Indianapolis Times, Volume 45, Number 268, Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 March 1934 — Page 8

PAGE 8

To Employees of the Automobile Industry

This is what is happening: The American Federation of Labor and other outside unions are trying to force you to join their union and to pay dues to support professional labor leaders. They are trying to destroy the present satisfactory arrangement between you and the management under which your right to collective bargaining is fully recognized. These employee representation plans which the labor leaders call company unions—have been set up by more than 80% of the employees themselves. They are working satisfactorily. Any one of you can see his supervisory officer at any reasonable time and settle any questions that may arise. Most of the questions that have come up have been peacefully settled. No one has to join any union. Your employment does not depend on your membership or nonmembership in any organization. It depends on merit alone. The outside labor leaders are trying by force, by coercion, by intimidation of you and your families and threat of strike to make you join their union. Regardless of what you want, these labor leaders want the right to speak for all of you. They want dues-paying members. But the N. I. R. A. does not say that the American Federation of Labor or any other union shall speak for you. It is up to each one of you to decide for yourself whether these outside unions can secure any right that you can not secure for yourself. It is up to you to say whether you want to surrender to professional labor leaders your own right to deal with the management of your companies. To get what they want, regardless of what you want, the American Federation of Labor is using its usual weapons, namely a threat to call a strike. Sunday’s newspapers quoted William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, as saying: “The question as to whether a strike in the automobile industry involving more than 100,000 workers shall or shall not occur on Wednesday morning, March 21, rests with the automobile manufacturers. Their decision will decide the question. The cause of the strike is directly traceable to the attempt of the automobile manufacturers to impose company unions upon their workers and to force them to accept.” That is not the issue. You know that the companies have not coerced you into employee representation plans. You well know that you have taken part voluntarily in setting up employee representation plans.

National Automobile Chamber of Commerce

AUBURN AUTOMOBILE COMPANY THE AITOCAR COMPANY BUICK MOTOR COMPANY CADILLAC MOTOR CAR COMPANY CHECKER CAB MFG. CORP. CHEVROLET MOTOR COMPANY CHRYSLER SALES CORPORATION CONTINENTAL AUTOMOBILE COMPANY DESOTO MOTOR CORPORATION DODGE UPC 'ERS CORPORATION FEDERAL MOTOR TRUCK COMPANY

Members H. H. FRANKLIN MANUFACTURING COMPANY GENERAL MOTORS TRUCK CORPORATION GRAHAM PAIGE MOTORS CORPORATION HUDSON MOTOR CAR COMPANY HUPP MOTOR CAR CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY MACK BROTHERS MOTOR CAR COMPANY MORELAND MOTOR TRUCK COMPANY THE NASH MOTORS COMPANY OLDS MOTOR WORKS PACKARD MOTOR CAR COMPANY

AND THE FISHER BODY DIVISION, GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION ■t

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

You know, too, that hours have been shortened voluntarily to an annual average of 36 hours per week, that wage rates have been increased more than 30% within the past year and in many cases are higher than they were in 1929 at the peak of prosperity and that twice as many men are at work today as during the depression. 4 There is only one fundamental issue here, namely: Whether the automobile industry is to be run by the American Federation of Labor or any other outside union; Whether you have to get a union card in order to work in these plants; Whether your job and your advancement in the Industry will be based on merit; Whether the employee representative shall be ousted in favor of outside labor leaders who have interests to serve other than your interests. If the strike comes, it won’t be because you want to strike. The strike threat comes from the American Federation of Labor and not from the automobile workers. Let there be no misunderstanding as to the companies’ attitude toward the automobile representation plans. The automobile manufacturers intend to abide by the employee representation plans as they may be modified from time to time by the employees themselves. And bear this in mind, the automobile industry is unquestionably leading the way back to prosperity. People are buying more automobiles than they have been for years. This increased demand means more jobs at good wages—not only in the automobile industry, but in thousands of other industries supplying materials and parts to the automobile manufacturers. A strike at this time will not only work hardship on you and your families, but will interfere with the recovery efforts of the President of the United States. The automobile industry has reached its present state of high efficiency, low cost, with the consequent wide demand for its products, high wages and plentiful jobs without the help of the American Federation of Labor and without any serious labor trouble. Unasked and unwanted, the American Federation of Labor is now trying to get control of this industry and destroy what we have taken years to build. This industry does not intend to yield to such un-American and unpatriotic procedure.

THE PIERCE-ARROW MOTOR CAR COMPANY PLYMOUTH MOTOR CORPORATION PONTIAC MOTOR COMPANY REO MOTOR CAR COMPANY STERLING MOTOR TRUCK COMPANY STEWART MOTOR CORPORATION THE STUDEBAKER CORPORATION STUTZ MOTOR CAR COMPANY OF AMERICA, INC. WALTER MOTOR TRUCK COMPANY WILLYS OVERLAND COMPANY

JMARCH 20,19*4