Toledo Union Journal

Political Action
by
Clayton Rusch
Chairman of the Political Action Committee

The Natl. Assn. of Manufacturers is spending a lot of money putting full page ads in all the papers. These ads ask the people to write to their Congressmen in support of the legislative program of the Natl. Assn. of Manufacturers and the program is represented as a means to bring about prosperity and plenty.

Their program is very simple. It consists of three points. These are 1) legislation to prohibit strikes. 2) abolition of government spending 3) abolition of price control.

They even ask the readers to send for a little booklet which they contend explains how price control causes inflation. This latter point is indeed interesting. To parallel it, someone would have to write a book on how excessive rainfall causes drought. Or how a prolonged drought causes a flood.

Let us discuss point one, the prohibition of strikes. To begin with the labor movement is and always has been desirous of preventing strikes. The way to prevent them however, is to remove the causes. The causes are low wages, long hours, bad working conditions, and a stubborn attitude on the part of management

GUIDING RULES
The labor movement has four guiding rules to evaluate all strikes. These are 1) The conditions must be intolerable 2) other means of settling the dispute must be exhausted 3) The harm which can come to the people affected must be less than the good brought about by the success of the strike 4) The strike must have some chance of success.

CIO Unions have constitutional procedures which assure that these points are met before a strike is authorized.

The strikes which recently took place and those now going on in CIO Unions represent issues on which no other solution was possible. The strike weapon is only used as a last resort.

Legislation to prohibit strikes would injure the welfare of the majority of the people or the vast majority of the people have to work in order to live. Let us prevent strikes by removing the causes. To attempt to prevent them any other way is like prohibiting people from voting in order to avoid disagreements.

MISLEADING
The second point, abolition of government spending is very misleading. The kind of government spending the National Association of Manufacturers refer to is public housing, rural electrification, flood control, soil conservation and construction of public highways, parks and buildings. This type of government spending creates employment and increases purchasing power. They are NOT referring to the law which guarantees a steady income to the manufacturers so that they can afford to go on strike against the people without loss of profits. This is the infamous carry forward carry back law.

The last point is so absurd that it does not require much discussion. If prices are to run wild then all wage increases will be nullified. A dollar is only worth the amount of goods it will buy and without price control it won't buy very much. Wage increases must come out of the profits of the big corporations. The corporations can well afford higher wages without price increases. This has often been pointed out by UAW Vice-President Walter Reuther and Regional Director Richard Gosser. It is simple arithmetic and irrefutable logic.

So much for the program of the Natl. Assn. of Manufacturers. It is the program of the CIO-PAC which can bring about social conditions which are in the best interests of the whole people.

Stated in its simplest terms the program of the CIO-PAC is simply this—Short enough hours so that everyone can have a job and high enough wages that everyone can live decently.

Membership in the CIO. PAC is only one dollar per year. If you are not a member see the PAC representative at your local or shop or come to the PAC office at 425 Winthrop St. and join now.