Douglas Plan

Henry Ford let it be known last month that he had permanently given up operations in Kansas City--where a Ford assembly plant was tied up so tight by striking United Automobile Workers that officials were unable to enter their own offices. Last week, tacitly admitting that he had merely tried to scare the city's authorities, Mr. Ford let it be known that he would reopen in Kansas City as soon as adequate police protection was guaranteed. In Detroit, Harry Bennett, Ford personnel director, announced: "We did not close the plant. It was done by the people of Kansas City. They are the only persons who can bring about the reopening."

Meantime, a more notable reopening occurred near Los Angeles, where Northrop aircraft, subsidiary of big Douglas Aircraft, operated again after a seven-week strike. President Donald Douglas had also declared that he was through, and followed up by revealing that the Army had refused to accept delivery of Northrop fighting planes because of "indicated sabotage."

More significant than the quarrel was the method of settlement. Donald Douglas concocted an indigenous plan which he thought would cure a number of labor ills. He offered to rehire the entire Northrop force (1,400) including workers whose layoff precipitated the strike, provided each man would sign an agreement on "conditions of employment." The conditions :

1) "I agree that I will not go on strike or seize company property or occupy company property without authority of the company and will perform my duties in an efficient manner and not indulge singly or jointly with others in 'slowdown' or 'pace-making'. . . .

2) "I will not molest in any manner or use intimidation or coercion upon any employes of the company in order to force them to join or refrain from joining or becoming members of any union, association or organization.

3) "I will neither advocate nor participate in any coercion or any threats of bodily harm or damage to any employe, the property of any employe or the company or in any violence or unlawful act to enforce the settlement of any differences that may arise between this company and me or my fellow workmen.

4) "I agree not to commit sabotage on the property of the company, its equipment, airplanes and airplane parts and will report to the company any act of sabotage or any known threat of sabotage."

Violation of any "conditions" is sufficient cause for discharge and entitles the company to deduct $15 of pay as a forfeit, the money to go to the employes welfare fund. Furthermore, each employe must be fingerprinted.

As the Northrop workers trooped in to sign the pledge, Donald Douglas declared: "Reopening the plant under such conditions is a step toward industrial harmony and beneficial to all."

Marching back to work with the rest, Charles Hollinshead, president of the U. A. W. local, declared that the Douglas plan was not far from a yellow-dog contract, under which employes promise not to unionize. Said he: "I have been advised such pledges aren't worth the paper they are printed on. . . ."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.