forward" to . Any effort to divide the veterans from other American workers will fail...
...They will have a right to expect every consideration and assistance in finding nseful Jobs...
...Remember that wherever fasciam wen newer the Irst institution* destroyed were the trade aniens...
...This, labor economists indicate, makes even more urgent action by Congress, industry, and government agencies, to raise wsge levels, achieve full production, and full employment, despite the cries of industrialists that they "can't afford" cuts in profits and prices...
...By its collective-bargaining agreements labor is closing the loopholes in the reemployment provisions of the Selective Service Act and backing up enforcement with the full power of the unions...
...A number of unions hsve established specisl veterans' departments to help the veteran with all the problems that will confront him in making the readjustment to civilian life...
...In other cases, union agreements provide that the disabled veteran who cannot resume work immediately following his discharge from service will be given an extended leave of absence and that his seniority will accumulate during that leave...
...But, momentarily, at least, Jobs Will be scarce.' la snch a sitaatioa unscrupulous demagogs may try te wis the support ef the veterans by promising them ether people's Jobs...
...Veterans' rights to wage increases granted in their absence are protected by union contract and they will receive the higher wages when they come home...
...They may seek te provoke a head-en elseh between veterans sad the labor movement...
...By the last quarter of 1946, we can achieve a gross national product of $166,000,000,000, along with the highest profits in history, and still have 10,400,-000 workers jobless...
...They are pre pa red te de everything from helping his* to get his benefits ander the GI bill of rights te finding him a place to live...
...I doubt whether there is any way this could be done by law...
...The law gives no protection to the Xeterrn <"s«Med in military service who is unable, as a result, to perform the duties of his former job...
...Some permit members in uniform to vote in union elections held during their absence...
...They originally introduced the practice of crediting veterans with seniority under union contracts when they return to work in a shop...
...Others may not want to go back to their old jobs and will lose their legal seniority protection if they do not...
...The working vetersn will have the same interests as any other worker...
...The courts have held seniority to be a property right protected by the Constitution...
...studies already have revealed that industry's profits before taxes rose from $2,677,000,000 in the prewar years to $8,842,000,000 in 1943 when war production was "all-out...
...Many union agreements call for the payment to men in the armed forces of annual vacation allowances and Christmas bonuses to which they would have been entitled if they had remained in the plant...
...Leo Johnson, secretary of the league, comments upon a Associated Press story to the effect that s conflict wee brewing over the matter of seniority rights...
...Profits figures estimated by the...
...It avoids the danger that some grasping employer will psy less than the prevailing wages for the job because the veteran is receiving a disability allowance from the Government...
...The veterans should recognize the unions as their allies," says the statement...
...Union agreements guarantee protection of the veteran's valuable seniority right, during his absence and provide that such rights accumulate until his return...
...labor movement to do everything that lies within its power to protect the veteran's rights while he is away and to ease his readjustment to normal, satisfying, and productive life upon his return...
...Among the German war secrets taken over by Anglo-American military authorities is a rocket missile that conld cross the Atlantic in 17 minutes...
...The union's concern to safeguard the veterans' seniority is not by any means much ado about nothing.- It is one of the most valuable services the unions' could perform...
...One large union is providing all its returning veterans with tool kits...
...Seniority means opportunity, for in many cases promotions are based on length of service...
...Seniority means security, for the greater the worker...
...The veteran, upon his return, will get a "crack" at the better job which he might have gotten had he- not left the plant in defense of his country...
...Unions have ^established specisl training, and refresher courses for veterans...
...The report has gamed wide circulation among government-agency economists, and there seems to be general agreement that the 10,400,000 figure— which confirms the predictions of A FL and CK) spokesmen—-is no wild guess...
...Seniority means job priviliges, because wage increases, vacations, and rights to pensions and insurance benefits are frequently based on length of service...
...The Army weekly Yank, in an editorial published some months back, mentioned the "unscrupulous people who would like to see a wild scramble between veterans and civilians for jobs after the war...
...Under some union agreements, the disabled veteran is given plant-wide seniority so that when lay-offs occur infhjs plsnt he can go from department to department remaining at work perhaps long after the last worker in his regular department has been laid off...
...study assume removal of the wartime excess profits tax during 1946...
...The law makes no provision to compensate the veteran without reemployment rights for the opportunity to accumulate seniority and all the priviliges that go with it which he had to forego during the time he was in uniform...
...Meet slse preserve his right in death benefits and similar funds maintained eat ef the union treasury...
...Meet unions exempt their members from dues while they are ia military service...
...To the worker it is one of the most important attributes of his Job...
...An agreement, already embodied in many union contracts, provides that such veterans will be credited with seniority rights month for month for the period of their military service back as far as September 1, 1940, in the first job that they get after leaving the armed forces...
...The veteran, like other workers, will want security, decent living standards, and the freedom to speak up for his rights without fear of reprisal by his employer...
...The Veterans League of America, with headquarters at 45 Astor Place, New York, ?. Y., again comes across with an impressive statement about the relations between ^demobilized soldiers ami the hade unions...
...The German scientists who worked on this and other secret weapons, including the atomic bomb, are being hired by the USA...
Vol. 28 • September 1945 • No. 38
