6
MISC.
JACK AND DOUG DISCUSS . . .
(continued from page 5)
What about those who say, “Let’s give the
union a try and if we don’t like it, we’ll get
rid of it?’’
Doug: This is much easier said than done.
Decertification can only come about through
an NLRB-supervised election. To start this
in motion, a group of employees, on their
own initiative, must present a petition to the
NLRB which has to be signed by at least 30
per cent of the employees in the bargaining
unit. It must be done at the employees’ own
expense and without any assistance or en
couragement from the company. With all
the pressures, both subtle and more direct,
that can be applied by a union that's “in", it’s
easy to und^stand why decertifications rarely
come about.
Thank you. Jack and Doug, for your comments.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Doug: Yes. We’ve heard that some employees
feel they should vote for the union to keep the
election close. Union elections have been de
cided by the difference of one vote. The danger
in this thinking obviously is that if enough
people felt this way and voted for a union for
this reason, the union could win and become
the bargaining representative of all the employ
ees in the bargaining unit whether they really
wanted the union or not.
Jack: I would like to urge every eligible voter
to be sure to vote. Remember that the election
is by secret ballot and no one. Company or
Union, will know how an individual votes. The
outcome of any election should reflect the
desire of the true majority; that’s the purpose
of the voting process. Failure to vote as an
expression of disapproval of “both sides”
accomplishes nothing, because there are only
two choices: We either ARE or ARE NOT go
ing to have a union at the Brevard plant.
Remember, the outcome of the election will
be decided by a majority of those who ACT
UALLY vote. I would like to urge that each
voter consider his vote very carefully. One
vote could easily decide the outcome. Each
man should consider that his vote may well
have a determining effect on the future direc
tion of this plant.
Inflation
Once there was a farmer who
raised corn and a man who raised hens,
but no corn. The hens said no corn,
no eggs. So the man who raised hens
agreed to work for the farmer one day
a week for $5 a day. And the farmer
agreed to sell corn to the man for $1
a bushel. The hens ate 5 bushels of
corn a day.
They paid each other off every
time with the long green. The farmer
paid the man $5 and the man paid
the $5 back to the farmer for the five
bushels of corn which he wheeled
home in his wheelbarrow. After a
while, the man said to the farmer,
“Everything’s gone up, and I regret
to inform you that I can’t work for
less than $6 a day.”
The farmer said, “I understand.
But, you must understand that every
thing’s gone up with me, too, and I
regret intensely to inform you that I
can’t sell you my corn for less than
$1.20 a bushel.” The man said he un
derstood. So, the man got $6 a day
and at $1.20 a bushel paid the farmer
the $6 for five bushels of corn. Both
of them said “happy days are here
again.”
By and by the man said to the
farmer, “Things have gone up still
more, and 1 can’t work for less than
$7.50 a day.” The farmer agreed that
was fair, but told the man that things
were going up still higher with him.
He would have to get $1.50 a bushel
for corn, and the hens were getting
five bushels as always.
And so things went until the
man was getting $10 a day, and the
farmer got $2 a bushel, and the man
gave the farmer $10 for five bushels.
And the hens kept laying even on
Thursdays, and the man told his wife,
“Ain’t it wonderful — $10 a day!”
And the farmer told his wife,
“Ain’t it wonderful —$2 a bushel!”
And the hens kept clucking away on
five bushels of corn.
And the statisticians down
Washington way said, “Ain’t it wonder
ful-national income at record levels!”
And the politicians said, “Ain’t it
wonderful,” and bragged that they
had done it. And everybody felt so
good and prosperous that the man
and the farmer voted for the poli
ticians, and that is how it was, “egg-
sactly.”
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Management and
Employees Must Work
Together for the
Common Good
If you believe that working to
gether is the keynote of success for
any project, then you must know that
workers and management cannot be
foes. Yet, there are those in our society
today who try to make us believe that
these two groups are natural enemies.
But the opposite is true. Work
ers and businessmen are partners.
They have to be for their mutual bene
fit. There are no grounds for class war
fare. Men and women employed by
industry have as much at stake as man
agement in their companies’ success.
Today American workers are
better off than ever in history. Wages
and salaries take 90.2 per cent of all
the money industry has left after buy
ing materials and paying overhead
costs. The other 9.8 per cent must be
divided several ways — dividends to
stockholders, profits, and provision
for new plants and equipment.
Certainly, the opposition to the
investment tax credit is not in the best
interests of employees. This incentive
is needed to encourage new factories
and new equipment, which mean better
prospects for more jobs and job se
curity. If business goes down the
drain, so do jobs.
Ed Sitton Wins First Suggestion Award
Ed Sitton, “A” Shift Prep Oper
ator in Coating Prep, was honored
May 18th by presentation of a Safety
Suggestion Award Tie-tac represent
ing five accepted safety suggestions.
He is the first plant employee
to receive this honor since the sug
gestion plan started 7 months ago.
It shows a sincere effort on his part
to take action in reducing sources of
potential injury.
His five accepted suggestions
were on 1) raising delivery lines to
prevent a bump hazard, 2) installing
a stop pin on a table vice extension,
3) using a guard shield to prevent fal
ling from a platform, 4) making hing
ed floor drain covers instead of re
movable type, and 5) placing a rubber
guard over a wood handle to prevent
splinters.
The Coating Area has submitt
ed 91 safety suggestions, more than
all other plant areas combined. Ed’s
honor symbolizes his desire and that
of his fellow Coating Area suggestors
to make their area the safest possible
place in which to work.
ies9
V-.-'/k.
“Shep” congratulates Ed on
Safety Suggestions.