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/ j \ ~ 4. How Will Working Men and Women Meet the Change? There is no doubt that defense workers, like other people, desire peace. It is natural, however, that they should have questions about their job prospects in the event of disarmament. A job is a necessary and absorbing daily concern. Right now, without disarmament, the change from one line of military production to another is creating its own problems, possibly more far-reaching than the shift from buggies to automobiles at the beginning of the century. This shift causes cutbacks in certain kinds of armaments and may be confused with real disarmament. The worker employed in a specialized industry has fewer resources to tide him over a readjustment period than do most businesses. His assets consist in personal skills rather than in capital. Personal savings and invest- ments should not be required sacrifices for having worked in some industry once considered vital to the national welfare but now reduced in importance. The increased prosperity of peacetime must apply to all, and the hazards of the transition period must be shared by all. What is the size of our problem? Currently more than one dollar in ten of the national income is going for military purposes, A comparable pro- portion of the nationai labor force is employed on military orders, including people who make parts and supplies on a subcontract basis and members of the armed forces. As armament production disappears, workers need to know what new jobs will be opening for them in replacement, and how the changes will affect their daily lives, Some jobs undoubtedly will be discontinued in the process of gradual disarmament, while others will change in nature, either in the present plants or in transfers. Both new and remodeled industries will be needed to keep up employment through filling new needs, although some industrial workers will find their new opportunities in small business, office work, service trades * aeatlia nae oe lf eran tina or professions. A national will to maintain full production and full employ- ment will be the wort.ers’ best insurance; but thére are some special knots to be untied. The “untying” implements should include the following: 1. Extended and enlarged unemployment compensation 2. Mortgage payment insurance 6. Ketraining programs 4. Expanded employment and placement service 5. Relocation and moving assistance . _ om IG