Evening star., 1943-02-01
WLB Faces Bottle

W ~ ONSS OOttIC
There is every indication that the
War Labor Board is facing the hard =
est kind Of a fight to maintain the
wage policy laid down in the So
called Little Steel case last year, and
which has been more or less adhered
to in subsequent rulings.
Speaking in Boston last week,
william H. Davis, chairman of the
labor board, said he thought it was a
great tribute to the patience of
American industry and labor that
they have accepted this annoying,
though necessary. curtailment in
such a spirit of cooperation" 1t
appears, however, that Mr.. Davis was
unduly optimistic, for it is evident
that important elements in both
labor and industry are chaflng under
the restraint Of the Little Steel
formula.
Most of the pressure for higher
wages, naturally enough, is coming
from labor unions, although Mr..
Davis has been quoted as saying that
IS per cent of the recent requests
for wage and salary increases were
made by employers. They do not
present serious problem. however,
for the board has demonstrated that
1t can handle employers. But it has
not demonstrated any comparable
control over strong labor groups.
For this reason it is disquieting, to
say the least, to read that John L.
Lewis, head of the United Mine
Workers, will demand a wage IN
crease of about 50 q day for his
miners when their present contract
expires in April, although the great
majority would not be entitled to
any increase under the Little Steel
formula. Mr. Lewis is preparing the
ground for this fight with a direct
attack on what he calls the "arbi-
trary and miserably stupid little
SteeD formula" and a general de-
nunciation of the manner in which
the Government has handled labor
since the no-strike pledge was given.
This cannot be dismissed as mere ora
tory, for Mr.. Lewis demonstrated in
the captive coal mine fight, in which
he wrecked the National Mediation
Board, predecessor Of WLB, that he
Is not to be easily put aside. Should
he stick to his demands this spring,
the members Of the labor board will
have their hands full Nor is this
outlook frightened any by the equal
ly vigorous demands from the gar
ment workers, a powerful AFL union,
and the twenty railway brother
hoods. The latter do not come under
the WLB, but If any Of these de-
mands is successful, the Little Steel
formula, for practical purposes, will
be out the window.
These wage demands are not with
out some justification. The stated
purpose of the boards formula was
to bring wage earners abreast OF a
Is per cent advance in living costs
between January /, 1941, and May,
1912. From then on, in theory, liv-
ing costs and wages were to be
stabilized" but this stabiliZation
has not prevented 4 per cent ad-
vance in living costs since May, nor
has it served invariably to hold wages
within the steel formula. Further
more, the prospects favor a still
greater rise in the cost of living, as
evidenced by the action Of the House
Agriculture Committee in voting
recently to include all farm labor
costs In the determination of parity
prices.
The President has said that wage
earners must accept a reduced
standard of living. But If Congress
boosts farm prices it is idle to sup
pose that wages can be held down
Conversely, If general wage increases
are approved it is virtually certain
that the farmer will be given more
for his products.
This, probably, is the inevitable
result of the administration insist
ence upon divorcing wage regulation
from cost Of living control. Had this
problem been tackled as a whole, at
the outset, through comprehensive
legislation, the country might not
now be threatened with another in
fationary spiral Of rising prices and
mounting wages. But the chance
was missed and the future, certainly
for those with relatively fixed in
comes, is dark,
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