Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1947-03-28
by
Clayton
Rusch
Chairman

Inc rem is MlgnLler Inal
The Sword"
This old proverb is apropo
and on the beam in relation
to the present economic anc
political situation. 1t is an ole
saw, but it has an ever sharp
edge. If we hope to save the
gains the union has made in
recent years we must start
using our pens with a venge-
ance.
There are many people who
feel that letters to legislators
are a waste of time. Many
others just won't take the time
to write representatives. Un-
less we are prepared to sur
render all our gains we must
bring about a change in this
attitude on letter writing, and
we must do it soon.
Let us analyze the situation.
Candidates for and holders of
public office are first of all
politicians. They must be of
necessity, or they could not be
successful in the political field.
Therefore they must be con-
cerned with the EXPRESSED
desire of the PEOPLE, that
is, the people who back up
their desires with VOTES and
let the legislators know of
their wishes by MAIL.
INTERESTS
No matter what the per-
sonal convictions of the legis-
lators may be they will most
assuredly vote according to
the interests of the forces
which keep them in office. If
we allow the vested interests
to be this force, rather than
us, the workers, the fault is
ours.
We, the workers and plain
people of this nation COM
prise the vast majority of the
electorate. We can, it we are
so determined, decide who
gets elected to public office.
We can definitely affect their
position on all social issues.
Our wishes expressed through
the mail can be the principal
factor in setting the pattern
for legislation,
1t the Union, which gets us
decent wages, hours, working
conditions and representation
on our grievances worth saw
ing from destruction? The in
dustrialists tried to destroy
our unions on the industrial
front and gave it up for bad
job. They have now invested
a fortune in financing an at
tempt to destroy the union
movement on the legislative
front.
Are our aspirations to Sc
cure full employment, ade-
quate social security and
world peace through political
action to materialize? They
cannot unless we make our
wishes known by supporting
liberal candidates, and, above
all, to keep the legislators in
formed on what we want.
The chips are now down.
The union is under attack on
the legislative front. We stand
to lose the union shop, the
right to strike, the right to
make industry-wide agree
mentS, protection from unjust
court suits and the Wagner
Act.
WRITE NOW
Unless we intend to surren-
der these rights without an eff
fective struggle, we must get
on the beam now. We must
start a letter writing crusade.
On the front page of this
paper each week there ap.
pears a boxed diagram which
explains the various bills be-
fore Congress. Eve
should carefully read this
legislative score each week
and write letters on the bills
20 their representatives in
Congress.
In a democracy everyone's
vote counts. A workers vote
counts as much as anyone
slse's. If we show the legis-
ators we are watching them
We have some chance of saw
ng our gains. If we do not
express ourselves through the
nail in great numbers we can
,nly expect to have the labor
movement set back full half
entury.
On Saturday, March 30, at
p. M, the Ohio legislators
rom Lucas County will meet
n the City Council chambers
n the Safety Building. Every
worker should attend.
Above all we must flood the
legislators with mail. The old
dage holds, "The Pen Is
Hi1h4iay Thop Tho c,x,av.J -