Imperial Valley press., 1944-02-09
Capital Talk
-by-
Peter Edison

Telling the peL..c the whole
truth and nothing but the truth
about the cancellation of war con-
tracts. cutbacko ard reconversion
TO civilian industry is going to be
twice as necessary as telling them
the facts about the war. Necessity
for maintaining military secrecy
is a perfectly sound reason for not
revealing where all the war plants
are and how much of what each
is making But in the readJust-
employment and production IS
there can be no excuse for failing
to explain to the public in the
greatest detail why every shift IN
employment and production Is
made. And if such explanations
are not made the miSunderstand-
ings will be multiplied into a post
war confusion that will be far
worse than anything developing in
wartime.
A case in point developed at the
end of the year in Cleveland, ONO,
when Thompson Products, Inc,
announced layoffs for 1900 en-
ployes and shortening of the work
week for 14,50o others, cutting
them back from 13 days work IN
each two weeks to five and half
days a week. This welcome little
New Years greeting came because
of a sudden, sharp cutback IN
orders for aircraft valves and
parts. The Thompson management
announced that it had no advance
notice of the cutback. the informa-
ton coming indirectly from the
aircraft engine builders who held
the prime contract.
On its face, this situation sounds
completely cockeyed. Why. at this
stage of the war, should there be
any cutback in airplane engines?
With aircraft production goals for
1914 set far above production IN
l943. why should there be any lay
offs and reductions in hours in
any aircraft plant in the country?
To the employees in the Thompson
plants affected by this cutback,
the situation undoubtedly did not
make sense, and if they were told
no more than was in the companys
announcement, it no doubt caused
lot of needless worry.
Looks Queer, But Isn't
A check-up in Washington re-
vealed what had happened. The
cutback had been ordered because
the Army had all the engines ana
parts for training planes that 1t
would need for the duration OF the
war. There was no need for mill
tary secrecy in this. This, IN TACT,
was bad news for Germany and
Japan. 1t could have been broad
cast to the Axis, without reveal
ing a single production figure, just
to let the super-races know that
all this American productive capa-
city that had been going into train
ing planes could now be concen-
trated on the production of COM
bat planes. 1t could have been
handel as a pat on the back TO
the employees, congratulating them
on having completed big war JOB.
It was a production victory. 1t was
handled like defeat. 1T lett
$4,000 workers with bad tastes IN
their mouths.
This thing that happened at
Thompson Products is going TO pe
repeated thousands of times IN
greater and less degree, all over
the country, in the next few years.
In the Detroit area alone, the END
of the war will mean layoffs 1or
nerhaps half of the million and
1narter workers now in war pro-
duction.
The Thompson Products case
merely points up what is going 10
be necessary if these cuthacks are
10 be handled intelligently, iirst
bv good government in scheduling
the contract cancellations, second
bv good management in planning
we'll. for reconversion to postwar
production, third by good lapor
relations and good public reia'ionS
in making sure that everyone con-
ce:ncd has a clear understand
inc of what is happening ana why
# IS necessary. If ever the country