Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1945-05-11
Whats
New!
By
Edward Duck
On Leave
With The
Army
THE LITTLE GUY"


We're still somewhere in
(blank censored). The men are
summing themselves, reading,
playing cards, or watching the
afternoon boxing matches.
Perry Como is singing Lii
Marlene via the ships public
address system.
There is one particular SUBJ
ject l have been saving for a
long time. So if you're a union
man or woman, pull up a chair
and relax.
What makes the union tick?
What makes Local IL an i'm
portant and outstanding in
stitution in Toledo and the en-
tire CIO an important cog in
the social, economic and polit-
ical life of America? Is it the
genius of Philip Murray, r. j.
Thomas, Walter Reuther, Dick
Gosser, Tom Burke or Melvin
Schultz? Is it the quality of
leadership which has made the
CIO the largest, strongest and
most progressive labor move
ment in the world?
Ask these men, themselves,
just what makes the organiza-
ton what it is, and every one
of them will give you the same
answer-"An active and stim-
ulated rank-and-file member
ship, made so through the
energetic work of thousands of
committeeman and shop stew
ards throughout the country"
Even the great John L.
Lewis, the wonder boy-bless
his patriotic soul-came forth
before God and all the natives
Ito borrow an expression from
c. e. Swartzbaugh, the Ban
croft st. philosopher with
this startling admission, I'm
only as strong as you make
mel"
STEWARD SYSTEM
Establishment of the shop
steward system was the build
ing of the backbone of the
UAW-CIO. In our dispute with
the General Motors Corpora
ton in 1887 it was a point of
bitter argument. Our country
was not at war then. We won
the argument and in the win
ming secured a worthwhile
method of disposing of unset
tied grievances, where most of
them should be settled--on
the job.
Long before the GIN work.
ers gained this advantage, Lo-
cal IL had incorporated into
its agreement with dozens of
Toledo industries an even bet
ter grievance procedure than
that which GIN employees
have enjoyed at any time since
their first contract was signed.
Here the 'little guy" has
been a most important cog in
the unions grievance machin-
cry. Prior to the war, nine
tenths of all the grievances
were settled on the job by the
shop steward, or in the smaller
shops by the committeeman.
The little guy" incidentally
is alivel He's the guy who
tells the boss the things you'd
like to tell him, but don't. He
sees to it that you don't get
pushed around, and he goes
out of his way to do a lot of
things for other people. He re-
lays announcements, and
knows your seniority standing
better than you do, yourself.
THEIR SACRIFICE
Shop stewards and commit
teemen attend countless meet
ings (almost always at their
own expense) so they may be-
come better equipped to fight
your battles for you. They get
in bad with the little woman
Cor irate husband, as the case
may be- when these meetings
are prolonged into the late
hours, and nobody can help
them out of their predica-
ments, least of all you!
Does the union exist just for
the larger shops? Certainly
not! To be sure, it would be
a financial relief for Local 12's
larger Units to tell the smaller
ones to 60 their own way, but
that isn't the principle upon
which the union was founded.
Nor would the larger shops
long survive after the amalga-
nation had been dissolved.
Local II, as we'll as other
strong amalgamated shops de-
rives its strength, not from the
dues dollar alone, but from
that unity of purpose and ac-
tion which springs from the
enlightened minds of $4,000
workers.
Our leadership deserves
credit for the job that has
been done, but the unsung
heroes who seldom receive
mention or thanks for holding
the workers together are the
stewards back in the shop
like Joe, in the paint ovens, or
Bob on final inspection, or
Steve, back in the cast-iron
department.
Something tells me they'll
be there-at a very crucial