The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1942-04-30
Facing The Foc+s
With PHILIP PEARL
MAY
Auditorium
Hold everything. please.

1t seems that some of the statements
contained in this column last week
have been misunderstood, so we want
to set matters straight right away.
We said that American workers will
have to condition themselves to Il new
Way of thinking during this war
emergency, that unions should teach
their members not to expect general,
nationwide wage increases. that all OF
us will have to tighten our belts until
this war is Won However, we empha
sized that compulsory wage freezing
would only freeze existing injustic2S
and that the way must be left open
to lift pay rates that are palpably ont
of line with living costs.
Nevertheless, some of our readers
apparently got the mistaken impression
that we were advocating Il moratorium
on any and all wage increases and
that we were referring to specific
cases now being considered on their
merits by the National War Labor
Board or other official agencies.
Nothing was further from our
thoughts and intentions.
To set the record straight, let us
clarity our position. We believe that
America owes it to her loyal workers
that they receive sufficient compensa-
tion for their toll to keep themselves
and their families in good shape and in
accordance with American standards
of living.
Furthermore, we can't see how any
one can reasonably object to having
wage cases considered by the National
War Labor Board on the merits. Ger
tainly, no one is silly enough to believe
that this Government agency would
grant wage increases that are unjusti-
fled by the facts or that would upset
the nations war economy.
A Constituencies Clique
Now that we've got that off our
chest, we'd like to save the rest of our
breath for telling off some of the ma
TONS most constituencies employers
for whom the National Association of
Manufacturers is the front.
These babies have plenty of cash and
they don't mind spending it to smear
labor. The other day they invested Il
large sized chunk of cash in newspaper
advertisements putting the heat on
Congress to freeze the open shop where
it exists for the duration of the war.
This propaganda was so reprehenSi-
bic that AFL President Green and
CIO President Murray joined in pub
lie statement denouncing it in no I'M
certain terms.
They pointed out that the NAM was
trying to run out on Il distinct agree
ment entered into by industry, labor
and the President and that this ag-
gregation of union-hating employers
was attempting to slip over Il fast one
on America.
After all, labor has yielded the eX-
erciSe of ,the right to strike. If an
employer refuses to grant union Secur-
ity, labor can turn only to the War
Labor Board for adjudication of its
Just demands on the facts. But the
NAM obviously is trying to take ad-
vantage of the war to obtain special
protection by law for anti-uniOn en-
ployerS that it would not have the
ghost of Il chance to get in normal
times. Isn't that just too patriotic for
words?
No wonder the heads of the two
labor organizations used strong Ian
guage to condemn such employers "who
hate unions more than they hate Hit
ler"
The Navy Must Clean House
There is another matter with refer
ence to the National Association Of
Manufacturers which deserves atten-
tion and prompt action on the part of
the Government. ',
The newspaper, PM, exposed the
fact a week ago that James Selvage,
former publicity director Tor the NAM,
had gone to work for the Navy De
partment as civilian cOnSultant i'll the
Industrial incentives Section. THIS sec
tion is supposed to build up morale