Nixon, DeSilva & Usery on Labor Unions and Wage Stabilization

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Hi, how are you?

Sit down over here.

I appreciate that.

So I came here to give you my personal endorsement.

I represent 25,000 people.

I also have a television program, which whenever you're in South Carolina, you can tune in.

Ah, right.

Great.

And I've been interviewing doctors, scientists, mostly, and, of course, labor matters when they come up.

I want you to know that the very fact that our own

stabilization.

We're not completely happy, but it's the first step.

It's the first step toward the eventuality that has to take place.

In other words, we have to stabilize, otherwise we're going to be broke.

The very fact that our own organization, Convention of Hawaii, did not endorse it is the reason.

Some of our people are from Missouri, and so is Jim Housewife.

So he actually wasn't endorsed by the government.

He's caught in the trap now.

Also, he caught it in a very emotional time.

That's right.

And so I thought I'd stop by saying that we should wait for the Republican convention.

We should wait for the president's statement.

And everybody overlooked your industrial peace portion.

We shouldn't be more emphasized on the standpoint as to I met with Mr. Moscow.

I'm very much impressed with this man's brain.

And I brought some things to his attention, which no doubt will come down.

Then I intend to meet with the Secretary of Labor until Wednesday morning for breakfast.

He'll get me up at 7 o'clock, 7.30 in the morning.

He's going to kill me.

All right, great.

Oh, that's 10.30 in California.

No, 7.30 in California.

Oh, you're going to meet him out there?

Yes, I'll meet him out there.

things that I think are necessary for you eventually to know.

I don't want to take up your busy time.

I think that the way of stabilization is one of the most important things, as I've discussed with Bill here and with Charlie, who's another very trusted person.

So I depend upon these fellows.

Not having been a person with a formal education, I had to get it the hard way.

It's better.

Some of them don't have the courage.

There are a lot of working people.

They are afraid to speak out.

I've been controversial all my life, and I don't see why I should stop now.

Good, good.

So I will incur the wrath of some people who would like to have me keep quiet, but I think the majority of the people feel that charity has to stop and that we have to get jobs for the people.

We have to bring the poor people out of their gutter

out of, off of the sidewalk.

This is a program that is going to work.

Because people don't want China.

They resent it.

It's just like when we take money to the underdeveloped countries.

They hate us.

They sure do.

They hate us here, of course.

They all want to get us in the U.S. That's right.

And so this is, what happens throughout the world happens at home.

So if you study the people at home,

Very sure, very sure.

So you did kind of cover them in, but I told you, I issued a press very brief release.

I'd like to leave it with you.

It states my sentiments in a few words.

It's very good.

You were saying, Joe, earlier that the Central Labor Council, that LA would not support the dividends.

Yes.

I met with the President of the House of Representatives.

He came out on the radio.

He's the President of L.A. County.

We call it the Common Federation.

Now, the State Federation, they're always way out there.

And John Henning, you know.

Oh, yes, of course.

He actually came to the Capitol House.

You see, they didn't endorse Governor Reagan, either.

on the low turf.

And we just got a lot of people off the low turf that didn't belong there.

Let me ask you this.

What about your union?

How's it doing?

Is your clerks growing in California?

Let me explain.

We have some problems, which I have discussed.

We've had some battles with the teamsters, but I think the union has been growing

cause of accretion.

I have left some messages behind.

There are two or three things.

For instance, Roosevelt tried to pack the court, you know, by delegate.

And a lot of people are criticizing.

And I think that in the next four years, you can become one of the greatest statesmen by balancing.

You see, you can go one way, and when the next one comes in, he goes the other way.

We've got to get to the point to where we treat everybody alike.

And it is true that the balance should be in favor of the man and the people alike, or the philosophy.

But there should be a luke to something.

A luke to something.

should be taking the time.

The MLB is Republicans and Democrats.

It's political.

The working man doesn't know where he stands.

The old CIO has been in the labor, the official labor, has been against the labor court.

I'm in favor of the labor court, because I think that the labor

Before he rules, he knows what the Supreme Court is going to do.

He's going to get knocked out.

And so therefore, you begin to stabilize.

You see, and stabilization means not only just wages.

It means conditions under which labor operates.

The industrialists will not be looking for favors.

And then when the Democratic president gets in, labor will not be looking for favors.

Everybody will be looking for justice.

That's a very, very good point.

What is your feeling about the present leadership of Labor Nation?

Pretty good, what do you think?

That's a very broad, broad question.

Yes, well, let me explain.

George Meany, actually, he doesn't speak for the working class.

The Federation is a loosely put-together organization, but it is not as strong as it used to be because everybody's pulling in different directions.

Anybody can pull out the Federation at any time, but I can't pull out my international.

I have to suffer with it because I refuse single-handedly.

telephone booth they make their own call right yeah yeah you can rest assured it's almost you can you can depend upon that the same thing is going to happen is when um john lewis fought with president roosevelt and while the miners followed him to heaven

He refused to follow him when he refused to endorse Roosevelt, you know, when he broke with him.

And so the repeal makes up its own mind.

It's your repeal.

The thing that is impressing people more and more is the ending of the war in Vietnam, honorably, in which we didn't surrender.

We felt it.

If America surrendered, we'd lose everything.

I think it's a little failing to say.

And I said, you know, I like the way you're standing up for the United States.

I said, I was also, I liked the way that Sugar Ray sealed after a couple of those falls.

I'll show you that a lot of people, in addition to myself, Mr. Abel.

Abel.

The young man.

Abel, you know, with the hair.

Harvey Harris.

Harvey Harris, okay.

Harvey Harris was in my movie.

I appreciate very much the Labor Department.

to give it to you.

Gene Wine, former National Committeeman.

If I had to use the fault of work, he's working his can off for you.

He also, on a second call, while Mr. Harvey was in my room, he said, the other president to you is Tommy Kiko.

Because Tommy Kiko represents him in Washington.

There is a middle of the rule of both.

Oh, I know.

And Tommy wants to get it, but he wants to be called or something.

Do you understand what I mean?

Yes.

And so we can enlist all of these people.

Now, I can tell you further, and it has to remain in the army.

That is that there is a minimum given by...

I'll be political leaders.

$5,000.

$5,000 per couple.

It's going to look like a question.

Congressional.

That's all right.

At the top, everybody should get him.

They're giving this guy help.

We don't follow up on Kiko.

We don't follow up because he wants to get in there.

He doesn't want to stick his nose in there.

What is your...

I want you to know a little bit about my work.

I know all about it.

I'm very much aware of it.

And also, we

But something has to be done to give them hope.

And the hope that they can get is jobs and not charity.

Remember, they want jobs.

They've got to get off the road.

They want to get off the road.

There's another problem, which I picked up in Mr. Moscow's statement.

And that is that he has this job.

They're afraid.

If you tell them, move the flag, they're afraid to do it.

They never did anything in their lives except drink wine and whiskey.

And now we've got to put them in together with other youngsters so that little by little we can teach people to do it.

And you can give them hope.

And you can do it strongly.

You've got to do that.

You know, they ought to be.

You are the front window.

You're the mannequin in the store window.

September ABC

Oh, yeah.

Does that work?

Thank you.

Nixon, DeSilva & Usery on Labor Unions and Wage Stabilization

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on September 11, 1972

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