Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1944-04-07
Opportunity

There Is an ola saying tndt OppoTtuhlI3
knocks but once, yet the workers of the
Toledo Scale Co. will be given their sec
ond opportunity on April IL to choose be-
tween the independent" union which has
held the plant bargaining rights for the
past wear. and Local IL, UAW-CIO.
Officials of the Scale Workers of Ohio
are expressing their confidence that the
workers will again choose their union,
basing their belief on the fact that many
employees of the company have been en-
ployed in the plant for years and are loyal
to the company.
Just how loyalty enters into the ques-
ton of an efficient and effective bargain
ing agent for the workers is not clear. 1t
has always been our impression that work
ers choose union which is able to secure
better wages, improved working cOndi-
tions, effective grievance procedure,
seniority rights and other benefits which,
for the most part, can only be obtained by
bona fide unions with no divided lOyal,ics.
In the UAW-CIO, the workers can see
strong union which has accomplished
great gains for its members. Even in the
face of the handicaps which have been
placed upon all unions by the war and
governmental agencies created because of
the conflict. the UAW has managed to
make progress.
No union can serve its people intelli-
gently unless it has long range program
based upon security for the workers. No
localized union existing in only one shop
can hope to compete with an organization
nd inta
ests itself in all the workers problems.
What small shop union can hope to
compare with the UAW-CIO which has
War Policy Division located in Washing
ton in close contact with all phases of the
War and all the governmental agencies
concerned in the war effort?
What independent union has been able
to do anything about stabilizing prices,
aiding the OPA, preventing undue infla-
ton, influencing the thoughts of millions
of people TO demand protection from GER
tain selfish interests who use the war to
cloak their selfseeking?
Workers at the Toledo Scale Co. have
had the opportunity for the past year to
observe their independent union in ac-
tion. They have first hand knowledge of
its accomplishments and failures, and they
must be able TO make intelligent cOmpari-
sons.
Has the Scale Workers of Ohio Union
won anything. from the company manage.
ment that the management was not will
ing TO grant? We believe that the Toledo
Scale Co. would have granted many of
the things for which the Scale Workers
IL.
which have been granted were won in
spite of the independent" union rather
than because of it.
We believe that the workers of the
Toledo Scale Co. want strong union, one
which is really independent of any Sus-
pici0n of company domination; one which
has a constructive, lOng-range program;
one which is seeking to assure them full
employment adequate wages and a great
er, measure of security in better tomOr-
row.
In the face of the experience which
the workers of the Toledo Scale Co have
had with their union during the past year,
and in the light of their intelligent com
paris0n of their independent" union with
the JAW CIO, the answer should mean
a clear-cut decisive victory for the work
ers in choosing Local II, UAW-CIO.
We have every confidence that the
Scale Co employees are fully awake to
their own interests and aware of the ne
cessity for strong organization in the
postwar period. We hope they will con-
slider these interests first and that they
will remember that their first loyalty lies
not TO the company which employs them,
but to themselves and their families.