The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1943-09-17
Frey Halls Master Shipbuilding Pact
AS Wars Most Constructive,
Far-Reaching Development
Labor Refuses To Be Exploited But Will Be Constructive
Liberty Ship Named After Great Labor Leader;
Less Hours Used In Building Liberty Ships

ter Shipbuilding Agreement, worked
out by Pacific coast organized labor
and management, may be big factor
in making the coast the nations
greatest industrial empire, John P.
Frey, president of the Metal Trades
Department, AFL, said here.
President Frey said that in the
great industrial commonwealth which
he visualized, labor will refuse to be
exploited but he warned that labor,
to be constructive, "must keep in mind
that no other group of Americans will
tamely submit to exploitation"
Frey spoke at the launching of
Liberty Ship named for the late John
l. Nolan, prominent union molder,
legislative representative of the Cali
fornia State Federation Of Labor and
Representative in Congress from Cali
fornia's fifth district.
Cooperation between labor and
management on the Pacific Coast is
responsible for the sections record
of building Liberty Ships with fewer
man-hours of labor than any other
shipbuilding section in the nation,
Frey said.
Pact Seen EpOchal
'The shipbuilding record of the
Pacific Coast" Frey continued, sis the
combined result of the exceptional
ability and initiative on the part of
management, assisted by the patriotic
and cooperative attitude of labor.
But there is a deeper reason, the in
huence of the Master Shipbuilding
Agreement. Shipyard management
and organized labor on the Pacific
Coast have led the nation and the AL
lied countries in working out far
reaching collective bargaining agree
ments for the purpose of stabilizing
terms of employment, and conditions
of labor which would cover a great
industrial area.
"For the first time in our industrial
history, management, labor and the
highest governmental agencies sat
around the conference table to work
out the terms of an agreement, the
provisions of which would be the rule
for all three.
Agreement Blazed Way"
"When the history of this period
is written, it will be indicated that the
most constructive, far-reaching and
progressive development during this
war was the negotiation of the Master
Shipbuilding Agreement. 1t blazed the
way and opened the door to the
broader possibilities of collective bar
gaining as contrasted with the efforts
of some public officials to tumble with
the problem of human relations in in
dustry.
Looking into the future there are
reasons for believing that this agree
ment may indicate the method which
will make the Pacific Coast the ma
tion's greatest industrial empire"
Discussing labor in the Pacific
Coast industrial empire, Frey said:
'In this great industrial common
wealth of yours, labor will vigorously
protect its rights. But to be success
full, labor must also realize that for
every right enjoyed, there is also an
equivalent responsibility; that those
who fail to recognize and assume their
responsibilities cannot hope to main
tain their rights.
Labor To Be Judged By Deeds
Labor must keep in mind that in
this great commonwealth Of yours, it
will be judged not by what it pro-
fesses, but by what it does. 'Ye shall
know the tree by the fruits thereof.
''It is obvious that management de-
pends upon labor, and equally true
that labor depends upon management
and that in government of free men,
public authorities must depend foI
heir effectiveness upon the coopera-
tion of both.
"Your future success depends upon
the extent to which management, la
bor and government will learn how tc
cooperate more adequately for the
welfare of the community as whole.
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