Evening star., 1938-05-09

lations of United
States R Der n.,,x ,.wr.rc.
Products, Inc, at
. round-table discussion held by the
Chamber Of Commerce of the United
States. One does not have to agree
with all of Mr.. Ching's viewpoints to
concede that he has put his finger
on some Of the weaknesses in the
labor situation today.
"On the assumption that We do not
have the confidence" he said. be
tween employe and employer, then is
1t not about time for us to devote
some energy to ways and means Of
creating it? But don't think for a
moment that this can be done over
night. The whole background of your
relationships with your employees needs
q careful survey and study and then
the application of good, sound COM
mon sense.
What is your background of rela-
tionships? Do your employees have
confidence in you? If not, why not?
What has happened in the past that
would indicate to them that you have
not given them your confidence or
that you are not worthy of theirs?
Your relationships with your en-
ployeS get right down to the plant and
the relationship between the last fore
man and the last supervisor on the
job. Much more can be accomplished
in building confidence in industry
down in the departments where peo-
pie work than can ever be done by
passing resolutions in Chamber of
Commerce meetings"
Refreshing in Its Tone.
Mr.. Chings speech was refresh
Ing exception to the general tone of
the addresses delivered at the Cham
der of Commerce meeting and it takes
on added Importance when one con-
siders that he was speaking to an
audience of employers. Mr.. Ching
takes a view not unlike that which
has been expressed in these dispatches
time and again. namely. that it is
not the granting of recognition for
collective bargaining under the Wag-
ner Act. but what comes after the
recognition is out of the way and ne
gotiations begin which is all i'm
portant. Mr.. Ching puts it this way:
Another thing that impresses me
in the present situation is the fact that
we are endeavoring to accomplish GER
tain things by legislation that can
never be accomplished in that way
You can no more legislate good human
relationships than you can good do
pacft rato cI,t
between the two is that when man
and a wife get into row, they do not
have to live together. The labor
legislation that We have on the statute
books today only goes so far as de-
.termining who is going to fight with
whom.
In other words. We can conduct
an election to determine who the
parties to the conflict are to be, if
conflict is going to take place, but that
is only the beginning of the job and
not the end. I haven't any quarrel
with the proposition that employees
should be given the opportunity to
deal with employers through any
organization they see At. think this
is sound, but the responsibility for
building up proper relationships is
still resting with those groups after
the groups have been determined,
and If both groups do not approach
the matter on the basis of honesty
and integrity with realization Of
each others problems then nothing
but trouble can ensue.'
Other Things Discussed.
Mr.. Ching frankly attacks some of
the things which make for trouble.
He says, for instance:
People get fixed ideas about an
organization or an association, and
the mere mention of that organiza-
ton or that association makes the hair
rise on the back of somebody's neck.
To give you an illustration: Some
one rushes into a plant manager some
day and says that the c. I. O. is going
to have a meeting that night, and
every one gets excited and acts alb
normally Why? Is it not a fear
complex that actuates us many times
when we learn that our employees are
going to be organized? If we have
confidence in our employees and they
have confidence in us and they decide
to join q labor organization. then
should we not welcome that organiza-
ton as another means of dealing with
our employees? The question of what
organization our employees wish to
employ in dealing with us is not so i'm
portant, in my mind, as the nature
Of the dealings.
But what has been our experience
over the last three or four years? We
first faced a public opinion which
evidently was sufficiently strong to
place on our statute books law giving
our employees the right to organize. I
am not going to make any comments
,about the Wagner Labor Relations
Act, but we have it. The act is upheld
by the Supreme Court. Before the
act was passed in its present form
and for the period following great
impetus was given to the organization
Of labor unions. Can you imagine
anything more susceptible to dis
organization and chaos than group
Of inexperienced organizers represent
ing q large group of employees who
nave Adu no eApeIicHCe III ldpOI uIiAohS,
dealing with management entirely in
experienced in handling that kind of
a situation? When we look at 1t in
this way we sometimes wonder that we
have had so little trouble rather than
that we have had 50 much"
Mr.. Ching's speech did not comment
on the labor act itself, but there can
be no doubt that one of the basic
reasons for misunderstanding is the
fact that many union leaders have
sought to invoke the act by means OF
trumped-up charges and actual CO.
ercion Of fellow employees. Many of
the troubles between workers and
foremen are deliberately started in
order 70 drag the labor board into the