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-5- PHILLIPPE

To me, this is a side to the problem that we cannot ignore. 

In addition to the business economics of this situation, and matching the expectations of the public, there is a third consideration. 

The business community is a major institution in this country; we enjoy a leadership position, and the responsibility of leaders is to lead. 

In no other society has the businessman been accorded the standing and the prestige that he has in America. Our opinions, judgements, counsel and programs have been solicited on every activity from educating our young to putting a man on the moon -- from solving traffic jams to balancing our international payments deficit. We are often asked to transfer our business and management skills to many other tasks in our society. 

If we businessmen are not going to take a major role in tackling, and eventually solving, the problems in our cities, then who will? 

Bud Gray, Chairman of the Board of Whirlpool Corporation, says it very simply: 

"If not us, who? If not now, when?"

The price of not acting now in this crisis, of not contributing in concert all of the business skills we can muster, will be to abdicate our position as leaders. We cannot expect to have a say in the decisions that our nation is making, unless we take the responsibilities that go with it. 

If these are reasons enough to generate a broad, effective business movement to do something about the crisis of our cities -- and I feel they are -- what, then can we do? 

We are all aware that the current labor market, overall, has changed dramatically over the past several years. There are now more jobs than qualified workers. Yet in the city centers, there is a significant body of hard-core unemployed -- poorly qualified, or not qualified at all for productive work in industry. 

We all realize that one of the important segments of this labor force -- and one which industry absolutely needs -- is the labor market in the central city. 

In some of our General Electric city factories, we are finding it necessary to interview 10 or 12 applicants to find one who can meet present minimum hiring standards. And one-fifth of those selected can't pass the company's physical examination. In one recent experience, turnover in one of our older plants was 8 percent on the first day of employment and 22 percent in the first week. Absenteeism was the highest we have ever experienced. 

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