UNION RECOGNITION IN

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 128, 26 November 1937, Page 8

UNION RECOGNITION IN

FORD WORKS

Labour's grievances against employers fall into distinct categories. Workers may fight for higher wages; or they may clash with a fair-wage employer in a struggle for power. We know of no. evidence that Mr. Ford docs not pay good wages; we know of much evidence that he does. Nevertheless, the struggle between Mr. Ford and the union promoted by the Committee of Industrial Organisation has long been pending, and must be classed as primarily a struggle for power. The C.1.0. union referred to —the United Automobile Workers of America Union — is determined to unionise, on its own lines, the Ford factories. Its nationwide name proclaims its nation-wide aim. The U.A.W.A. wishes to include in its ranks and within its authority all the employees of American automobile factories; and Mr. Ford, it is determined, shall not stand out. He shall accept and sign U.A.W.A. agreements, however high his pay schedules may be. A high-paying employer is a dangerous adversary for a union to tackle, but the Detroit message states that the U.A.W.A. has definitely entered the ring by a new step in big-scale picketing —"a significant indication of the C.1.0.'s belief in its own strength." The next struggle may be either on the streets or in the law courts. In either case, the war for U.A.W.A; recognition seems to be definitely on.