The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-12-28

OF the manufacturing struggle. The
phrase ".otal warfare" Is used FREE
quently, but one needs to go TO a
modern factory where war material
Is being made on a twenty-four
hours. 3eyen-day schedule to real
lie how much part Of the war our
factories are.
Although the needs OF the war
have shifted ana changed with it's
progress. the demands on the West
inghouse Company. although they
have changed. have not slackened.
At the present time, greatest pres
sure is on small turbines and
gears for destroyer escorts. radio
equipment Of all kinds, and other
more specialized battle devices.
notwithstanding the fact that in
the first nine months OF this year
we manufactured and shipped more
apparatus than We did in the entire
twelve months of 1912, our backlog
of untitled orders still continues to
be over q billion dollars, II all the
plants under our management are
included. This is the highest figure
it has ever attained.
The payrolls o; the company have
reached almost million dollars a
day. A recent survey of the gross
earnings Of employees shows that
over 41,000 Westinghouse people will
earn more than $1,000 each in 1913.
This compares with 25,l00 people
who earned similar sums in 1912.
The company continues to ex-
perience some shortage of labor in
certain districts, but in others, as
the type of work changes and falls
off or shifts to other plants, the
demand for labor drops. In our
opinion, the acute shortage OF labor
the country over has passed, except
in a few isolated cases. AS plants
become more familiar with the war
equipment they are producing. they
will find they can turn it out with
less labor. which should release men
for work which is still expanding
Notwithstanding the rising tempo
of production, time was found to
survey the needs of our company
in the postwar period, which seems
to be approaching with certainty.
The Westinghouse Electric and
Manufacturing Company is one OF
the companies that will mot require
major amount of reconversion in
that 1t has been manufacturing in
many Of its plants the same type OF
products 1t manufactured in peace
time, the only difference being in
the volume and the maximum use
of its facilities. Major reconversion
expenses will occur in the Electric
Appliance Division where all normal
activity has ceased. ReconverSion of
all our plants to peacetime pursuits
should be accomplished in matter
of months. And while the cost would
amount to millions of dollars, yet it
would not be an excessive burden
on the company.
During the year. the company has
refunded to the government mil
lions of dollars to meet the require
ments Of the renegotiation agree
ment which it made last year, and
has set aside other millions for re-
funding which do not appear in the
published reports of the income OF
our company. Tax estimates are
made at the current rate and there
will be relatively little net income
considering the total amount OF
business. 1t is estimated that such
income will amount to less than
3 per cent Of the gross sales of the
company. This is small return
when the resources and ability OF
the company are considered, but IN
view of the fact that it is engaged
In the manufacture of equipment to
save the country and preserve Its
own welfare It is accepted as one OF
the sacrifices that all Of us must
make to win this war.