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From The Militant, Vol. VI No. 13, 28 March 1942, p. 1.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Last week a union contract was signed with the Waterman-Waterbury manufacturing company, covering a dozen drivers, helpers and warehousemen. Hardly a bit of news? But wait.
This is the first union working agreement signed by Local 544-CIO since the Minneapolis drivers revolted against the dictatorship of Daniel Tobin last summer.
The contract provides for hourly wages of 85¢ for drivers, 80¢ for helpers, and 75¢ for warehousemen.
This is from 9¢ to 14¢ more than Tobin has secured for his members in Minneapolis.
In short, Local 544-CIO is worth over 10¢ an hour more to the drivers and warehousemen of Minneapolis than is Tobin’s gangster-ridden outfit. Tobin’s rotten contracts are costing the workers of Minneapolis about one dollar a day, about $25 a month, about $300 a year.
The Local 544-CIO contract contains many other advantages over the sell-out contracts negotiated last summer by Tobin’s goons.
The Waterman-Waterbury agreement provides for plant seniority. The agreement is a joint one with the CIO Machinists Local 1140. Should a driver or warehouseman work at least 50% of each week at a high-paid job in the machine shop, he will receive a full week’s wage at the higher scale. Workers doing night work will receive an additional 5¢ hourly.
The contract calls for a week’s paid vacation, and a military clause protecting a man’s seniority if he is called into the armed services.
The agreement is retroactive to Feb. 1, 1942, and runs for one year.
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Last updated: 11 April 2022