The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1943-09-02
ARE WORKERS ENTITLED TO VACATIONS?

|0NE OF THE differences that distinguish cleri-
" cal and professional workers from those in
factories and mines is not alone the white collar
|o the one and the Overals and apron of the other
out also the disparity in pay and treatment The
fiction maintained that the white collar work.
9rS were something special Instead of wages, they
are paid salary" and much as the salary is in
the main below what workers earn when they re-
|celve mere wages" the genteel name is supposed
Ito make up for the handicap of measy pay. In
addition, salaried workers often are granted the
further privilege Of enjoying holidays when the
|oices are close, and biggest boon of ALL an entire
week OF even two weeks of vacation during which
the firm continues their pay salary.
Why industrial workers should be denied paid
vacations when clerical workers receive them
|could never be answered on logical grounds. The
|ony explanation was that habit and tradition
Established them for one and not for the other
|grOup. For many years the unions accepted the
situation without protest. They had more pressing
problems to contend with. They had to fight their
|Way through to union recognition. They had to
|battle for the right to organize. They had to win
higher wages and shorter hours.
The war and the effort to stabilize our econ
|omy and avoid initiation has put halt for the
present to efforts at increasing wages, but it did
mot put halt to the unions activities or to their
concern for the welfare of their memberships.
While we could no longer institute wage drives,
1--we still had the opportunity of bettering the
|ditions of our members in other directions One of
these improvements is likely to prove more I'M
Iportant than any wage increase we might have
Iganed at the present time. We refer to the gain
|of paid vacations and the establishment Of well
flare funds to protect members against unemploy-
Iment or temporary illness.
A rise in wages important it is, cannot be
nearly as important in the long range view of
things, the gain of a vacation with pay or the
establishment Of welfare fund to be paid for by
the employers. A wage rise may cover only an in
crease in the cost Of living. Under such circum-
stances it will not be true increase in income.
The gain of a vacation, however, is permanent
thing. 1t is there no matter whether the cost of
living drops or rises 1t will be there after the
war as well as during the war. 1t is fixed and ours
for keeps.
That industrial workers need vacations fully as
much as the white collar workers do, no will
question. Too often they have not been able to
IaITord one. With the unions aid they will now be
liable to take one and enjoy it with the peace of
mind that comes when worker knows that his
family will not suffer by his absence from the
bench or machine.
And as a footnote to our gain let us add that
none Of us has ever begrudged the white collar
workers their so-called "free' vacations. Most Of
them have paid dearly for the gift in intolerably
low pay. Most of them also now realize that they
would be better unOnized than subject to the
kindness and mercy Of their employers Vacations
are good for all workers and so are unions.