Salt Lake Telegram | 1941-10-09 | Page 6 | Part of the Price for Defense

Part of the Price for Defense ANNOUNCEMENT A of the layoff immediately immediate immediate- ly or in the near future of thousands of workers by the Ford motor company because of curtailment in civilian automobile production production production tion is a warning of what the nation faces as our national defense production effort gets into high gear With emphasis on production of essential military and civilian supplies curtailment Inthe in inthe inthe the output of all nonessential consumer goods will be necessary necessary in order to conserve raw materials According to the original Ford announcement announcement announce announce- ment workers were to be laid off this week Later there was another announcement announcement announcement announce announce- ment that only new would be belayed belayed belayed off immediately and that the rest of the theFord theFord theFord Ford working force would be retained through November At any event it is the beginning of widespread curtailment of nonessential industrial industrial industrial indus indus- trial operations which will vill bring with it considerable considerable considerable con con- unemployment In the case of the Ford Motor company many of those now laid off or likely to be laid off in another month or so will be recalled to jobs later on when Ford begins production on huge defense contracts But in many other concerns manufacturing civilian goods wont won't be so lucky For one reason or another their plants cannot be switched over to defense defense defense de de- de- de production and so the who are laid off because of material shortages will have to find other jobs perhaps jobs perhaps jobs in entirely entirely entirely en en- different industries and requiring entirely entirely entirely en en- different skills That will mean very real hardship for many It is of course part of the price we must pay for defense but it will be to the best interests of everyone if that price can be kept as small and as fairly distributed as possible Every effort should be made by the directors of the defense program to keep industrial shutdowns and operational curtailments caused by the defense drive at a minimum and to provide provide provide pro pro- vide as much as possible for the transfer of men from jobs in nonessential industries to jobs in our expanding defense program