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ew ee ws we i » we FT ed ae 5 vie aa om coe) rd ae Ue am ae a4 F Pat! ae rAg ey » Wal: Cari petae’ owe aes Tite following article appeared in Newsweek Magazine, January 7, 1946 * 71 ¥ a ae 1 VY (lat - i... van cover slopped and tried to Fig. = oul im eid Wowtar dt as ad that labor hopes to gain Inc cnployers show their * On the eurface the demand arreare to de aic reasonable, especial- ea shh ake mpanied by the state- Inat if the fuels show that the Cat has a0 per cent higher ther the «mion demand will be dovn in bhermony with the et the figures But that wr f prieth statement gets us no }: wt. The ivpertart point js just what Br Ct tial the lahor leaders want from ‘tha banks’ which is not available in ‘Tobed reperts of the corpora- pore t Brekke seu ted profits of the com- roo Nov dhateonunuiat be what the union hoot op causeesusing General Motors verople—othat ig set forth in the yoroet: Pass) ieporis and is readily > -' bie in a scne who is interested. ' ‘he goeunt of sales? No, that toon ap report. : re a SUL if deprecistion and ‘ye'toy charged off by the com- reo. oon ifs piouts) equipment, and so fort, fa that ie sft given in published material, fr it the an.qunt which the company hee srt a lite in part years for postwar No, 2at Tata end reconversion? a metter cf public record. Pn t. 1 o‘he amemt the company has ‘turd in otter concerns or the profits oto front these investments? No, een inthe annual report. 1. ji hiat the company has done with ies Coume of be pat year--how much ‘cen paid ta stockholders. how ‘.33 heen adacd to surplus. and so Ke (ho! ig ll published, “tg whee hoy. [. ¢« how much "be company has in Tarn, or gavernment bonds, or accounts or Inventory, or other as- re-et she, T shns Ldavor three order exact: — ¥ Wants From by RALPPAOBEY sels? No, one only has to look at the .» financigl statement of.ibecorporaunn ‘ to get aii that information, Now, since there already are avail- “able in published form the facts on sales, ofits, on the distribution sts. nan on Pronts, On ihe Cisirioulen of profits, on reserves. on the amount charged to depreciation. on cash hold- ings, and on all the other data which is normally contained in the reports of our Jarge corporations. and since these fig- ures have all been alicsted to by inde- pendent certified public accountants— since we already have all this informa- tion, just what is it that labor is looking for in “the books"? The most complete answer to this question that has been made public is in a stalement submigled by the union's spokesman, Walt euther, to Presi- dent Truman's fect-finding board. In ee eS f GENERAL MOTOR 2ORPORATI~ OPINION & { GENERAL MOTI Puripi; - COMMENT DETROIT 2. CHIGAN > e TRINITY * $6098 en einial this Reuther says thet what the union * WETte 1s General Motors’ predicied gru-- : duction schedule, (ts estimated sales and profit margin on each type of car to be produced, its anticipated cost of mate- rials and conf#f&te information on the relation of GM to its sunpliers, end data ~furnished to the OPA as a basis for the “determination of the new automobile price ceilings (Mr. Tritt, a spokes- man for the co ny. says the union hag also demarided figures on overhead costs and the amount the corporation spends for advertising and good will.) Now obviously not a single item of this information which the union is demanding imin “the books” of the cor- B. poration. What Reuther is insisting that the company must reveal is not the rec- erd—which is what is in “the books,” and also is what makes the request appear 406 reasonable—but the com- pany’s detailed plans and predictiuns for the future. Of course these plans and predictions are written down some place; they have to be in order for man- ~apement-to cperale effectively. Dut in no sense are they “the books.” They merely reflect management's hopes for the future, and ag such wil] be changed from month to month as market and production conditions become more or leas favorable, In a word, then, Reuther’s contention that he wants to settle the wage issue on the “arithmetic” of the company’s books is eyewash, What he really wants is to get away from the “arithmetic.” or ¢s- tablished facts, and drive management into a corner because of the optimistic plans and predictions it has made for the future. That nay be good union strategy, but it is a mighty poor way to get produc- tion started at this time. and certainly it has nothing to do with what is in the company’s “books.” 100~ BIRE | -Fi/ z PO phe ae OL ee