Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1944-03-17

Lu"oAu S' Inc pre-
else definition of company
policy" may be given in rough
wordage by saying that it is
the philosophy of life of any
particular employer as applied
to the men who work for him,
particularly as regards the
wages, hours, and working
conditions of those men. We're
sure Mr.. Crawford wasn't re-
ferring to credits, inventories,
surpluses, reserves, and other
such unimportant trivia.
No, indeed, folks! The War
is on, in fact both wars are on,
the one against the Axis, and
the more important one, the
battle against the workers
who are making it possible to
fight the other War.
King Ere d d i e expressed
wonderment at the fact that
an employer who benevolently
pays wages to people who
work under his roof for eight
long hours day does not gain
the confidence of these peo-
pie, while the labor leader
meets them outside the gates
of the plant and in ten min
utes becomes their friend.
Since Mr.. Crawford doesn't
know the answer, let's en-
Tighten him a Bit
CONFIDENCE
If / we're working for Mr..
Crawford at his Toledo Di-
vision of the Thompson Prod
ucts Company, better known
as Toledo Steel Products, |
would certainly have conf
dence in most anybody but
Mr.. Crawford. For a man
with his reputation as a union
buster to make such a state
ment as he made before his
business colleagues is an in
suit to their intelligence. But
maybe he was speaking to
them in terms of Don't do
as | do, but do as tell you"
While we're on the subject
of confidence, / wonder if MIR.
Crawford expects the en-
ployees of Toledo Steel Prod
ucts to have any faith in him
when they see the corporation
fighting them in every way
possible, in an attempt to dis
courage them and break uo
their union. In the matter Of
stalling and just plain, nasty,
arbitrariness, T o e d o Steel
Products ranks second only to
one company in this vicinity,
the Swartzbaugh Mfg. Co.
Perhaps the reason why
workers place their confidence
in the 'abor leader who chats
with them for 10 minutes is
because he speaks their Ian
guage and keeps his word with
them. Perhaps it is because
men like Frederick Crawford
make unions a very necessary
thing.
Perhaps il is because the
workers get sick of empty
promises of the variety dished
out by MIR. Crawford and his
associates. Perhaps it is be-
cause the workers are not such
imbeciles as Mr.. Crawford
and his buddies a ways
thought and hoped they were.
Perhaps they know when they
are being underpaid or dis
criminated against. Perhaps
they don't care for the Thomp-
son Products brand of Red
Appleism. Perhaps they
know that their employers are
organized and that the only
way they can get a halfway
fair deal is by organizing, too.
FRATERNALISM
The daily newspapers just
bubble over with the frater-
nalism Of labor and manage
ment, but that's the only place
you'll find it, except in these
Hollywood film concoctions
depicting one great happy
family, from the company
president to the janitor, all
of whom work in a dream"
factory where there is a con-
spicuous absence of union
badges or union conversation.
AS far as we know, there is
only one Jack & Heintz, and
perhaps two other companies
which border on the philan-
thropic, and Fred Crawford's
plant isn't either one of them.
In fact, it's the guys like
Crawford who are continually
putting Jack g. Heintz on the
pan for teaching the workers
bad habits"
Yes, it's wonderful to be
controlled by Crawfords and
their ilk! You can't get a re-
lease by quitting your job.
even If it kills you, but the
Company can fire you for
union activity and the War
Manpower Commission won't
even question the release. Ac-
tive union members are put in
la by the score, but good
boys" are given deferments at
the Company's request.