Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1949-11-11


opposition would be the Com ## III
r1unist Party. This was be- 4AH ASasSaasSs&A
cause the pension plan is de- Tom Burke
signed as body blow TO insecurity and in
security is the meat upon which communism
thrives. This opposition however was of small
consideration in the calculation because the
Communist Party cannot be too vocal in OPP
posing the desires of people. It's attack, at
best had TO be lateral attack Of sabotage
through collateral issues The most this STRAIT
egy would ever amount 10 therefore would be
minor annoyance
The most important point of opposition to
be brought into the calculation consisted of
the banks. financial houses, and insurance COM
panies Their opposition had to be evaluated
and their methods predicted and appraised. In
the first place they had to be considered as
natural opposition because the area pool phase
OF the plan meant stepping on their toes COM
petitively In the second place their lines of
attack had TO be anticipated and strategy de
vised to have the answers for every one OF
these lines OF attack.
Now the question arises: Why should the
banks and insurance companies concern them
selves directly in matter of collective bar
gaining between industrial employers and en-
ployees? Where does the element OF compet-
ton enter in? In the case of the insurance
companies the element of competition comes in
when the area or geographic pool becomes
element In the proposal to be considered by
the employer and employee in collective bar
gaining.
The area pool Is one OF two alternatives
open TO the union and the company when they
are bargaining for pension, health and acci-
dent plan. The employers in this area are
mostly small employers In comparison with
the big nation wide corporations. II would
therefore be impossible for them to set up
retirement system and health and accident plan
on their own because the range Of risk expert
ence could not be, covered where a compara-
tive small number of people are involved. This
IL known in insurance parlance actuarial
planning or the science of big numbers. This
is the science by which insurance companies
can predict with an amazing degree of accuracy
how many people among any given number of
thousands OF people will die in any day, week,
month or year in the near future
The only alternative open, other than the
area pool Is the commercial insurance policy.
Most insurance companies already have annu-
ity and retirement policies as we'll as health
and accident They do have an advantage of
O wide range OF risk experience Why then
does the Union propose the area pool instead?
Simply this, an insurance company has many
items of administrative costs such as sales
forces and advertising that would not be neces-
sary in an area pool plan, The administrative
costs in commercial insurance amount TO about
279s. 1t is estimated that the administrative
costs of the area pool plan, administered by
IT'S participants, would amount TO So to 10.
The Union feels that the 20% difference could
be better used by applying 1t to greater bene-
fits
The banks also are intensely interested in
the results Of this proposal for like reason II
the area pool is set up a considerable sum of
money will be accumulated i'm the pool It's i'm
veStment will be imperative. What Is more
natural than the investment and loan poten-
tials be available first 10 those firms who con-
tribute 10 the fund? Their present new tooling
and new model loans and some other capital
needs are furnished by the banks and financial
houses. There is nothing wrong with this le-
gslly, morally or any other way. There is
also nothing wrong with somebody else going
into the same business, That's what they tell
us free enterprise means,
OF course / suppose that II Is natural hui
man reaction TO resent any apparent compet-
ton. II / we're running drug store, or gro
Gerry store and some one established like
business on the opposite corner ] probably
wouldn't like IT, Especially if II looked as
though my competitor had il on me in ability
TO serve the customers and was able to give
them more for less and still make out even
better than did. Most everyone think would
feel that he was pretty much the ruler OF the
roost In his own field in his accustomed neigh
borhood. ! have always found however that
you cant meet competition by villifying or
running down the reputation of your competi-
tor. You have TO meet or better his standards.
II Is also impossible for you to meet COM
petition by trying TO scare the public to death
with false issues. The idea that the payment
Of ten cents per hour additional on the wage
bill will drive industries out of town is rid-
rulous on the face of IL because no matter
where they might go the industry would run
INTO the same thing they would be running
away from. Also the idea that one individual
s such power that industry would be forced
% spend millions of dollars in new plant and
moving costs running away from him is so far
etched that IL is almost amusing It's time
has the inducers of hysteria get down 70 earth
md find out just where their drumbeats Of
lysteria are leading them.