Practical Aims and Purposes of American Labor

• Published date: 01 March 1951
• Author: Walter P. Reuther
• Date: 01 March 1951
• DOI: 10.1177/000271625127400110
• Subject Matter: Articles

64

Practical

Aims

and

Purposes

of

American

Labor

By

WALTER

P.

REUTHER

E

in

the

United

Automobile

WWorkers

Union

(Congress

of

In-

dustrial

Organizations)

have

worked

hard

in

the

vineyard

of

collective

bar-

gaining,

and

hundreds

of

thousands

of

workers

and

their

families

have

won

for

themselves

greater

security

and

a

richer,

fuller

life.

While

our

gains

and

achievements

have

been

outstanding,

we

realize

that

collective

bargaining

is

a

never

ending

struggle

to

make

human

progress.

Each

victory,

each

gain,

must

be

used

to

fur-

ther

strengthen

and

build

our

union-

to

educate

our

members

to

an

under-

standing

of

their

rights,

their

oppor-

tunities,

and

their

responsibilities

and

to

prepare

ourselves

to

move

forward

to

further

achievements.

There

are

still

many

problems

unsolved

and

still

many

battles

to

be

won

before

workers

receive

their

full

share

of

the

fruits

of

Ameri-

can

industry.

CHANGES

WROUGHT

BY

UAW-CIO

Perhaps

the

best

way

for

me

to

dis-

cuss

the

practical

aims

and

purposes

of

American

labor

is

to

recount

some

of

the

major

achievements

of

the

UAW-

CIO,

and

some

of

its

major

goals

and

hopes

for

the

future.

When

our

union

was

born

fifteen

years

ago,

working

conditions

in

the

au-

tomobile

industry

and

the

living

stand-

ards

of

the

workers

in

the

industry

were

entirely

different

from

the

working

conditions

and

living

standards

today.

Workers

had

no

job

security.

Old-age

pensions

financed

by

industry

were,

in

most

cases,

not

even

a

dream

in

those

days.

When

a

worker

was

too

old

to

work

but

too

young

to

die,

he

was

dumped

on

the

industrial

scrap

heap.

Health

plans,

with

hospital

and

medical

coverage,

and

insurance

programs

were

virtually

unknown.

There

was

no

grievance

procedure

by

which

a

worker

could

obtain

redress

for

abuses

suffered

from

supervision.

There

was

no

sen-

iority

system.

Job

security,

layoffs,

and

recalls

were

determined

by

favoritism

and

what

workers

call

&dquo;apple

polishing.&dquo;

Paid

vacations

were

unheard

of.

There

was

no

overtime

pay,

no

call-in

pay,

no

paid

holidays,

and

no

night-shift

pre-

mium.

The

strength

and

solidarity

of

the

UAW

has

brought

about

a

great

change.

Our

economic

gains-higher

wages,

paid

vacations,

overtime,

pensions,

hospital-

medical

insurance

program,

and

others

-are

important;

but

most

important

is

the

fact

that

we

have

won

a

measure

of

industrial

democracy

within

our

indus-

tries.

We

have

won

recognition

of

workers’

rights.

A

worker

is

no

longer

a

mere

clock-card

number;

he

is

now

a

person-a

human

being,

who

can

hold

his

head

high

and

demand

the

respect

and

consideration

to

which

he

is

en-

titled.

We

have

in

truth

given

sub-

stance

to

the

old

phrase,

&dquo;the

dignity

of

labor.&dquo;

The

UAW--CIO

has

worked

..and

fought

hard

to

raise

collective

bargain-

ing

above

the

level

of

a

struggle

between

competing

economic

pressure

groups,

and

to

gear

it

to

the

good

of

the

whole

community.

We

have

clearly

under-

stood

that

we

live

in

an

interdependent

world

in

which

labor

cannot

raise

itself

by

its

own

economic

bootstraps.

The

UAW-CIO

has

had

the

strength

and

has

generated

the

loyalty

and

enthusi-

asm

that

have

made

possible

our

great