Push Button and People; Transcript.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2GNIYhi8Dw&t=5s

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machines without human being machines

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without human beings that uncanny

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spectacle is automation a foreboding

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frightening word a word to send a

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shudder through a man or a woman or a

01:02

child even in periods of full employment

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when wages are decent jobs are plentiful

01:07

and times are good but during a

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depression or a recession when men and

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women and children seem to be an

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overproduction then automation is a word

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to strike terror and any human heart

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especially if that human heart beats in

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a wage earners breast now people know in

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a general way what automation means 150

01:33

years ago the world went through

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something called the Industrial

01:36

Revolution we found out how to build

01:39

machines that could perform much of the

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mechanical work men and women used to do

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machines replace the muscles in our

01:47

backs and arms and legs but you still

01:50

needed human beings to direct the

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machines to do the thinking to do the

01:54

brain work but now automation provides

01:57

machines that do the brain work that

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makes the decisions men and women used

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to make in the factories electric I

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limit switches tapes punch cards

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servomechanism everybody knows that but

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what does this mechanical brain was a

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mechanical muscle do to people to jobs

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to the way we live will whatever happens

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happen automatically can we do anything

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well not long ago UAW President Walter

02:31

Reuther was in Washington DC there the

02:35

members of a senatorial committee asked

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him these very questions so now let's go

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to Washington and Walter Reuther here is

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mr. Ruger and here is the senatorial

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committee how does automation look when

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you see it in the plan

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what happens when automation comes to a

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plan let's let senator languor of North

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Dakota ask the question senator Langer

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mr. Luthor hey that these a big

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corporations 47 million two hundred

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million dollars into autumn movie

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automotive machinery whatever it may be

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how many men do that without a word well

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hard give you an exact figure these are

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some of the things we'd like to know

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more about we do know we do know that we

03:26

have thought the impact of automation I

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work first time I went to work in the

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automotive industry was back in nineteen

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twenty seven in February they were

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making the last Model T Ford under

03:37

langer and you know all about a Model T

03:40

because up in your country they were

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very handy back to the days when the

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roads weren't very good there any

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politics to drive right I wouldn't be

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surprised as they were I think God I

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Senate language bill poet my campaign to

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the Model T on that sir anyway when I

03:57

went to work at forward to 1927 this was

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before we had automation 2,000 workers

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on individual machines the make and

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model tianjin which is a relatively

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simple piece of mechanism I mean they

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board each cylinder separately and they

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did all the other things on separate

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operation 1951 the ford motor company

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opened up a new engine plant in

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cleveland ohio adjacent to the Municipal

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Airport it was the first fully automated

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engine plant they take a rough casting

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or a v8 engine which is a very complex

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piece of mechanism comparable model t

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engine block they bring it from the

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foundry and feed it into this automated

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machining line completely automatic and

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without a workers hand touching that

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engine block 14 and six tenths minutes

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later it's fully machined I went through

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that plant many years back to me people

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who were showing me around said to me I

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couldn't already see the workers because

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they're just a few here and a few there

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electric paddles red and green lights

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going on that shows whether the machine

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was operating to standard when all the

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green lights were on it meant that every

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to a battery of machines was operating

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to performance meeting these precise

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tolerances of the machining operation

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when a amber light came on the machine

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was still operating that this was a

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signal as the tool in station number 82

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was becoming fatigue the workers got a

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replacement tool walked over in front of

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82 when the red light went on a machine

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stops put the new tool in the green

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light came on she went on without a

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workers hand touching that 14 and six

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tenths minutes later it was fully

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machines so they said to me aren't you

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worried about how you're going to

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collect union dues from all these

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machines I said you know the thought

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never occurred to me what I'm worried

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about is how you're going to sell ford

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cars all these machines you know you can

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automate the production of automobiles

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but consumers are still made thank God

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in the old-fashioned way this is our car

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trouble this is our trouble Model T to

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experimental model electronic flash from

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muscle and blood to the automated engine

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line mr. ruther tell us what has this

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meant economically to the automobile

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industry if you take some overall

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figures which I think indicates what's

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happening in terms of productivity in

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1947 the industry made four million

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seven hundred and ninety eight thousand

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cars and try and we had a workforce in

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1947 or six hundred and forty eight

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thousand eight hundred workers in 1957

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ten years later we made seven million

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two hundred and twenty thousand cars and

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trucks with a workforce of six hundred

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and fifty two thousand workers in other

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words in those ten years we had an

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increase in the total production of cars

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of fifty point five percent without an

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increase of one half of one percent in

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the labor force so that if you take the

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level of production in 47 and the level

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of production in 57 and the level of

