Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1948-03-05
What's
New?
By
EdVard J.
Duck,
Assistant
Director,
National
Auto>Lite
Division

made a house call which l
will remember for a long
time. Nothing of great impor-
tance was accomplished by
the visit, but still the impress
sion is there. Let me explain.
A party had phoned our Of
flee for information and help.
An elderly lady had inquired
if we could do anything for her
husband who was forced to
take a leave of absence due to
a sudden heart ailment. The
message was given to me since
the gentleman was an Auto
Lite employee.
Here's the case. His 13 weeks
of insurance benefits have now
been exhausted. There's no
money coming in, his doctor
reports that he is unable to do
any work whatever, and he will
not become 65 for a while yet.
The mans wife will shortly
become eligible for an old-age
pension, she says, but she, too,
is not in good physical condi'
ton, so working is out OF the
question for her.
l advised the couple to be
sure to repeat nintey-day re-
newals of his leave of absence
so that he does not lose his
five years seniority, and
promised to check with our
office to make sure he had a
permanent out-of-Work report
so he would not become sus-
pended from the union for
failure to report out-of-work.
Other than this, it seemed,
there was nothing | could
offer this couple in the way
of help. A bit of advice and a
few kind words. 1t didn't
make sense, / kept thinking
after / had left them, and it
still doesn't. Usually when a
member has a problem we
can help them. No one could
help these people, yet they
seemed so thankful to every
one who had taken the trouble
10 give them a few words, in
cluding a fellow named Druil-
lard, a member of the Auto
Lite committee, the mans
boss, and someone on the unit
welfare committee.
STYMIED
If the fellow had been fired
or laid off improperly / could
have done something for him.
If he was laid off in line of
seniority we could find him
another job. If he wanted us
to arrange for his leave of alb
sence we could have brought
him the necessary papers. But
what's to become of the per-
son who finds himself in per-
manent i'll health or in dire
financial straits Do we con-
sign him to the boneyard, or
hand him a bundle of pencils
and a tin cup?
This kindly couple express
ed appreciation for the $50
the welfare committee had
brought at Christmas time.
But $50, handy as it is at such
a time, doesn't last very long,
even with people of simple
needs.
This visit might well give
cause for some down-to-earth
thinking on the part of all of
us. We might as well face the
indisputable fact that the
future is not bright when pen
sion time draws near. Our
government has failed us mis-
erably in failing to provide
adequate old age pensions and
proper medical service for
everyone who needs it. The
original security plan of
Franklin ID. Roosevelt would
have placed three per cent of
our wages into the fund in
stead of the mere pittance of
one per cent, and the corpora
tions' ante would likewise
have been pitched into the
pot, That, friends, is why II
remained at one per cent.
Those who are approaching
the 65-year mark at this early
stage of the social security
game are unfortunate victims
of greedy corporate interests
and their illegitimate step.sonS
who do their legislative bidding
for a few pieces of silver. When
craftsmanship replaces politics
when the workingman wakes
up and realizes that his vote