The Pittsburgh Press (September 13, 1944)
Foes of no-strike pledge boo Murray’s plea to UAW
‘Antis’ stage demonstration after CIO chief warns war workers against complacency
By Ray De Crane, Scripps-Howard staff writer
Grand Rapids, Michigan –
Continued adherence to the “no strike” pledge by the biggest labor union in the world was still in doubt here today as the CIO United Auto Workers convention entered its third day.
In what is believed to be the first time since he became president of the CIO, Philip Murray was booed as he spoke from the convention platform. The boos, outweighed by the applause, came as Mr. Murray made his first reference to the pledge, given President Roosevelt 10 days after Pearl Harbor.
‘Still lives to be lost’
Mr. Murray made an impassioned plea for continuation of the pledge. “Let’s not be overly complacent about the war,” he warned as he pointed out that “had the war been lost, you would have had no union today.”
“There is still blood to be spilled; still some lives to be lost,” he reminded delegates, many of whom wore the slogan “smash the pledge” on the backs of their shirts.
Nevertheless, as soon as Mr. Murray sat down, a demonstration was set off and advocates of rescinding the promise waved placards and started marching.
Apparently fearing the effect of Mr. Murray’s remarks, the “antis” deferred debate on the question until today.
PAC defended
Devoting much of his address to the Political Action Committee, Mr. Murray asserted the unionists had been “castigated and scandalized in the public prints” since establishment of the committee.
He declared:
It’s all right for Hearst and Scripps-Howard to convert their papers into veritable scandal sheets disseminating vicious lies. There’s not a group in the country that doesn’t have its own PAC. There never has been a time when your organization has been subject to more malicious deviltry, more diabolical abuse. There are some intrenched interests in the United States hellbent on your destruction.
Unveiling for the first time the CIO’s post-war program “to provide work for millions for generations to come,” Mr. Murray called for:
An expanded aircraft industry, greater development of the auto industry, thorough modernization of the railroad systems and elimination of all grade crossings, a network of superhighways to be supported by federal assistance, reinstitution of a slum clearance program to eliminate all slums within 10 years after the war, replacement of obsolete industrial plants with modern buildings, an integrated system of dams and hydroelectric power plants to provide cheap electric rates and to control floods, and extension of foreign trade so that standards of living both at home and abroad can be raised.
Seniority for servicemen
Earlier, the convention ordered incorporated into all its future UAW-CIO contracts seniority guarantees for returning servicemen.
The program provides that persons employed before entering military service not only retain seniority but accumulate seniority while in service.
A resolution endorsing the Roosevelt-Truman candidacy was passed unanimously.