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employment in 47 the level of

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apartment in 57 you find this production

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when a 50 point five percent

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unemployment and went up only one half

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of one percent what Walter Reuther is

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saying is that American companies in the

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last 11 years have bought and built 385

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billion dollars worth of new factories

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and new equipment much of it automated

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equipment in the auto industry alone the

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big three have invested seven billion

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two hundred million dollars in modern

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automated facilities and the result has

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been unemployment like this unemployment

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like these unemployed General Motors

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workers there they are here we are

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people wanting jobs meeting jobs and

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there are the new factories modern as

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all get-out but closed down tight since

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this is the way things have worked out

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mr. Luthor you oppose all this expansion

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we don't adjust to that expansion in our

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productive capacity because we know the

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workers that I represent they're grown

08:15

people they know that there are no

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economic static losses that you can't

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get something for nothing that you can

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only have higher living standards and

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more the good things of life only as you

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create the economic wealth by the

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application of human labor and human

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intelligence to the tools of economic

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abundance and the economic resources

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that we have access to so they say fine

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we've got a bigger plant capacity we've

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got more modern and more productive

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tools but they say if we aren't using

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these tools and we've got idle capacity

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and unemployment then why and the answer

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is we are using our productive capacity

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because we haven't got the purchasing

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power in the hands of millions of

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families necessary to translate you will

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need into demand on the store colors of

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America and that's why we're in trouble

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we're in trouble Walter Reuther says in

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a sense these machines can only do

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almost everything a human being can

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too but not everything machines don't

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buy automobiles for example and that

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means unemployment all right since this

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is the situation is the UAW opposed to

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automation many people at least have

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been told that unions opposed

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technological advances mr. Luthor what

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about that I been very sad when i hear a

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labor spokesman elegant improved

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technology you know King Canute couldn't

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stop the flow of the tide and labor kept

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at the slowest technology labor option

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welcome technology you haven't gotten

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off half lift on automation I shall see

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that you get them because we have we

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have been standing on the house stop

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saying give us the best automation you

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can bring in give us the most productive

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truth because we know it's the only way

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we can have more is to make more and the

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only way you can make more to have more

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productive cold we have been leading the

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parade for automation we want automation

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we want the peaceful use of the atom

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because only as we apply human labor

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whether it be with hand or with brain to

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the tools of production can we create

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the economic well that we want to share

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this is a general motors contract we

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signed in 1955 on page 66 section 100

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reads as follows this is all of our

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agreement my signatures at the end of

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this agreement it reads as follows and I

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quote the annual improvement factor

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provided herein recognizes that a

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continuing improvement in the standards

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of living of employees depends upon

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technological progress better tools

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methods processes and equipment and

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cooperative attitude on the part of all

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parties and such progress if further

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recognize it further recognizes a

11:15

principle that to produce more with the

11:17

same amount of human effort is a sound

11:19

economic and social objective we want

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the best tools the general motors can

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buy we want the most productive

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Automation machinery that the General

11:30

Motors and Ford and Chrysler can create

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in cooperation with machine tool

11:34

industry on this there is no argument we

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know we can have more only if the truth

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of production create more and we want

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the most productive tools available let

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us suppose that we have no ottoman

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automation no multiple drills no huge

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prefers to the subframes what in your

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judgment would be the cause to learn or

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no automobile today compared with the

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price that is actually a change in the

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market if we did not have the tools of

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mass production and economic abundant

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person it would be no automobile

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industry it will be a few pull around by

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hand and only a few fellows who were

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millionaire support car owners would

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have them there just be a handful and

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the roads would still be muddy and so

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forth we all know that but why do we

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make progress we make progress because

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management wants to drive ahead they

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want to make more money they want to get

12:33

more the things that they want but

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workers when they drive for higher wages

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why is it in a country whether where you

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have wages why is it that their

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rate of technology is always floor

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because when manpower is cheaper than

12:48

machines nobody gets the machine but

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when you raise wages and its cost more

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to have men power machines you invest in

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technology and the drive for higher

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wages is perhaps the most powerful

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motivation that accelerate technological

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progress on one thing Walter Reuther and

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President Eisenhower are agreed

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Automation by itself is not good or bad

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it is like a knife or high explosive it

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can be used to advance the well-being of

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people then it is good or it can be used

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to produce dark hopeless tragedy and

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then it is evil but the question is how

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do you tame automation how do you make

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it serve people the uaw says when men or

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women are laid off because of autumn

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asian when the plant moves people should

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be given new jobs if there are not new

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jobs they should be given moving

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allowances to places where there are

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jobs if they need training they should

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get training if they have to be

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re-educated for new jobs then they

