The union times., 1944-07-08
NELSON PROGRAM

Military chiefs have asked for more ships and Land claimed that there won't be any tapering off for a long time to come = at least within any period that we can fOresee definitely
 At the same time, Donald M. Nelson, chairman of the War Pro- ductiOn Board, made public a program calculated to permit ex- pansiOn of some civilian prOduc- tiOn, if and when cutbacks make sufficient manpOwer available.
 Newspapers played up the Nelson announcement in a manner to make It appear that the Hid is off" for immediate reconversion from war to civilian output, but labor spokesmen said 1t didn't go anywhere near that tar. Restrictions are eased slightly just enough to give war workers some encouragement to stay on the job, labor officials said
 Nelson made it clear that inc next few months would have to be concentrated on alI-Out war pro- ductiOn, and that precious little civilian production can be ner- mitted in that period.
 However, he conceded what organ ized labor had been saying all along that plans should be made now to absorb the jobless as cutbacks become heavy. He declined to predict when cutbacks would happen, but he said. large numbers of men and women will lose their jobs."
 As part of plans for such eventu- allty, Nelson urged manufacturers to start now building up backlogs of civilian orders and designing peace time products. The WIPE will facili- tate that, he said, by permitting manu- lecturers to acquire enough materials to prepare single working models" of such products.
 Nelson also announced W.P.B. revocation of restrictions on use of magnesium and aluminium in civi- liam production of metal goods, if and when manpOwer is clearly available for that. Finally. begin- ming July l, employers will be aI- lowed to stock up on machinery. tools and dies for civilian produc- ton, insofar as surpIuses above war needs permit.
 Before manufacturer will actually be able to shift over to civilian pro duction, he will have to get an 'okay'' locally from regional WIPE and War ManpoWer Commission offices, which are to decide whether the manpower situation has eaSed up enough for such purpose,
 Some business, as result, will get a head start" on others in returning to peacetime production, but Nelson insisted that can't be helped.
 "This country cannot afford to delay the return to civilian prOduc- tiOn until all manufacturers in each indstry have terminated their es- sential war work and are in a pO- sitiOn to resume production at the same time," Nelson declared. ''I see no other way in which large scale unemployment can be avert edo
 Labor SpokeSmen, meanwhile, de- clared that not too much comfort can be drawn from Nelson's plan as a solution of the unemployment problem to be created when cutbacks start snowbal1ing.
 They said his program was largely Statement of Objectives,'' g with the actual machinery still to be worked out. They insisted that labor should have voice in such machinery and in determination of which civilian products should be given a ''green light"
 Furthermore, the Nelson program, they said, by no means offsets the need of overall reconversion legisla- tion, such as the Kilgore bill, now pending in Congress and for which all organized labor is fighting.