Evening star., 1937-03-04
SLOAN OUTLINES
G.M.LAB0RPOL|CY
Refuses to Permit Any
Union to Speak for
All Employees.
BY the Associated Press.

NEW YORK, March 4.-Alfred p.
Sloan, jr.. president of General Motors
Corp, today addressed a message 10
all employees emphasizing the prin-
ciples Of labor relations to be followed
by the company under the settlement
Of the recent sit-down strike.
Explaining "how we stand today"
Sloan summed up as follows:
q. General Motors agrees to deal
with the United Automobile Workers
Union, only SO far as its own members
are concerned.
20. General Motors has not recog-
nized, and will not recognize. any
union as speaking for all its workers,
in any plant.
IS. The privilege of joining or not
joining any union is matter entirely
of your personal choice.
a. You do not have to pay tribute
to anybody to hold job in General
Motors plant. I told you that in my
message of January S. That still
holds good"
Sloan also asked particular atten-
tion to his statement, stressed IN
italics in the printed address:
The increase of wages you received
in going back to work had nothing to
do with the negotiations"
Positions Declared Unfair.
Continuing, the president declared:
1T was originally claimed by the
United Automobile Workers Union
that it should be the bargaining
agency for all General Motors en-
ployes in all plants, irrespective Of
whether they were members Of the
union or not; l. e., an exclusive bar
gaining position.
Next, they urged that this par
ticular union should represent. as
bargaining agency, all the workers in
the General Motors plants on strike
again, whether those workers were
! members of this particular union or
not.
"Manifestly, both positions were un-
fair and unjust. General Motors has
always taken the position. and still
stands on that position, that its work
ers should have the right to be repre-
sented by any organization or any
form of representation that in their
Judgment is to their best interests
General Motors has done nothing, and
should do nothing. to prejudice those
inalienable rights. This Is the posi-
ton that General Motors has always
held, and neither these negotiations
nor the understanding that has le-
suited from same. has in any sense
altered that position.
General Motors cannot recognize
any union, or any group, as the ex.
elusive bargaining agency for its work
ers and thus deny the rights Of those
workers to be represented by some
other agency, If they so desire. There
must be no misunderstanding on that
point.
Against Discrimination.
"On the other hand, General Motors
has no intention of discriminating be.
tween organizations by which IT.
workers may wish to be represented
Manifestly, General Motors could moi
take any other position. because II
would be unfair and would prejudice
one organization Of workers, as against
Another. They must all have equa
treatment.
This does not mean that Genera
Motors will negotiate only with thu
union-it will continue to negotiao'
with any group, or with any in
dividual employe desiring to negotiate
individually, in any or all OF its plants
But in order to demonstrate it
good faith, General Motors agree<
that during the six months followini
the date of this letter it will place al
the facts before Gov. Murphy befor'
it negotiates with the representative
of any other group of employees il
the plants that were on strike so IA
as certain matters of general corpo
rate policy are concerned.
This means that if any organiza
ton. truly representative Of Genera
Motors workers, desires to negotiate
on any question of general policy, ant
if Gov. Murphy decides that tina
particular organization is truly repre-
sentative, then General Motors i
bound to negotiate and will 81
negotiate.
General Motors agreed to this be
cause it has no intention Of diScrimi
mating. but it has every intention o
protecting its workers in their rish
to a free and unprejudiced decision
as to how they wish to be repre-
sented."
Sloan concluded with the declara
ton that the wage increase, receive'
by the workers on their return from
the strike, was entirely outside tn
negotiations" and was general IN
crease in the wage scale. not onl,
in the automotive industry, but othe
industries"
G. N. STOCK SALES