It does not take an unusually cynical mind to suspect that G. M. needed more time in order to do some consulting. That such a reply is obviously ridiculous in the light of the history of arbitration is not the point. Its significance lies in the fact that the words are almost identical with those used by Sewell Avery a few days before when he rejected a union proposal for arbitration in the Montgomery Ward dispute. They echo what has been implicit in the Greyhound Bus Lines' refusal to arbitrate its strike. It is evident that in regard to arbitration, that golden solution business always extolled for the other fellow's company and all unions, there is a meeting of minds among industrial leaders.
Management is out to scotch the deadly heresy that prices and profits are the public's business.
First, the repeal of the excess-profits tax makes strikes from now until the first of the year relatively inexpensive. G. M. is in a lightly less fortunate position because of the competitive necessity to recover quickly, but even so the strike was ill-timed from the union's standpoint. Second, industry can count for a while at least on Congress playing its game. Although legislation may ultimately be passed that will restrict business as much as labor, Congress at the moment is anti-union. Third, industry is gambling on the new man in the White House and drawing enormous comfort from the fact that the President's closest adviser is John W. Snyder, whose instincts and acts are predictable, consistent, and conservative.