The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1939-01-05

IS snow Tor four days.
class-conscious the group which is the
majority.
Organized Labor may not yet count
within its rank all who labor, but or
ganized workers voice the hopes and
needs and program Of its unorganized
brothers and sisters. Let none Of you
mistake that fact.
Once upon time you could brand
the labor leader as an agitator and
turn many workers against him. You
cannot do so today except in rare
cases and by great effort.
Militia Used in Strikes
l am an American Federation of
Labor man. | am a member of skill
ed craft and have been a union men,
Der for more than twenty-five years.
| have seen the militia drive our peo-
pie along the streets. | have seen
scores of union leaders wrongfully de-
nounced as agitators, radicals and
communists. | have seen the COM
munty misled by propaganda into
action against it's own best interests.
II have seen our workers exploited
during good years and left hungry
during slumps.
Out of this experience shared by
millions of others like me has come
recognition of the unity Of labor's
purposes. The rank and file of the
American labor may differ as to the
type of union they prefer and may dis
agree as to the leadership to be trust
ted but they have come to recognize
that labor stands together on public
: issues. .......
In closing, should apologize for my
excursion into subjects outside of the
technical scope of industrial manage
because / want to emphasize that you
cannot determine your labor policies
} by sliderule.
Labor is but group term for work
ing people. They are people like your
selves with the same desires to earn
a decent living for their families in
self-respecting circumstances at jobs
which they can enjoy. They may not
be as sophisticated as executives
usually are, and especially in terms of
leadership our officers may appear
crude in their inability to use fifty
cent words to express their grievances
and their programs. But you can
solve our community problems only
by viewing labor as a mass move
ment of individuals with the same
sort of hopes and feelings and needs
as yourselves.
Management can determine the sort
of leadership which labor provides be-
cause you determine whether we must
: plead our cause by force or by reason.
Give US conference table discussion of
honest issues and you will get that
type of leadership. If you give US the
Mohawk Valley formula, you will get
militant unions with fighting leaders.
If you give guns and gas to meet our
grievances you will get the sit-down
strike and the flying squadrons.
You cannot breed respect and conf
dence by the stool pigeon and labor
spy Every union which you smash by
force and deceit will be succeeded by
a tougher, harder union ready to
match itself against your tactics.
But, gentlemen, | believe manage
ment has learned much by past mis-
takes. When | was told that Mr..
Ching was to be the chairman Of this
session, | asked the leader of a Rubber
Workers Union for some information
about him. | mention this not for
nattery, but as an example of prog
ress. He said without hesitation that
Mr.. Ching is fine fellow, in whom
they have confidence and that he wish
ed the industry had more Mr.. Ching's.
i Yes, management has progressed
and labor has kept step. Unions in
America will continue to advance if
you treat us with respect and conf
dence. Respect for contracts, avoid
ance Of strikes, cooperation in meet
ing new problems, all of these are
typical of the older unions which have
been fortunate enough to have fought
their battles in the past and won
status of partnership.
| urge you to hasten the transition
in other fields of industry. Mr.. Ford
once sought to get the boys out of the
trenches before Christmas. The lead
ers of industry can get labor unions
out of the trenches and into a state
of mutually respectful partnership if
you will come half way and prove your
good faith. But labor must stay in
the trenches as long as management
seeks to exploit and abuse its workers,
to deprive its customers of purchas-
ing power and to ignore its community
responsibility.
And after many long conferences
with the members of the International
Labor Organization at Geneva, say