Evening star., 1937-01-05
President Sloan Declares
No Labor Organization
Will Run Plants.

Will Run Plants. i
~ the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, January S.--Alfred p.
sloAn, r., president Of General Mo-
tors, announced last night the COM
pany "Win not recognize any union
ss the sole bargaining agency Of its
workers"
He made the statement IN . notice
posted today on the bulletin boards
Of all the corporations domestic
manufacturing concerns and in 1t he
said:
ITO all employees Of General Mo-
tors Corp:
I'm view Of the fact that several
Of our manufacturing plants have
been forced to close down, possibly
necessitating similar closing on the
part Of others in the not distant fu-
ture, and realizing that this means
q great deal to you and your families.
as well as to the business. 1t seems
only fair that should tell you the
circumstances that have brought this
about In order that you may bett
understand and therefore Judge more
intelligently.
Cites Demand for Products.
First, let me say that General Mo-
tors products were never in greater
demand than today. This good busi-
ness insures plenty Of jobs. with gen.
erous hours of employment, for some
time to come And, not only that, but
the amount that each dollar buys is
Importantly greater than it was during
the last period Of good business. say in
1929. Again. important progress has
been made in providing steadier work
| through the year; thus on these and
every other count General Motors
workers are earning more than they
ever have in the entire history of Cen
eral Motors, and as much, II not more,
than the workers Of any other busi-
ness. No one can honestly say other
wise.
"Yet under these conditions you are
being forced out Of your Jobs by sit
down strikes, by widespread intimida-
ton and by shortage Of materials pro-
duced by similar tactics in many allied
industries. Your employment and
wages and the welfare of your families
are being endangered by actions be-
yond your control and that of your
company. The same ruthless tactics
are threatening the general recovery
Of business, in which the automobile
industry had the leading part.
"You are being told you had better
join union. You are being told that
to bargain collectively you must be a
member Of labor organization. You
are being told that the automotive in
dustry Is to be run as q closed shop.
You are being told that if you do not
join now it will be impossible for you
to work in any automobile plant when
the union wins. unless you pay. In
other words, you will be without Job;
therefore, you must sign up, pay dues
or else.
Stresses Open Shop.
I want to say to you most frankly
that this Is positively not So Do not
be misled. Have no fear that any
union or any labor dictator will DOM
mate the plants of General Motors
Corp. No General Motors worker need
join any organization to get a lob or
to keep a job.
General Motors grew I'D on the
principle that a workers job and his
promotion depend on his own individ-
ual ability-not on the say-so Of any
labor union dictator. And on that
principle General Motors stands and
will continue to stand Many of the
men who operate General Motors
plants came up from . workers
bench. You know them. You see
them on the job every day. They are
the ones who design our products and
plan their manufacture. It is your
work and their work, financed by our
stockholders and sold to the public
at large all over the world which
makes jobs and wages possible
nothing more or less, and that will
always be so.
Neither is it necessary for you to
Join any organization in order to
bargain collectively. General Mo-
tors Is pledged to collective bargain
ing on the basis Of absolute and unin-
huenced freedom of choice on the
part of any worker to join any organ
ization without coercion. restraint or
| intimidation. General Motors stated
its position most completely on this
important principle Of employer
employe relationship in August, 1884.
You were duly notified. General Mo-
tors practices that form of collective
bargaining continuously, as honestly
and intelligently as it knows how.
Declared Untruth.
I mention all this because efforts
are being. made, In various ways, to
make you as well as the public be-
lieve that General Motors refuses to
bargain collectively with its workers
and exercises discrimination against
men who elect to join one organiza-
ton or another. Nothing could be
farther from the truth.
But. after all, this is not the real
issue that has brought about the situa-
ton that we face today. That real
issue Is perfectly clear, and here it is:
Will q labor organization run the
plants Of General Motors Corp. or will
the management continue to do so?
On this issue depends the question as
to whether you have to have q union
card to hold a job, or whether your job
will depend in the future, as it has in
the past, upon your own individual
merit. In other words, will you pay to q
private group Of labor dictators for the
privilege of working, or will you have
the right to work as you may desire.
Wages, working conditions, honest col
lective bargaining. have little, If any
thing, to do with the underlying situa-
ton. They are simply q smoke screen
to cover the real objective.
Outlines Position.
Now, you are entitled to know what
Geenral Motors position is. That is
the real purpose Of this message to you.