a

short story by Hugh Mason

WERE introducing this auto-
ee down in our plant,
Se, Plant?” Well, I don’t

Used any of it, but I. get

i to talking that way in

Way ot the boys and, any-

. ”» that’s how old J.P. likes
Fa: he often repeats,

ee all just one big,
have family, Petersen, and

stay your job — seeing it
S that way.” ;

ry Thaps I should explain.
it ® personnel officer at the
-. Motor Corporation.
iob ‘My job? Why mostly, my
Cooki.. peine a real smart
(FE . . ‘
hayj eing a smoothie and
ome on hand with that
id smile and just the
a patter to handle any
S Irom th be
duction, e guys on pro
atin oP management cooper-
ay and I’m the cooperation.
1 ting S$ what I’m paid for. And
a < . know who’s paying

; ’ ee i j
tu Bhat p my dialogue just
ee team work, boys, that
= It’s iour factory, and
i * ho car rollls out of here
“ Nout we all had some hand
saat Why, after listening to
a> elf awhile, it’s all I can

° to sto z é a
daddy » p myself callling J.P.

{ we

Beow this automation, why
terrif; you think about it, it’s
: py ic. But when you see it,

Send you crazy. We start-
‘m, “Utomating in one section.
ay used to be 36 men. Now
ened devices do the job
| ang gest a couple of men left
than hey don’t do much more
Wire stay around to Keep

- oeeneg and: electric cir-
Some. ao getting too lone-
oY that’s. really some-
ale because don’t think I’ve
ag been a personnel of-
er. I’ye worked in the auto

el

“dustry since I was 16 and
fea] ‘OW just how you get to
"butt; Making the parts and
ae them together,
bolts ne four varieties of
stret for eight hours “at a
$ Ch is an experience I can

®t to miss any time.
| the Wouldn’t give a prize to
ig Scientist who makes the
ee bomb but these engin-
think and brain-boys
1K up these labor-saving
ie — to remove the erk
es the work — why they
[Very d be presented with a
.'Y big silver cup. Cars roll-
eat and nobody gets
on Ung worse than a callous
their “button” finger.

S an age!

i thing that’s one way of
ing about it. But there’s

Ng lots of answers. They

who -

y—the J.P. way.
His way is the same so far
as the cars rolling out but
mostly he has in mind that
there will be almost nobody
left to pester the company for
their wages each week, Put
an end to this regular Friday
“profit squandering. Oh,
can read J.P. like a book, or
to be more exact, like a bal-
ance sheet to the share-
holders. _
The guys in the plant see
the whole thing differently.
They're all for automation
‘and a higher living standard
put they’ve got some solid
reservations about being, of
becoming, “saved” labor. And
this is all pretty under-
standable, if you've ever been
walking the streets and loagk-

ing for work.

Let’s face
immediately
hours all round,
could see that
even need glasses for small
print. I don’t need to be Karl
Marx to work that out but
then this personnel officer is
pretty executive stuff and it’s
not Karl, it’s old J.P. who’s
aying me.
ing over another page
in J.P.’s mind, I can read that
right now he’s expecting me
to be practicing some “con-
vincing conversation, and tell-
ing phrases for when the next
batch of our boys get to be
he saved labor list,

*

I wag up to thinking what a
pity it was that I had turned
out such a heel, when there

the other wa

it. We should
start reducing
Blind Freddie
and I don't

on t

was a knock on the office
door. Earlier in the day J.P.
had sent me a message that
he would be down during

the afternoon. He wanted to
have a talk with me.

“Come right in,” I called,
and J.P. entered. He was a
splendid OS size, and in a
$200 suit he looked just like
an industrialist right out of
Fortune magazine.

“Oh, J.P., I’ve been calcu-
lating up some of our new
figures from our new ‘do it
itself’ section. Our produc-

‘ tion’s way up and when you
balance it against wages —
why it’s like we have dreams
aboutaic* + °

I’m paid to be a_ smart
cookie and I always believe
in .hitting J.P. with a big dis-

Too many cooks

play of my mental processes
at every opportunity. If this
boy is going to get on, Jers
has to know he’s a veritable
powerhouse of ideas, that\’m
a réal live wire and never
leave off bullying the - pro-
duction figures along. But J.P.
interrupted me.

