Jeff Atwood"In General Electric’s annual report from 1953, the company bragged about how much it paid in taxes and how much it was spending on payroll. It explicitly said that “maximizing employment security is a prime company goal.” The founder of Johnson & Johnson said that the company’s responsibility to its employees was higher than its responsibility to its shareholders. Corporations then had a radically different conception of their role in society compared with corporations today." https://archive.is/66hPb
Erika WittekindMy grandfather was a GE employee during that time period, and my mom remembers the hardships when the workers were striking. Workers had to fight hard for what they got, and from what I know of her childhood, it still wasn't much. So I'm not sure I would take GE, etc, at their word about their generosity.