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should get the education and allowances

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to live on in the end between Cline's

14:05

but so senator Dirksen who is sensitive

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to the interest of the big companies

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doesn't this cost money now among other

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things you include the closest severance

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pay and also remove okay we're a

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facilities will move to another town and

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the employees have an opportunity to go

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so that till they will be paid for

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moving to another time I can touching

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your bargaining denied right but that's

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that's not a compactor because when the

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coupling moves of factory now let me

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give you a good example there's been a

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lot of political propaganda circulating

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in Michigan about how the climate

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Michigan because of the Democratic

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administration than the in the

14:49

governor's office is creating an

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unfavorable protocol climate than the

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automobile industry are all running away

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and other companies are running out of

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Michigan but that isn't true they're

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moving for reasons quite unrelated to

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politics and the best example is it the

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last decision made by the Chrysler

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Corporation and Chrysler Corporation is

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the last of the big tree who have

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decentralized their operation General

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Motors started out on a more

15:14

decentralized basis Ford was pretty

15:17

compact in Detroit they are

15:18

decentralized since the war and Chrysler

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now is getting around for that sort of

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thing chrysler corporation recently

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announced that they were moving a plat

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from Evansville Indiana to Platts there

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to st. Louis Missouri now in Indiana

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they consider that they get the most

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favorable political climate they got a

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Republican administration they get a

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right-to-work law they get everything

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that the people who represent that point

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of view think constitutes the completely

15:47

favorable climate some industries point

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of view I'm let them move

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I was Indiana into a democratic city in

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a democratic state why because these

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moves have nothing to do with politics

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they are moving there because the

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Evansville clapped is antiquated the

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norm clap is inefficient it's a high top

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unit plant in terms of its physical

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layout its equipment and they're going

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to build a brand new plant in st. Louis

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but they reason they aren't Julia Luke

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lat Evansville is st. Louis is closer to

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the market that platteville service and

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that's why they're moving now when the

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Chrysler Corporation move they will have

16:28

to pay for the cost of moving their

16:30

machinery and all the other things that

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go into the physical plant and we think

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that moving the workers family or

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providing the worker with some cushion

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until he can make a readjustment and get

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relocated himself is a part of the cost

16:45

of doing business just like moving the

16:47

machinery now the Chrysler Corporation

16:49

will have a more modern more efficient

16:52

plants and they will pay for the cost of

16:55

moving the machinery out of the greater

16:57

efficiency out of the greater

16:58

profitability of the new clamp and we

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think we ought to pay for the cost of

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moving the workers out of the same

17:04

greater profitability and greater

17:05

efficiency so this isn't new money this

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isn't going to cost the consumer

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anything I just think that that if

17:13

moving machinery is absorbed with a

17:18

normal cost of doing business that

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moving people also should be that's all

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it is but it won't cost the consumer

17:25

credit unions tell us that it is

17:28

possible to plan automation so that it

17:30

is introduced into the economy in such a

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way that the nation moves forward and no

17:35

wage earner is hurt in the process at

17:37

relatively no additional cost to the

17:40

company but this is hard to believe mr.

17:43

Luthor could you explain exactly how

17:45

this would work out financially

17:47

specifically in this Evansville case for

17:49

example how can you pay severance pay

17:52

without adding to a company's cost well

17:55

I don't like to say this about the

17:57

severance pay the Chrysler the to platts

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of the Chrysler motor car company that

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are now operating this bill

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operating not very silly but they're

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operating in Evansville Indiana that he

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had when they were operating 5,300

18:14

employees the two plants together they

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will turn out more production in the new

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and more efficient plant in st. Louis

18:22

when it's completed two years to now but

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they tell us that there will only employ

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3,500 workers so that there's a

18:28

tremendous economy and that economy that

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will result from the new and more

18:33

efficient flats that reduces the number

18:35

of workers from 5300 to 3,500 with

18:38

greater productivity will more than

18:40

cover all the costs of moving the Platt

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and the severance pay and a transfer

18:46

allowance that we're asking for and

18:47

therefore this is not a cost factor

18:49

because the company will make the move

18:51

and make a profit out of movie well here

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we are back again with our original word

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automation machines that do things and

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make choices without human beings you

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and I and a Senate committee and Walter

19:10

Reuther have had a discussion why

19:12

because it's our common problem if we

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can solve it and make automation our

19:18

servant then we will cross the bridge to

19:21

prosperity and peace and democracy but

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if we fail and automation produces the

19:27

bleak terror of unemployment there will

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be no prosperity no peace no freedom the

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question is what shall we do to succeed

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to tame automation we you Walter Reuther

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the company's the United States Senate

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