Summit County Labor News

RETAIL CLERKS RESENT KHRUSHCHEV "SLUR"

The recent slur on grocery clerks by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev had been answered this week in a stinging letter addressed to him by James A. Suffridge, president of Retail Clerks International Association.

The sharp reply was occasioned by a quote attributed to Khrushchev in which the Red leader described Vice-President Richard M. Nixon as "being a fumbler; not a politician but a grocery clerk."

Suffridge interpreted the premier's remarks as "disparaging to grocery clerks by inferring they are incompetent, and in his letter he said:

"Well, Mr. Khrushchev, let me tell you this: It is far better to be a free grocery clerk in America than it is to be the top dog in the Soviet Union.

"Grocery clerks in this country, many of whom I happen to represent, have happier and freer lives than anyone in Russia, yourself included. They may not have the wealth and power that you and your Communist associates have squeezed from the millions of

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Russian and other captive peoples you rule, but they have the right of free American citizens to work where they please, associate with whom they please and say what they please about our government or any of our government officials.

"The average grocery clerk who is a member of the Retail Clerks union owns his own home, drives his own car, sends his children to school and college, and worships God in his own way, all without state control or dictation. But more important, he has the right to vote for the person of his choice to lead this free government.

"Come this November, grocery clerks and industrialists, doctors, lawyers, laborers, and yes, myself and the President of these United States will cast a secret ballot for the man whom each of us in his own mind thinks can best lead our country to a freer and better tomorrow.

"What do you think, Mr. Khrushchev, the victims of Communist tyranny around the world would give for the rights and freedom grocery clerks have in America?

I join with the Vice-President and all Americans in the belief that your grandchildren will someday live in freedom, and it will be the grocery clerks of the world and the millions like them who will bring this about."

Background statistics indicate that the nation can be very proud of its retail food industry and the men and women who make it function. Gross sales of grocery stores in 1958 were $50.3 billion, which is 10 per cent of the gross national product.

Members of the RCIA are in the forefront of the men and women who comprise the industry. Throughout the country, wages range to $102.60 for a 40-hour work week, plus health and welfare and pension benefits.