The Lincoln times., 1955-03-14

Ii1dDtc 6AlSIeIiCe OI tIIOSC ISSUES,
there are statements deliberately
placed in circulation by the South
ern Bell Telephone Company an
nouncing that only one issue -
the Company's no-Strike-demand
is holding up settlement. The
Company'S announcement con-
tinueS. in the smooth and Selec-
tive manner of its very best pub
lie efforts, that the no strike
clause itself contains only SO lit
tie words. To this the Union re-
plies: "Yes, those 33 words are a
part of the dozen or so proposals
which form the basis of our dis
pute; and in the full dozen pro-
posalS at issue there are total of
609 words. Now 33 goes into 600
about 18 times; this indicates
mathematically how truthful the
Company is. 1t has told exactly
one-eighteenth of the truth. We
believe the public is entitled to all
the truth. not just ne-eighteenth
of it."
The Company scores about the
same percentage of truth when it
talks about the los brief work
Stoppages that have occurred since
1851. Management spokesman
point the finger of accusation at
those los walkouts. but they fail
to mention any of the causes of
those incidents. They don't tell
about management's violations of
the contract between the parties;
management refusal to live up
to its pledged word on certain oc-
casions; management'S failure to
live up to its responsibility to pro-
tect the health and safety of its
employees; and they don't say any
thing about certain acts of provo
cation on the part of manage
nIent.
Human beings respond to intol-
cradle situations in human way.
When management turns its back
on human problems. they forfeit
the faith of those who work in the
business. This has happened time
after time. and people driven be-
yond endurance have taken mat
ters in their own hands. Result:
walkout. Once under way, such in
cidents are about as easy to stop
as it would be to stomp out
prairie fire with your bare feet.
We do not pretend that we have
not made some mistakes. We have
made some. On the other hand,
we will not allow the Company to
twist few human mistakes into
basis for destroying the only
rights workers now have to pro-
tect themselves from intolerable
situations.
The Company continues to re-
iterate that the no-Strike clause
is a simple and reasonable request
which everybody should be de-
lighted to accept. The Union would
like to point out to all those who
want to know the truth that the
Company is skillfully manipulat-
ing a spotlight which draws at
tention to one object on the stage
and blacks out everything else. We
have no doubt that the Company.
with its ability to juggle words,
could put into writing the most
reasonable request you ever heard
to place pistol on your forehead
and shoot yourself neatly between
the eyes. but regardless of how
reasonable the request might be,
most people would object to doing
it. In the same way. telephone
workers need and must have some
protection from a company which
SIMULTANEOUSLY believes that it
can do no wrong. This giant COM
pany, this Goliath, is not a very
easy opponent. We respect this
giant; but at the same time We in
tend to maintain our own self
respect. So We are going to keep a
slingshot handy.
Is this being unreasonable? We
hope it isn't.
We hope, too, that the public
will not be inconvenienced by the
outcome of our present negotia-
tions.
Telephone workers are dedicated
to the principle of serving the pub
lie, and We are proud to shoulder
that responsibility. We also believe
in the principle of justice on the