noon
he asked . `` A mix-up with the labor unions . It 's been brewing for some little time , but I did n't want to worry you with it . Unless we announce a flat increase of twenty per cent in wages to-morrow morning , and declare for the closed shop , the men will go out on us at noon . I 've seen it coming . It began with the enlarging of the plant and the taking on of the new men needed . We 've always had the open shop , as you know , and it was all right so long as we were too small for the unions to scrap about .