The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-02-02
ABSENTEEISM HIT
 BY RICKENBACKER
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ized labor union," he continued.
 'Second, upon his employment, ne shall have equal voting rights with any other empIoye in any union, and any employe and management plan of the employer.
 'Third, his seniority in relation 70 other employees of draft age should date. as of the day he enlisted or was inducted into his Countrys serv- ice.
 question about the capabilities or the sincerity of our war workers. bring hack groups of 20 or 30 of these men from these shell.holes (the front lines) at $50 per month, place them in the factories in unl- form, side by side with rest of us, and wou will soon find out whether you are doing your maximum or not"
 Rickenbacker prefaced Q plea for an end to abSenteeism in war plants and harder work by an account or the 21 days he, Col. Han Adamson and the crew of a flying fortresS spent on life rafts in the n1id"Pacl- fic, after they had heen forced Co crash land their plane because the fuel ran out. Having been rescued, Rickenbacker continued on the mis- sion Secretary of War Henry St1m- son had sent him on. One point ne visited was Guadalcanal.
 q arrived in this hell-hole as the rainy season was starting" he said.
 "Dugouts were filled with mud ana water. Men were working in jum- pers without shoes or socks. Marines and soldiers were in the foxholeS with billions of mosquitoes. Malaria was prevalent, as was diarrhea.
 "Here you will find a Catholic priest, protestant minister or @ Jewish Rabbi-all preaching the simple faith to Catholics, Protest ants and Jews alike.
 "Oh, men and women of America, if you could only understand what our boys-your boys and mine-are doing in the hell-holes throughout the Pacific and the burning sands of Africa, that your way of life may be preserved and the character that has made this nation great may be carried on, you would not worry about eight hours a day overtime, or double time for Saturdays and holidays.
 you would not worry about whether you were producing too much per man per day. No, you would be and should be grateful TOT the privilege of offering everything you know how. For none Of us are doing so much that we cannot do more. This is a life and death struggle for the welfare Of this nation.
 "Without victory, social security, old age pensions. hours and wages bills will mean nothing.
 "The perpetual showdown in war industry caused by ahsenteeisni- particularly in the aircraft industry where 1t exceeds an average Of 10 per cent-probably Is the most na- grant abuse of your obligation since Pearl Harbor.
 "In the Boeing factory alone (Where Fylng Fortresses arc niade) the day following Christmas, 70 per cent of the employees were ahser- tees. and our aylators in those hell. holes are crying their eyes out for only . few more.
 "fn the Douglas plant. there vas on absenteelsm of ii,000 empl0yes the day after Christmas.
 "ft is not the loss of individual man-hours that is 70 deadly. but the accumulated l0ss Of thousands Of hours on the production iipe of other employees caused by individual mbsenieeiEIn. which, during the past year has run into millions of lglasis hour.
 'thsrs b 70 ebusnlssinn in ihs