The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-01-14

ingot aluminium on hand. There is
obviously no sense in keeping up
production Of stuff for which there
is no use, so production was cut in
some plants, Eventually, say War
Production Board officials, the cut
backs may be as much as 40 per
cent Of productive capacity.
In one Of the aluminium plants OF
the country, the leaders of the local
union involved saw this cutback
coming. They couldn't help but see
1t coming. Warehouses were full and
there was even talk Of using alum
mum to build additional warehouses
TO store the production in excess of
current orders. Untitled orders simp-
ly no longer existed.
4O-HOUR WEEK ASKED
So the leaders Of the union went
to the management and said, in eff
feet, Look: All this over production
can't go on forever, and we know It.
Shutdowns are certain, layoffs will
result, and lot Of us are going to
be out Of jobs. We are now working
48-hour week. We believe In shar-
ing the work. How do you feel about
going back to 40-hour week? Pro-
duction will thus be cut back In line
with demand, overtime will be ell
minated, costs will be reduced, and
no one will be out OF job"
The management is reported to
have agreed to the idea, so the union
leaders took 1t to their membership.
And the members turned 1t down
cold. They would take their chances
on the layoffs and cutbacks. Wasn't
there a war on Wasn't there still
demand for about war produc-
ton Weren't the production goals
going to be greater for 1914 than for
1913? Hadn't everybody been yelling
for the last two or three years that
there wasn't enough aluminium
that we might lose the war for lack
Of aluminium?
What was all this stuff that had
been handed out in production
drives, fighting absenteeism2 Had
1t all been q lot Of hooey2 Was the
reward for all this production effort
to be layoff, reduction in hours?
A reduction in pay2 The elimination
OF the overtime take-home- How
could workers expect TO meet war
bond subscriptions and the present
cost Of living II their weekly pay
was reduced by 20 per cent? They
wanted more money, not less.
SUCH BEHAVIOR TO
BE EXPECTED
II you think this was a short.
sighted policy for the members OF
this particular union TO take, you're
crazy. They were acting as normal
human beings might be expected to
act under such circumstances, as
you or would act If we faced q 20
per cent cut in pay.
To go back TO he aluminium case,
however, what was foreseen, came
to pass. There We cutbacks, there
we're layoffs, some people were out
OF jobs, while the luckier ones stayed
on, working 40 hours a week and
taking home their time and -a-half
for eight hours overtime. In this first
instance, 1t offered no great problem.
The workers who were laid off found
other jobs because there happened
to be labor shortage in other in
dustrieS in that area. There was
quick, painless and fairly easy re-
adjustment.
But this same thing Is going to
happen some more and In other in
dustries, and in a lot Of places 1t
isn't going to be so easy to get other
Jobs. War Manpower Commission
officials actually say that in some
places you may even see more I'M
employment even though the coun-
try as a whole may have a labor
shortage.
To date, no one concerned has any
very definite ideas about how these
problems are going to be met. Union
officials have no policies on the sub
ject, and neither have employers,
War Production Board nor War
Manpower Commission. But that
isn't saying they aren't thinking
about 1t and not worrying about 1t.