“Yes, yes,” he said. “I know
about that.’ He paused a
moment and then continued.
“T was wanting to have a talk
with you Petersen, as a mat-
ter of fact, not- unrelated to
this matter. Next month Peter-
sen, we'll be making a move
with this next section, .. .”

‘And you're worried that
the men might be resentful—
might not fully understand
the course that must be de-
termined in the introduction of
newer production technique. I
have every confidence J.P.
that we’ll be able to explain
away some of the minor
prejudices that we may only
naturally enough expect to
encounter. I feel sure we'll be
able to smooth over any
prejudice we may meet in
taking this progressive step.
So that the rest of the men
don’t walk out with those who
become redundant . . .if that’s
what’s worrying you, J.P. . ¥

Words came out of me like
water out of a burst main. I
was enjoying giving J.P. the
treatment and:even as I was
speaking, I was thinking that
I was pretty important in
J.P.’s scheme of things.

!
J.P. was good at working

out profits and the cheapest
taxation but he was a clown
when it came to talking to
jabor, He could never have
fired a man and made it
sound like conferring a
knighthood.

Scandinavian. festival

The Scandinavian Central
Committee, an organization
which has coordinated activi-
ties of the majority of the
Scandinavian lodges on the
Lower Mainland for 22 years,
has swung into the forefront

in planning Scandinavian par-.

ticipation in the Centennial
celebrations next year.

The major event will be a
Midsummer Festival in June,
Handicrafts and cultural dis-
plays will have a prominent
part in this affair.

A ‘special booklet will be
published as a souvenir of the
event. It will contain the his-
tories of the organizations
taking part in the celebration.

Two contests are also being

sponsored.

One is a writing contest,
open to all residents of the
province. Submissions can be
in fiction or factual form but
must have a “Scandinavian in
B.C.” theme and be written in
English. Manuscripts should
be from 350 to 500 words in
length.

The other is a poster con-
test also open to all residents,
Posters must show Scandinav-
ians in any of their industrial
or cultural activities in the
province — fishing, logging,
farming, dancing or skiing.

Awards will be made at the

Midsummer Festival where

ill be displayed.
October 11, 1957 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 9

entries

later... +.

J.P. was going to need me
in the next. few months be-
cause a strike to him isn't
just a way of reducing divi-
dends, it is a rotten way for
men to carry on and a per-
sonal insult to his manage-
ment.

et that’s what’s worrying
you, J.P., I hope it will be

of some assurance that Ihave.

”
.

already ...

“Well _not exactly.” J.P.

‘interrupted me. “I was more

concerned with you person-
ally, Pete .. . Harry. I was
wondering Harry if you have
given any consideration to
your own future?”

“Well, no, J.P.’ I said. “I
mostly bother my head with
the company’s problems and
that, seems to fill in my days.”

Besides being the perfect lie
this was also the perfect text-
book answer, I was a little
flattered that J,P. should
have been taking such an in-
terest in. me. I’ had thought I
was the only one who cared.

“Well, I think you sheuld,
Harry,” he continued. “You're
a bright man, Harry. You've
got drive and plenty of ambi-
tion. In business, you’re what
we call a live wire.”

J.P, was beginning to get
me in.. I even felt that per-
haps I had been underesti-
mating myself. Maybe, after
all, I was a big wheel.

“Well, J.P.” I said. “We've
all got a job to do and I’ve
always worked it out that’s
what’s good for the company
is good for me, My job’s really
NOL SO DSi. 8.

“Yes, well, Harry, that’s
what I wanted to have a talk
to you about,” J.P. said.
“You’ve got lots of ambition
and ability to match it.”

He paused but only for a
moment. “I’ve been wonder-
ing if our company has the
scope for you. We have to
think of your future and some-
times I’m not sure that we
will have the position avail-
able that will be commensur-
ate with your abilities. I think
you should give some thoughts
to this problem.” ;

I didn’t say a word. J.P.
went on:

“You see, Harry, where you
really shine is in handling
labor. You're certainly quite
a genius as a personnel offi-
cer. But... well with in-
creasing automation we'll be
having less personnel. . . the
way it goes. Well, I just think
you should consider your fut-
ure. Not leave your plans too

“Would one month from now
be too late?” I asked. My
voice had little intonation to
it.

“No,” said J.P, “As far as
the company’s concerned there
is absolutely no need for haste.
You’ve got to start thinking
about yourself. Yes, I’d say
one month would be just fine,
Harry.”

scatterer a