Imperial Valley press., 1942-02-09
CAPITAL TALKS
by
Peter
Edison

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9. UP,
/ The new War Labor Board seems
destined to get its first major tCSt
case out OF the Little Steel" labor
NEGOTIATIONS. Only an unexpected
/ back down or laSt-minutc com
promise can head off this next
headache for the reShuffled board
and if and when it comes. the
country will be in for another of
those wrangleS like captive coal
mines. Kearny shipyards. North
American aviation
As a test case. this Little Steel
showdown may determine how good
= labor'S no strike" agreement.
lIvcn 10 the President so assuringly
luSt before Christmas as a guar
antee OF labor peace for the dura-
ton OF the va. production effort.
Little Steel. is as you know -four
major productelS not in the L S
steel Corporation Since mid-Janu-
alE these companies have been
carrying on four sets of ncgotia-
tions with S. w. O. c. the Steel
Workers Organizing Committee
headed by c I o President PHI
Murray. They are Bethlehem and
Republic steel companies at New
York. Island S'cel at Indiana Har-
Dor. Ind. and Youngstown Sheet
and Tube at YOUNGSTOWN. O.
The four sets of negotiations
might as well be one, for the dc
mandS are the same and the
answers are the same.
In the two weeks and more of
negotiations, Ill issues have
been agreed upon except three:
|. Wage increases of 81 4 day,
III. cents an hour.
2. Closed shop for the S. W
.. c.
5. Chcckoff of union dues from
wages.
The four companies which grant
Gu a wage increase of 10 cents an
hour in April. l94l, have indicat-
ed that they would grant wage in
1 creaSeS here and there for certain
/ classes of employees But they have
/ fiatly refused general wage increaS-
eS and they have insisted thcT
/ cannot recognize the closed shop
| principle or the chcckoff, insisting
1 tIat these are not issues than can
be arbitrated
Murray, impatient, has called for
q showdown, which means simply
that pressure will be brought on
! the government TO have the case
Gel titled to the War Labor Board
for settlement by peaceful! means :
If and when that happens, the
War Labor Board has another clos
Cd shop fight on its hands.
ISSUE Is DYNAMITE
So far. the War Labor Board
and its predecessor, the National
4 Labor Relations Board, have been
aJie to duck all these closed shop
decisions. 1t was the closed shop
issue in the captive coal mine case
which really wrecked the old Nd
NIB, forced settlement into arbtra-
ton and caused the President to
call his labor-induStry peace con-
terence which finally set up the
f War Labor Board
/ Ducking the closed shop issue in
the Little Steel negotiations won't
De SO easy.
In the first place. as this de-
partment has consistently point
cd out, organized labor is out
10 put over the closed shop
principle in this war and make
it stick after war is over. That is
fundamental aim of the labor
chieftains and they can be
counted on to fight to the last
ditch to win it, That being the
case. these Little Steel negotia-
tions have tremendous impOr-
tance on the whole war pro-
gram, steel being the number
one industry.
Whether Or not Little Steel
grants any or all Of these demands,
I The same demands will be made on
the big U. S Steel Corporation
now working under an agreement
watch either side can cancel on 10
DAYS notice-and all the other steel
/ companies which have S w O c
contracts Only two major COM
Lanics do not have c0utracta-Na-
uonal Steel and American Rolling
M!ll. National Steel e T. WciC
set the pace for the wage increases
last April by voluntarily granting
{. 10 cent an hour wage increase,
bat in these negotiations, Weir has
not so far shown his hand
Steel companies estimate that
the wage demands now being made
Oh Little Steel, if applied to the
$4,000 men in the entire steel in
duStry. would come TO $3.50 million
year
CONFLICTING VIEWS
Labor bases its demand, on in
creased cost of living, and the con-
tention that steel company profits
indicate the industry can afford
these wage raises
Management replies that the
companies do not anticipate pro-
fits in 1912 at the rate of 1871.
and that the wage increases de-
nandcd would wipe out all pro-
fits. Furthermore, the steel com
panies point to the fact that steel
prices are now under govern
ment ceiling regulations. Steel
prices arc based on present la
bor costs. If labor costs advance,
the price of steel must be raised
TO cover that increase.
There is a perfect parallel 70 this
situation in what happened 70 the
railroads Railway labor applied for
wage increases, baSing the claim on