The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1938-08-04
Brotherhood's S
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business depression is at hand, to ask
for decrease in wage rates. There
is also standing committee with
three representatives of each side
meeting twice a month throughout
the year to take care of matters de-
veloping through the constant process
of changing shapes and designs, which |
involves simplifed or difficult work
operations, to establish prices and
work arrangements that will enable
the worker to maintain his established
earnings. 1t is indeed amazing how
this court functions in settling from
$50 to IT'S price and working ar
rangement disputes annually. We have
another committee consisting of three
representatives from labor and man
agement to review all cases OF dis
charged employees, who feel that they
were unfairly dismissed. The decis-
ions of these bodies are final.
The workers and employers in our
industry, through years of practicing
our ways of carrying on this industrial
set-up, have become deeply imbued
with that spirit of square dealing so
fundamentally necessary to success in
such an undertaking and it is truly
surprising how we have surmounted
many obstacles. Personally, l am an
ardent advocate of militant, voluntary
trade union organization, as the ideal,
effective form Of organization for
workers, in the seeking Of the real OBJ
jective of labor, living wage under
sanitary and humane conditions.
The immortal Samuel Gompers pas
sionately advocated this basic doc
trine for labor activity as the prere-
quisite to complete success in sound
labor movement. | am decidedly op
posed to any paternalistic or govern
mental guardianship set-ups for work.
ing men and women. | believe that
history sustains my contention that
such movements ultimately prove to
be not in the interest Of the working
people. My experience during the N.
l. II. A. with governmental agents,
who received their authority to settle
questions involving industry and la
Dor, in the fundamentals of which they
lacked knowledge and experience,
through political influence, resulting III
decisions based upon theory or senti-
ment to the sacrifice of practical ne
cessty, along with what has since hap
pened relative to the National Labor
Relations Board, justifies this COM
ment.
Employers generally, by reason of
their stupid attitude in refusing to rec
ognize the right of their employees for
a collective bargaining contract and
their failure to meet around the table
to discuss the matter, are, in my opin-
ion, more responsible for the present
governmental regulations, regarding
industry, than any other single factor.
There is an old, yet true, saying that
the pendulum of the clock must swing
back as far as it swings out These
short-sighted and unreasonable en-
ployers have surely furnished plenty
of momentum to the pendulum in its
outward swing, but it is now return
ing with the same force. This fact
is responsible for the governmental
supervisons, so disliked by the manu-
facturers; but they have only them
selves to blame. | sincerely hope they
have learned their lesson so that in
the future they will exercise reason
and common sense, in place of UNI
reason and nonsense.
| believe above referred to govern
mental set-ups were conceived and de-
signed with the best of intentions and
I,a h.l,
full to management and labor but the
results are far from satisfactory to
either party concerned. ! further
claim that, through our voluntary in
dustrial relationship in the pottery in
dustry, we actually accomplished that
which was sought by those who con
ceived and planned the n. l. Il. A. and
subsequent industrial and labor laws
III completely satisfactory and prac-
tical manner In view of our accomp-
iishments, | hold that we should have
received not only the appreciation of
our governmental authorities but VIC
should have been favored with every
help and assistance for the perpetu-
alton Of our plan.
On the contrary, we have been
greatly alarmed at times because of
loans made by the II. f. G. to employ
ers who refuse to recognize the right
of their employees to join unions volun-
tarily and who rejected the right of
collective bargaining with their en-
ployes. Such companies pay extreme
ly low wages and compete in the open
market with our employers, parties to
our wage agreement, selling their
wares at from $50 to 300 less than
our employers We're offering compar-
able wares to the purchasing public.
Then again we have our immigration
laws which exclude citizens of foreign
nations from our country, for, among
other reasons, that of competing with
American citizens for jobs. Yet the
products of foreign producers through
the use of the same excluded labor arc
permitted to be imported to our shores
and sold in competition with the prod
uctS OF our American pottery workers
ia, Il lipt