Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1948-12-31
What's
New?
BY Edward ]. Duck,
Journal COlumnist

What to do about it, be
sides turning out the lights anc
going to sleep - that is the
question.
The answer, friends, is fol
all of us to quit dreaming and
droning, complaining and wait
ing for something to happen
"The Lord Helps Those Who
Help Themselves" Let's give
ourselves a break, once and
for all, and end high prices
through the use of consumer
owned stores, manufacturing
and processing plants!
AS things now stand, you
and l buy the supermarkets
for the big chain stores-but
unfortunately, we don't OWN
them. There are so many of
us, our weekly food bills
amount to such great sums of
money when totalled together,
that in no time at all we can
own and operate our own
stores, set our own prices, and
eventually achieve g gr e tie r
economic security than we
have ever witnessed in Amer
lea or in the world.
The coop plan is simple.
On a voluntary basis we each
subscribe to a $25 share Of
Class A Com m on S to k.
Enough of these and we will
be able to fill our warehouse
supermarket with shelves and
shelves Of finest quality grade
labeled groceries. In banding
together, we can purchase in
carload lots, cutting down the
unit cost. Then in having a
store that doesn't spend huge
sums of money in advertising
and fancy frills and fixtures
we can give the consumer real
dollar value, making his pay
check stretch farther. This is
BETTER than an increase in
wages, because it is not only
apti-inflationary, but it pre-
vents the boom-and- bust eco
nomic cycles which always
bring depressions after pros
porous times.
Like the person who says
"I'll join the union after the
rest do, or after the majority
of my fellow workers have
Joined" there are many who
say, "I'll join the coop after
the stores are bullt.
There would be no union
contract or organization today
IL everyone had waited until
everyone else had joine ed.
There could be no coop If
everyone wanted TO be the
last to join, either. The union
is a good thing, as you know
by your contracts, your wages
and working conditions in the
Toledo area, and the coop is
likewise a good thing, because
II takes up where the labor
contract lets off. II protects
that hard won dollar you
worked for all day in the shop,
and II protects the raise your
committee and officers nego-
tiated for you.
II isn't as though we were
making a donation when we
buy a $25 share of stock.
Rather, IL is an Investment
an investment that pays divi-
dends in many ways. When we
buy quality goods at our CO.
op store or warehouse super
market, as it is called, we
know we're not being cheated
in any way. We would be fool
ish If we tried to cheat our
selves, and after all, it is OUR
store, operated not for profit,
but for our own use.
Too, we get immediate saw
ings because of the large scale
buying. The buster our store
Is, the lower the unit cost of
our groceries. Then, at the end
OF the fiscal period, be il six
or year, we get a
nice patronage dividend check,
based on the undivided prof
It's up to that point.
The coop is a wonderful
thing, People who have learn
ed about II devote many, many
hours without pay in promot-
ing 1t, just as they have done
so for the union during organi-
rational times. If anyone
understand il, it is not
their fault, but il is the fault
Of those who do understand it
and fail to spread the word.
The drive is on, and we are
going to spread that word
and certainly during
The next two months.
II your unit or local has not
been approached as yet, and
you would like to have
speaker attend your meeting
% explain the coop program
n Toledo, if you will get in
ouch with the writer or call
Mrs. Martha Gosline Smith, at
A QR12 XUn mill F,,.av.s-t. -