The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 24, 1926, Page 8

Company Dope for Their Slaves UCH concern has long been manifested by the apologists of capitalism in America over the fact that modern machine production destroyed the personal bonds which ‘existed between employer and employe under the old craft system of industry. Now, with the systematic development of the policy of class collaboration, exemplified in the B. & O. plan and company unionism, has come increasing in- terest in the general problems of industrial rela- tions, in the so-called human factor in industry, as an aspect of “class peace” that must receive special attention. Thus the defenders of capitalist society think they can help put an end to the class struggle between capital and labor, and establish belief in the har- mony of interests of exploiters and exploited by re- viving and encouraging the “human factor.” They want to psychologize the worker into forgetting that under capitalism he is merely a “hand,” that his la- bor power is simply a commodity, like any other article, to be bought and sold on the labor market. Attempts are therefore made to stimulate “good fellowship” between worker and employer, to arouse a feeling of equal partnership, and to create the illu- sion of actual ownership in factory or plant. ‘ARFOUS means have been adopted to accomplish this end, such as numerous welfare schemes, , Salejof stock, etc. One particular method which has }\comé terthe Yore within the last decade or two, is the publication of employe magazines. This interest- ing form of capitalist propaganda, essentially a part of the machinery of class collaboration, affords an excellent illustration of the studied care with which American capitalism is developing a system of man- agement and control aiming not merely at increased efficiency and lower costs, but at the complete sub- mission of the worker. : A recent study entitled, “Employe Magazines in the United States” made by the National Industrial Conference Board, describes the employe maga- sine as “a device bearing a ‘Made in the U. S. A. label’ for improving relations befween workers and employers and among workers themselves”, and states that it came into widespread use.in the past decade as a practical method by which closer con- 4 ee among those engaged in industry may be achiev- - ed, and as an attempt to develop “human relations” "ih production. HE earliest was that issued by the National Cash Register Co. in 1890, called “Factory News,” a 12-page journal issued monthly. Not much was done along this line, however, until the World War, when these pub- lications received considerable impetus. To mobilize labor behind the imperialist war and to stimulate increased production and support of war activities, it was found necessary to wage an organized cam- paign of patriotic propaganda. The use of employe magazines in developing “loyalty” and “co-opera- tion” among the workers, and thus aiding the speed- up system, was quickly recognized. Hence their amunyber grew rapidly. A survey of 334 employe “magazines made in 1921, showed that 91 per cent j}Of these were issued between 1917-1920. During the jwhst three years, 428 magazines have been started, * of which 228 are still published in the “employes’ | interests”, an additional third having been turned fnto purely sales organs. These magazines, ranging in size from four to thirty-two or more pages, are published in all branches of production—iron and steel, machinery, food products, textiles, automobiles, lumber prod- acts, collars, paper, rubber, etc. The importance attached to this method of disseminating bosses’ pro- paganda is therefore quite evident. TH the aim of obtaining increased production of a beiter quality at a lower cost, employers have adopted the tactics of obtaining the workers’ consent to this form of intensified exploitation by ‘diverting their attention thru various paternalistic schemes and poisoning their minds with illusions of Priming Him Up. example of an employe magazine f Boss to Sld4ve as he pins on Loyalty Medal: “Your name will be in the next issue of the Monthly Fertilizer!” power and importance. The employe magazines are planned to serve these ends. Many of them are issued in plants having company unions, and these devote considerable space to. the “benefits and ad- vantages” of the works’ council, accounts of meet- ings of employe associations, etc. To keep the worker from feeling he is only a cog in the ma- chine, driven for profit making, the magazine de- scribes the process of manufacturing so that he may see the “romance” of the entire achievement, and take pride in his workmanship. To develop his loyalty to the firm, he is told how it grew, what dangers and risks were encountered, and how the devotion and sacrifice of the workers brought it to its present state. In fact, all the arts of the psychologist and jour- nalist are skillfuHy brought into play. The maga- zines try to develop a “family” spirit among the employes by dealing with items of personal inter- est to them, such.as housekeeping, marriages, so- cial events, sports. They advertize the various fac- tory clubs and mutual benefit schemes, trying to stimulate a feeling of unity and co-operation among the workers. They seek to stréngthen the personal loyalty of the worker to his employer by giving biographies of officers of the concern, describing how the president or secretary rose to responsi- bility from the position of officeboy—the typical fairy tale of America’s golden opportunities known to every school boy. * GLANCE thru a few employe magazines is very Hluminating on these points. Take the “Bethle- hem Review,” called a bulletin of news for the em- ployes of the subsidiary companies of the Bethle- hem Steel Corporation. 