Document gDzkannRr92qeVqq3Q9Ym77pG

"Eemember todays labor situation will keep changing over the years, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse." I am very much concerned over one important Yardstick, as the boss gave me some extra vacation time last year. It reads as follows* "When any of us think we definitely know how to handle labor, a smart boss will give us a three months1 vacation." Apparently, I didn't quite qualify for the full three months, but did manage to get a little extra time under this Yardstick. 4 Our job in Industrial Belations, that is Bus Strong working out of Chicago, Scott Fraula, Joe Prus and myself in New York -- is that of a "Service Unit" of Headquarters to help your Division Labor Head, Works.Managers and.Superintendents in their contract negotiations, and day to day handling of any unusual labor situations. You may be interested in a few statistics on the current labor situation. --We now have slightly under 8,000 shop employees in the 58 plants of the United States and Canada. In some cases we have two or more bargaining unions in a single plant. Amsco -- Oakland has I.M.&F.W. - A.F.L. and United Steel Workers, Machinists - C.I.O. Bamapo - East St. Louis has 5 separate A.F.L. craft unions in a shop employing less than 100 people. Individual labor agreements are negotiated with a total of 64 local unions, as we have no master agreements. Each plant handles its own contract negotiation with such help as they may require from their Division Labor Head, or our office. Some 17 labor contracts are now in negotiation -- either in their entirety or wage rates alone are up for consideration. In thinking of the various problems in Industrial Belations, I have selected one -- "Forms of Union Security," which, if I am able to fully explain to you the Company1s position,will go a long way In improv ing employee relations* First, may I define the term "Union Security." It is the end result of any form of an agreement, whether written or oral, in which the Company agrees that their employees must join or remain In the union to secure or keep their jobs. The essential feature is that the worker is compelled to join a private organization to earn his livelihood. This compulsion is exerted, however, by the Union through the employer. It is the Company or the employer, not the Union that is compelled to force the emplovee into Union membership and he is the one who must fire the employee who does not maintain his membership in the Union. The agency for action is the Cpmpany, yet the primary beneficiary of such action are the officers who control the Union. The following is an outline of various "forms of Union Security" used in the United States and Canada today. (1) Union recognition only. (2) Voluntary revocable check-off. (3) Voluntary irrevocable check-off. 59 SPNY 000189