The Spiked Heel

“Like kings!” McQuade said. “By comparison, you are being treated like kings. Look at the changes, men, just look at them! Does all this seem to be a slap in the worker’s face? Of course not!” He rose suddenly. “I’ve just now promised you a raise and a secure employment policy. Titanic is now assured that every man in this factory is doing his job and doing it well. There’s no reason to fire anyone now, and you can damn well bet we are not going to. When Titanic makes a promise, it does not break that promise. So compare that with what you had. What was Julien Kahn before Titanic took over? One company among a lot of other fashion shoe houses, a name, a dot on the map. Sixteen hundred employees, more or less, twenty-six hundred pairs a day, so what’s that? What’s twenty-six hundred pairs a day? A drop in the bucket. Here we sit, Julien Kahn, Inc. A flyspeck in the industry. Are our shoes better than Delman’s or I. Miller’s? Maybe, maybe not. Who cares? We’ve got the name, and so we sit back and relax, but what does that name do for you, the worker, the man who put that flyspeck on the map to begin with?

“It does nothing for you, nothing. Who steals your name steals trash, and that is wrong, my friends, that is goddam wrong. And now picture this. Picture a new Julien Kahn, a revitalized Julien Kahn. Picture a Julien Kahn that is leader of the fashion world, the pacesetter, the stylesetter, the industry’s mainspring. A strong Julien Kahn with factories in California, Texas, New York, Paris, you name it, everywhere, anywhere you want to work Julien Kahn can send you there. Florida? All right, you can get to Florida if you work for Julien Kahn. You can get there and live there and be paid for living there while you work. Do you yearn for shrimps creole, well damn it, man, Kahn has a factory in New Orleans, too, because Kahn is king of the industry.

“The new Kahn is a young giant. The new Kahn is an outfit that makes other fashion houses seem obsolete. And then picture the profits, my friends, and picture what those profits will do for you, the worker. Can you see where the petty inefficiencies must go, can you see why the necessary tyrannies are all part of the plan? Bear with us, stick with us, understand that what we are doing we are doing for you, and then you will see, my friends, then, by Christ, you’ll be proud of your company, you’ll hold your head high whenever the name of Julien Kahn is mentioned. The name will be your banner, and the profits will go into your pockets, because labor is power, and power is strength!

“This is what we are trying to do! We are trying to pull Kahn out of the mud! We are trying to pull it out with our bare hands, forge it into something you’ll be proud of, and something that will be a part of you. And so you’re getting new toilets, but are new toilets a part of the big profit? No, only a small part, only a very small part, but don’t they add to your comfort in the meantime? Or do you prefer pigsties, and do you prefer straining your eyes under inadequate lighting, or do you prefer riding in a freight elevator during the morning rush? Is it terrible that we’re installing new elevator banks? Is it terrible to think that the marble entrance of the building will be enlarged to cover practically the entire first floor? Is it bad that you’ll come to work and feel like a human being, and ride in an elevator that’s new and clean, with a man wearing a uniform, or that you’ll work in a factory that’s as spotless as a hospital ward, are any of these things bad? Are they bad, tell me? They’re good, men, they’re goddam good, I’m telling you, and it’s only the beginning, because things are going to get better and better, but only with your help, and only if you can overlook the tyranny of stopping bloodshed in the Cutting Room, or exposing a thief in Packing, only if you can overlook these things which were essential and necessary.”

McQuade lowered his voice. “Titanic is giving you more money. Titanic has promised you that there will be no more firing, that its reduction program has been completed. Titanic will keep these promises, believe me. I can assure you that Titanic does not want to close down or move this factory. Titanic wants to grow, Titanic wants to be strong and healthy.”

For a moment, they were not sure he had finished. Manelli looked at McQuade, and McQuade wiped the sweat from his upper lip.

“Why don’t we all drink to that?” Manelli said.

The men were silent. Manelli took out seven glasses and poured a shot of rye into each glass.

“To a bigger and better, and I mean better, Julien Kahn,” he toasted.

“And to the end of firings and a pay rise in the very near future,” Grant added.

The men tossed off their shots. McQuade took one sip at his drink and then put it down. Gardiner, Hensen, and Karojilian left the office while McQuade, Manelli, Grant, and Sal Valdero sat down to work out the pay raise. The shop stewards were silent until they reached the elevators down the hall.