The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1945-04-06
NEWS and VIEWS

Press reports from Detroit throw
illuminating light on labor unrest in
that great war production center.
Unfortunately, so much heat and fury
have been generated in these disputes
that basic causes tend to be overlook
ed
This writer recently visited Detroit
for the purpose Of getting close pic
ture of the industrial situation. Dis
regarding for the moment the counter
charges of managerial usurpation and
anti-union conspiracy, the hard core
of Detroit's labor trouble seems to
be blend of pre-Pearl Harbor hang
overs and postwar apprehensions. The
mixture throws labor in a sweat and
leaves management in blue funk.
1t must be considered that organ
lied labor as a whole shows an alert
attitude toward the complex condi-
tions that are bound to arise after
the war. Management on the other
hand, caught between strong-voiced
unions and government by directives,
seems somehow unable to realize fully
the industrial and social implications
of the postwar era.
The worker, writes Frank Woodford
in the New York Times, takes the po-
sition "We don't work for the four
freedoms. We work for cash." But
that is an oversimplifcation.
Labor is aware of the facts of life.
1t knows that postwar setbacks are in
the offing. Cought in the spiral OF
government labor policies and hoist by
the petard of false war prosperity, in
dustrial trade unionsm is determined
to make the most of prevailing condi-
tions, regardless of who gets hurt.
Management demands that it must
not be hampered in it's efforts to es-
tablish sure postwar footing. Union
attempts to participate in manage
ment affairs are resented. This
charge, by the way, is disputed by
spokesmen of the United Automobile
Workers ACIO), who disclaim even
having made the attempt to bring
foremen under union jurisdiction.
A few not too we'll known factors
must be considered. There is, first,
the steady decline Of industrial civil
ian employment since last year. Ma
tional employment in January, 1945
was 100000 below last years jan
uary figure. Unemployment insur-
ance claims in the Detroit area alone,
rose from 1,677 in December, 1943
to nearly 10000 last December. On
the whole, the number of people re-
ceiving unemployment compensation
through the country was nearly 30
percent above the corresponding fig
ure year ago.
This, curiously enough, is the re-
suit not of declining demands for la
Dor, but of technical and production
improvements. The number of work
ers employed on given job has de-
clined between 20 and 80 percent. In
other words, where year ago 100
workers were needed to produce a
given number Of items only 70 to 80
workers are needed now. 1t is against
this background that many workers,
harassed by the fear of tomorrow's
uncertainties, are engaged in what
management calls loafing and cutting
their production rate.
But while due emphasis must be
placed on these factors, the issue goes
deeper. The truth of the matter is
that the great industrial unions
fathered by the New Deal, swollen
with success and secure Of government
support-look upon every manage
ment-labor issue in political terms. 1t
is this outlook, together with the Of
fetal government attitude toward these
questions, that has thrown the deli
cate balance between capital and la
Dor out Of gear.
The time has come for labor OF
New Deal vintage to use it's head in
stead Of it's voice; to adapt itself to
conditions which will be determined
not by government handouts and or
ders, but by our industrial ability to
compete in the domestic and foreign
markets.
Some CIO labor leaders know this
to be the truth. They are apprehen-
sive and fearful of the future. The
great majority of their workers are
unaware of the facts.