Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1944-12-29
What's
New?
By
Edward Duck
On Leave
With The
Army
THEIR JOB!

Much has been written and
spoken, Of late, concerning
the duties and responsible
ties" Of organized labor as 4
whole, and of its leaders in
particular.
1t seems to me that space
and speeches could best be
utilized in educating organ
lied management on the SUBJ
ject of its own postwar re-
sponsibilities.
Organized labor presents
no problem. The leadership
will be guided by the dictates
of the membership, if the or
ganization is wholesome. Both
the rank-and-file members
and the men who work for
them have mors than proven
their reliability and patri-
otism during this wartime
crisis. They have stuck by
their guns in the face of
double edealing, cheating, and
subterfuge on the part Of
many arrangements and their
highly paid attorneys. Gov
ernment statistics will prove
that in spite Of these aggrava-
tions work stoppages have ac-
tually caused overall war pro-
production to be delayed by
less than one-tenth of one
percent.
UNIONS RESPONSIBLE
Most unions are respon-
sible. The UAW-CIO leader
ship has been a target for
criticism from many of its
own militant" members, who
claim that, the organization
is too responsible"
Production by UAW-CIO
men and women has been a
modern miracle. 1t will be a
leading factor in Fastening
the defeat of our enemies.
Our workers have made an
outstanding record and have
earned the respect and COM
mendation of such men as
Roosevelt, p Patterson and
other leading military fig
ures. They need no booster"
speeches by kept columnists
or radio commentators
What the American worker
wants to know is will there
be jobs after the war is
oVer?"
Part Of the responsibility in
solving the problem of full
employment will rest with
our government. Public works
and public Investment will
fill a sizeable part of the gap
caused by the contraction of
private spending at the wars
end.
AN OBLIGATION
Walter Lippman calls full
employment an obligation
which must be met and no
excuses or explanations for
failure accepted" He's prob
ably peddling free enter
prise" again when he uses
those words, but whether he
knows it or not, he has some
thing therel
Overse S returnees may
prove d fficult to handle.
They've seen death in carload
OTIS - They've even gone
out ] k ing for it! They
have been taught lot of
things civilians don't quite
understand, unless they were
in the last war. They feel
that somebody owes them
something-and they're right.
They want that something,
and they had better get it
Security and the rights and
freedoms they fought for.
Combat m N won't be
happy about unemployment.
They don't want anyone's job
They want their own!
They had better get it.
America is going to make
fertile ground for radicalism
if the challenge of postwar
employment and full produc-
ton is not met. Hungry peo-
pie will listen to anyone who
will put bread in their mouths
or promise it-Look at
Germany and Italy!
RESPONSIBILITY
Responsibility will not be
placed In government alone
If organized management will
assume cooperative spirit,
and devote its Energy, not to
fighting the workers, but to
assure men and women the
opportunity of earning the
necessities of life, its road
will be a smoother one.
With the privilege of own
ership goes the obligation of
using that property for the
good of society In that re-
spect there must be a COM
plete metamorphosis on the
part of these men who have
in the past placed property
rights above human rights.
Greed must go, and in its
stead there must be a genuine
desire to have full produc-
ton and full employment.
In short, let management
solve its own problem, and
rely upon the membership of
organized labor to do its own