Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1946-08-23

There was a lot of talk ram
pant in the country of the
bitter resentment of fighting
men toward those on the assem-
bly, lines back home.
Now, one year after the GI's
began to be transformed into
veterans, it can be said that the
efforts of the enemies of labor
who are the enemies of veterans
as Well-to divide the veteran
from labor have simply failed.
Instead, veterans have grown
daily to look to unions for job
security, for decent wage scales,
for help in getting back into the
swing of civilian life.
Part of the reason for the
failure of the forces of reaction
to divide and conquer the vet
erans and unions in one stroke
are the millions of veterans who
either were union members be-
fore they entered the armed
forces or who have become
since their discharge.
Veterans were quick to see that
the wages of workers during the
war were not the exorbitant
amounts so widely advertised by
the NAM, but were rather for
the first time enough pay for a
man to begin to support his
family in a decent manner. And
when take-home pay was cut
after VJ-Day, many veterans
joined their home-front partners
to demand that the wartime
standard of living be maintained
in America Many were the vet
Grams in Amy overcoats and
Navy peacoats on the picket
lines in Detroit and Pittsburgh
last winter.
One of the first big drives to
make readjustment of veterans
into the ranks of labor more
difficult was the false issue of
"super-seniority." All the vet
eran wanted was to be re-em-
ployed in his old job without
losing credit for time spent in
the service of his country. Vet
Grams did not want to put others
out of work so that they could
get their old jobs back again.
Sons who fought in World War
II did not like the idea of TAX
ing jobs away from their fathers,
many of whom were veterans of
World War /. The unions put
forth the only proposal on
seniority that made sense to vet
Grams: that a man should receive
credit in seniority for each
month spent in the service. 1t
took many months of wrangling
with the brass hats in Selective
Service until the Supreme Court
decision last May, upholding the
union formula, settled the issue
for good.
The threat of initiation has i'm
periled the economic security of
all wage-earners, and veterans
and unions have quickly closed
ranks again to fight the COM
mon danger. The unions and
veterans organizations, like
AVG, have been working to-
gether closely to keep a strong
OPA. When prices sky-rocket,
not only does a workers take
home pay buy less, but disabled
veterans on pensions, ex-GPs
going to schools, receiving on
the-job training and apprentice
ship benefits. lose real purchas-
ing power as well. The efforts of
trade unions to hold the line on
prices helped all the people, but
particularly aided the veterans.
Together, labor unions and
veterans organizations represent
a majority of the people in the
country. The AVG is working to
make certain that there will be
no division of our forces.
Ahead of us lies the road of
working together as citizens for
the common task of building a
permanent peace, prosperity
with full employment, and bet
ter living standards for men
everywhere in a world of free
dom. When the veterans of
World War II went into uniform
they were willing to learn any
new thrills, take any risks neces-
sary to secure victory. Together
with the soldiers of production,
we won that victory.
Similarly, we are prepared to-
day, with added vigor, to press
for our common aims and pur-
poses. We want veterans to join
trade unions, and by improving
their wage structure and help
ing make collective bargain