1925, tells about the 80 million dollar rebuilding pro- gram of the company, boosts the employes’ saving and stock ownership plan, gives results of the em- ploye representative elections, the “Bethlehem Plan”. Of course, according to the magazine, the rebuilding program was due to the spirit of loyalty and co-operation of the workers and will give them better working conditions; while the 20,000 em- ploye stockholders will feel a due sense of pro- prietorship and realize how much they owe the cor- poration for all the benefits accruing from their part ownership—marvellous generosity on the part of the open shop, anti-labor steel trust. Another magazine, “The Firestone Non-Skid”, is “published every other Wednesday as a medium of fellowship and co-operation among the employes of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company every- where”. Here the unorganized, exploited rubber workers are told to speed up, to give quality in maxi- mum production. In return, the. company opens chemistry classes, tells them how to care for their gardens, and organizes sports on the company ath- jetic fields. The employes who have given 20 years of their labor to the company are rewarded by get- ting their pictures in the magazines. Numerous personal items are printed, about engagements and marriages, births or deaths. Thus the “human fac- tor” is cultivated, in the interest of greater pro- duction and class peace. HE “Gary Workers’ Circle”, published by the Tli- ™ nois Steel Co., devotes considerable space to this “human factor”. In the issue of May, 1926, a special boys’ and girls’ number, the “three funda- mentals in every child’s life—home, school, church”, are well advertised, Articles on fire prevention and eating, page after page of sports and boy scout publicity, pictures of classes in mathematics and sketching, news of employes’ social activities—these form the principal contents. «Thru all the pages, however, runs the refrain—work harder, produce more. Discontent, the steel slave is assured, is a “corroding thing which stifles all better things in his soul,” and is “full of envy, malice, and unholy \ Self in the establishment of The issue of November 25,’ By Rebecca Grecht and unjust desires.” Work is the best cure for dis- contentment—so the “Gary Workers’ Circle” preach- es the gospel of capitalism. - A good illustration of how employe magazines fight attempts to organize the workers is given by the “E-J Workers’ Magazine”, which was published for some time by the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Com- pany, Endicott, N. Y¥.. In this plant, the largest of its kind im the world, a policy of paternalism, well - systematized, has long been in effect, expressing {t- company stores, wi- dows, and old age pensions, a medical department, etc. The Endicott-Johnson’s “square deal policy”, however, apparently did not substitute for the low wages Paid (the average wage in 1925 was $26.48, according to the company, in computing which, the wages of the skilled workers were included). Rum- dlings of dissatisfaction and some talk of organiza- tion were heard. The company met this with attacks in the magazine on fabor unions, answering com- plaints with pages of praise for its beneficient pa- ternalism,. caléulated to appease the workers and neutralize their discontent. UCH is the character of these magazines—useful capitalist propaganda instruments. As one ad- vertising manager writes, commenting on the value of employe magazines, “Rather than make him feel that he is being driven, we have led him to take such an interest in his work that he does more of it better than he would if he did not have this sub- conscious feeling that his work is counting for more thant mere wage-paid motions.” The employe magazine is, then, designed to psy- chologize workers into docile acceptance of capital- ism’s terms, and make them willing or passive tools -in the hands of the employing class. It #hust be exposed as a medium for propagating the policies of class collaboration and diverting labor from the “class struggle. In those plants where factory groups of the Work- ers (Communist) Party are organized, factory news- papers should be issued, having as one of their aims to counter the propaganda of the employers. This will be treated more fully in another article. Ex- perience has shown that such shop papers, dealing with the immediate problems of the workers from. their viewpoint, relating their particular struggles to those of their class as a whole, drawing the ne- cessary political conclusions, find a ready ear among the working masses, and can therefore be used ef- fectively to expose the aim and character of the employe magazine. — journals, however, are ‘bound up with the policy of class collaboration. It is significant that the spread of employe magazines has closely followed the development of company unions. Both are branches of the same tree, finding fertile soil in unorganized industry. The company union binds the worker organizationally to the employer, car- rying out his production program as concerng wages, hours, output, etc. The employe magazines artfully propagandize the workers to accept this program, or similar programs in plants having no company un- ions. The main attack, therefore must be directed against the entire practice of class collaboration. Where a Company Paper is Useful, —_—