Success Quote by Charles E. Wilson

Wilson is doing something quietly radical for a businessman: normalizing labor power as a fact of modern life, not a moral failing. The line opens with “No one should be so naive,” a managerial throat-clear that doubles as a warning. He’s not arguing about whether unions deserve raises; he’s telling you the mechanism is inevitable. Wages in “organized groups” will rise to match the cost of living, “under pressure if necessary.” That last clause is the tell: the system doesn’t run on good will, it runs on leverage.

The specific intent is stabilizing. Wilson frames cost-of-living adjustments not as a concession that invites chaos, but as routine maintenance for an industrial economy where inflation is real and workers can bargain collectively. By adding “nor should anyone ordinarily object,” he’s trying to box in resistance from employers, politicians, or the public: opposing these adjustments isn’t principled, it’s abnormal.

The subtext is a postwar bargain worldview. Mid-century corporate leaders often feared strikes and inflation spirals, yet also understood that suppressing wages could be socially combustible and economically self-defeating. Wilson’s phrasing nods to the legitimacy of unions while keeping the power dynamics visible: raises happen because organized labor can force them. It’s a détente, not a love letter.

Context matters: coming from a top executive (best known for running General Motors and later serving in government), the quote reads like an insider’s memo to America’s business class. Accept cost-of-living wage hikes as part of the deal, or get them the hard way.