Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1949-01-07
Happy New Year
From the NAM
by Bradford v. Carter
LPA COIumnist

to those whom they overlook
ed at Christmas. Being tradi-
tionalist outfit, the NAM,
when it noticed that it had
forgotten to send Christmas
greetings to the American
workers decided to come thru
handsomely with New Years
message
The greeting was issued over
the signature of Wallace F.
Bennett, new president of un-
ion-hating employers favorite
organization. His pledge for
1949 is that American manage
ment will concern itself more
with human relationship"
Human relationships, Ben
nett says, means that 1--WE
must help our employees to
understand and feel that they
are part of the American free
enterprise system. To do this
successfully" he says, "we
must be prepared to take them
into our confidence and share
with them the facts about our
individual businesses. With an
understanding of these facts,
an employee can come to feel
his own importance in the pro-
cess of production and can be
encouraged to make his great
est contribution to its success"
Union men will recall the
howl that big business put up
a year or two ago when sew
eral unions declared that If
the big corporations would
open their books it would be
seen that wages could be
raised without increasing con-
sumner prices. Perhaps Bennett
has forgotten this episode, or
maybe he's just too new on his
job to really know the minds
of his bosses.
Or maybe the big shots have
decided to change their tune,
and use the corporate re-
serves" racket, recently barred
at the congressional profits
hearings, in an attempt to de-
fleet labor's demand for a cost
of living wage increase. Ben
nett says that when each en-
ploye can understand the re-
lations of his wages to the
company'S prices and to its
costs, we can begin to hope for
an intelligent approach to the
problem of high prices"
Anyway, it'll be interesting
to watch the fat boys reaction
to this idea as contract re-
negotiation time rolls around.
Bennett also calls upon each
employer to become real
"leader" in "his own plant O.
and his own community" Too
much attention has been given
to the national solution of
problems, the new NAM head
thinks. But, says he, it's all
a problem of human rela-
tions."
For many years the labor
movement has talked about
human relations too. But I
wonder just what Bennett's
ideas are as to the bases for
understanding between indiv-
iduals and groups at different
points in the industrial hier-
archy. Does he mean that
management must realize that
workers look to their own un-
ions at least as much as to
their employers to set their
conditions of labor, or does he
just mean that the bosses
should perfect the ancient art
of shooting the bull?
Nowhere in BENEFITS plea
is there a single reference to
trade unioniSm. Instead, at
time when layoffs are increas-
ing, and loopholes are appear
ing in our postwar pattern of
full employment, he urges his
fellow employers to reassure
the people that security will
come from "our American free
enterprise today" as it al
ways has in the past"
Bennett notes that some of
his friends have asked how
comes it that a small busi-
nessman" like him should
take on the job of defending
big business. " To which he re-
plies: II don't think American
business - either big or small
particularly needs any de-
fense. It's greatest need is un-
derstanding and that, chiefly,
from the men and women who
make up its organization"
May I suggest to Mr.. Bennett
that he carefully read the
three studies on industrial
peace that the Natl Planning
Association has published re-