Show labor peace ace and banishment of strikes Is record of toledo industrial board by LANSING CALLAWAY Roli ased by western newspaper union DWARD A mcgrady EDWARD assistant secretary of labor was on his way to toledo ohio the time was 1935 and there was a strike in progress there to mr mcgrady it seemed that there was always a strike in progress gress in toledo and that he was spending the greater part of his career commuting back and forth between that city and washington ang on to a great many people in toledo the same things were beginning to be appa apparent refit the industrial wrangling had begun in 1934 labor and industry had become almost literal armed camps and the name of the city was anthe on the front pages from boston to san diego two men had been left dead in the cites streets hundreds had been injured in fighting and hatreds were being aroused that forecast tro trouble bubli for years to come but this time after the immediate business at hand had been settled mr mcgrady wired his washington office that he be home right away he was staying over in toledo in the hope of getting to the base of the recurrent trouble and obviate the necessity ot of his constant excursions to toledo what mr mcgrady had in mind was that it seemed to be nob odys business or concern it if the cites industrial du life flowed smoothly or was threatened with disruption during the days when a potential industrial break was forming and might most easily be adjusted no one did anything about it the situation was allowed to drift even when some of the large and bitter strikes were in progress there ads was no agency agency at work to get the cites life back to normal record Is impressive mr mcgrady sought to change all this how well he succeeded is shown in the figures released tor for this labor day in the last five years the city of toledo has assisted in averting potential strikes in which employees were involved included in this were 52 cases in which a strike definitely had bad been voted in addition the city government assisted in settling peacefully and quickly 47 strikes in which the comparatively ively small number of employees figured some of these strikes were called without the knowledge of the city tion others in spite of efforts to avert them I 1 also the city assisted in settling one lockout in which men were involved and it looked in on 42 other disputes representing 2874 employees plo but tor for various reasons was not able to contribute toward a settlement tl virtually all of the latter however eventually were settled by the parties directly involved without outside intervention the grand total disputes handled bandied employees involved riots none savings in wages and potential losses to owners stockholders millon millions s 77 i 46 it senes scenes 0 of strike violence violen cv like that tha y fm shown hown ob labove ove are things ol of the past in ii 2 toledo 0 fth ethe toledo indus Indu industrial industria trial ayi pl peace board began ta to 0 function n five WS Wi W years ago allo in using 1 I horse hone sense to ae ait just ui difficulties bet between labor and em cm players thousands oj of dollars have hav i been waved to wor workers keri employers abw tin the alt city as a result edward A mt ale grady tell left former assistant secretary 1 I labor who mito helped toledo business men wid labor representatives Ces lor forn m the board in 1935 cost to ahe the city if toledo can do that why cant any other city is a question sometimes asked and also has toledo discovered any secret technique in averting industrial disputes model f for r others the answers respectively are that any other community can do likewise and that toledo has not discovered any method of passing miracles but rather has applied old fashioned garden variety horse sense to differences between men and management briefly mr mcgrady set up on that final visit to toledo back in 1935 what is known as the toledo industrial peace board it includes five men from the ranks of management five from labor and one tull full time director these 10 since have added eight others to their ranks attorneys judges and clergymen to represent the public the board is an integral part of the city government but it has no authority to crack down on anyone it issues no publicity releases it cannot vote on who is right or who Is wrong it does not even express such opinions publicly mr mcgrady set up the first board himself he went to the chamber of commerce and he thumped the table there was a great deal of reluctance there was a lot of honest skepticism but he got a promise of operation cooperation co then he went before the toledo central labor union strangely enough he met the same reaction you need not beai such uch a board said mr mcgrady it win will not interfere in any way with your right to strike operation cooperation co by labor and management with such a board will be entirely voluntary what have you to lose by trying the answer was that no one had anything to lose by trying the two critical disputes dispute i involving thousands and thousands of men chevrolet toledo division general motors march 1035 1935 and d toledo edison company june 1935 had left the city exhausted emotionally and industrially solid support toledos To ledos three newspapers gave solid support to the plan cautiously each side watching the other from the sides of their eyes the first meeting wis was held mcgrady presided and did most of the speaking he promised to assign to the board as its full time director lee S harding a federal mediator the functions of the board were outlined and it was decided to go ahead although every one of the men at that first meeting since has confessed that he agreed with a great deal of suspicion but during the following six months the board assisted in settling seven disputes without loss of a single day of work five strikes that already were showing signs of being long drawn out struggles were settled there was no street fighting no one was hurt the vast toledo industrial dust du riat area was working full blast payrolls and production were on schedule workers had money to spend merchants were pleased the people of toledo also began to sit up and realize that something new had arrived on the scene much to the surprise even of the board members they too were finding their suspicions of each other allayed confidence and reason were taking the place of animosity if a labor situation became menacing the director of the toledo industrial peace board offered his services to both sides he sought a fair compromise and offered it tor for consideration but he never ordered any side to do anything if 11 the situation reached such a spot where the director felt he wits was not making progress the entire board was called into session the board offered its services at times it even offered suggestions while it never voted on whether a question was right or wrong the important element was that within the city at least there was an agency charged with the task of keeping industry running and dissipating disputes before they reached the troublesome stage public prestige in march 1936 harding was recalled to washington but the toledo city council decided the board was desirable and decided to continue it as a regular part of municipal government with a paid director anthe recommendation of mcgrady board members engaged a newspaper man edmund ruann as director ruffen had covered all of the previous strikes after being director tor for more than four years ruffin says he has na no cut and dried procedure ln in approaching pio preaching pro aching or working out disputes 1 I know many industrialists and labor officials and I 1 try to keep informed as to what wha t Is going on in the way of organization programs negotiating of new and succeeding agreements ruffen explained it I 1 hear of a deadlock I 1 may offer my services to both parties or one or the other may call me after I 1 get into a dispute I 1 listen to an outline of viewpoint by each group usually in a joint meeting after that I 1 throw in general suggestions as may come to mind or may off offer ersome some specific procedure to which all may agree various offices in toledo have received i dundr hundreds ds of inquiries as to edo how bow the toledo tole board was established how it operates and what it has accomplished these offices include the toledo chamber of commerce which has given quiet support to the board the headquarters of the various labor organizations which fro from m the start have indicated their endo endorsement arsement by operating cooperating co arid and also a group known as toledo Asso associates clites an organization of men whose chief purpose is to publicize toledos To ledos true industrial du picture |