Montana labor news., 1932-12-08
A. F. L.
SHORT WORK-WEEK

LUCY DiNi0CluS i dlu-
Mr.. Green vigorously criticized the
outrageous sums which those who
own and control industry had poured
into plant expansion, extra dividends
and stock dividends, and stated that
much of the money so spent should
have been paid in wages to provide
buying power for the tremendous
amount Of commodities fashioned by
the workers under our system of pro-
duction dominated by power-driven
MISUNDERSTANDING machinery.
Machines Deprive Labor of Jobs.
He pointed out that in the mining
industry alone machinery has been
introduced in such revolutionary
amounts that in some states the same
amount of coal produced shortly
after the World war is now produced
by so per cent less men, and that
the same process Of throwing men
out of work is going on in every
industry.
Employers Refuse Shorter Hours.
Organized labor, he said, was i'm
patient with the attitude toward
shorter hours shown by those who
own and control the textile and
shoe industries. As soon as the
demand for these products increased,
instead Of hiring new workers, in
stead of adjusting their working.
time, they begin to go on a double
shift OF increase the number of
hours worked per day, and thus
give more employment to those al
ready employed. That is the very
thing that is adding to and aggra-
waiting the already serious situation
of unemployment"
Decrease Work Day and Week.
Pointing out that labor's major
remedy for the unemployment stu
alton is the reduction in the num-
Der Of days worked per week and
the number of hours worked per day,
so that at least the work can be
spread over a larger number of peo-
pie and over a wider and more COM
prehensive territory" Mr.. Green con-
tinued;
Further Delay Cannot Be Tolerated.
"The point has been reached when
we must speak plainly, when we
must talk in language that cannot
be misunderstood, and when we, the
men and women who labor, must tell
the world that we are deeply in
earnest, that we cannot tolerate this
situation longer, and that we de-
mand that action be taken without
further delay.
Appeal to Reason Fails.
For years we have been pressing
upon industry and upon government
for the acceptance Of these adjust
ments in working time so necessary
as a partial remedy for unemploy-
ment. We have been appealing to
reason and Judgment and 10 public
opinion. think we have made some
progress, but not enough. There are
more working men now employed
on the five-day work week basis
and the shorter work day than ever
before, but the number so employed
is only a drop in the bucket.
what we need and what the
country needs above and beyond any
action upon this great economic re-
form is to bring about a condition
where industrial management in
America will be compelled to apply
it universally, spontaneously, and
over a nationwide area.
Employers Never Learn.
'The trouble has been that indus
trial management seems never to
have learned. They do not respond
to the appeals made to their hearts,
their minds and their c~onsciences.
They seem to think that we will fol-
low the old line and that eventually
some power not yet in evidence will
correct our economic ills.
"If our people were 80 per cent
organized in all trades there would
be no trouble whatsoever, but much
Of our difficulty is due to the in
difference of those who refuse to
come with us. But wen though they
will not come we cannot stay the
fight.
"We are standing now in the midst
of this great emergency like the
army of General Joffre stood when
it was defending Paris, and he de-
clared; My left wing is driven back
and my right one is broken, but l
have served notice that | will strike
with my center
"And that is the position of La
Dor: We are going to stand still, we
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