The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1946-02-07

|O0ndY0,d.
| BY rDoNRO0INsoN


L hA4N "hCNNthS5
What do they talk about at
.hese conferences" my wife asked
ne.
She was reading the front page
# a newspaper which headlined
ne conference after another about
strikes
Il don't know" / said. Il sup
pose they discuss labor's demands
and try to see if they can come
TO some agreement
But" she complained. "these
headlines always say just about
the same thing. They either say
that no agreement was reached or
hat another conference Is being
planned. In some Of the strikes
people have been meeting for
months and nothing seems to hap
pen. can't see what they talk about
all the time"
My reaction O sort of defense
Of the male-was to try to point
out that men Of Importance don't
sit around together by the hour
without discussing subjects OF
Weighty concern. Women might,
yes. But not busy business execu-
tives. But as tried to build my
case, too began wondering what
on earth did keep the conversation
rolling at these longwinded confer
ences.
CONFERENCE delay
After struggling with this mystic
vious problem for some time, !
finally came to the conclusion that
one of those many conferences be-
tween Mr. Anderson Of General Mo-
tors and Mr.. Thomas of the
United Automobile Workers must
have gone something like this:
Mr.. Thomas: Well, are you going
TO give us 30 per cent?
Mr.. Anderson: No.
Thomas: What's your best offer
today?
Anderson: IS per cent. And that's
final.
Thomas: You know we won't ac-
cept that
Anderson: You know we won't 60
any higher.
NAIOIIidS ASuIo CAkdA oO pGA
cent longer than the average cigar.
Anderson lights short pipe. They
sit at the conference table glaring
at each other After an hour of
silence, Mr.. Thomas clears his
throat impatientlyD
Thomas: Any change yet?
Anderson: Nope.
each gets out a newspaper and
begins reading. After another hour
Mr. Anderson breaks the silence)
Anderson: Ready to take Is per
cent yet?
Thomas: Nope Still 80 per cent.
Anderson: It's getting late Shall
we call off the conference?
Thomas: Okay. What will we tell
the papers?
Anderson: I've just written out -
statement. Here.
Thomas: Cr~adinR) After ~un.
ferring until midnight 10 agree
ments were reached although The
union representative indicated that
he would be willing to consider q
compromise proposal"
PUBLICITY repetition
OF course, II Mr. Anderson did
hand Mr.. Thomas a statement like
that. the conference would continue
in a more explosive vein. Like this,
perhaps:
Thomas: Whatdoyuh mean. am
willing TO compromise?
Anderson: You made that very
clear two hours back when, after
I refused 80 per cent. you asked
for my best offer
Thomas: Well, we're not giving
any statement like that to the pa
pers
Anderson: Then what do you
want TO tell them?
Thomas: l want to tell them that
you are trying to stop progress,
that you want to beat down the
working man. that you won't bar
gain with us. that
Anderson: What I want to say
wouldn't be At for print. but do you
want to get together on q joint
statement?
Thomas: just want to give the
public the facts.
Anderson: You mean you want
TO confess that the union is trying
to high-pressure US into increasing
the cost of automobiles. that you
will admit the fallacy of seeking
higher wages when production is at
q standstill, that
Thomas: Don't try to be funny
/ guess we have to issue the same
old statement Have you got a
fresh copy?
Anderson: You mean the one
headed "Conferees Fail to Agree"
or Conference to Be Continued"2
Thomas; Haven't we got any 9TH
ers2 My members are getting fed
up with those
Anderson: (thumbing through
papers, Let's see we'll here's
one we haven't used for a month
''Conferees vplore Areas of
Agreement "
Thomas: Okay, give them that
one. And next time let's go home
earlier I've been missing out on 30
per cent of my sleep.