The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-09-22


 ethics of this f1aneuVer, consider first whether the War Labor Board has any right to declare new wage-raising policy, under the laws and executive orders which set it Up, A curbstone opinion would seem Co De that the board does have this aus t1ority, but take 6 look at some Of the arguments;
 1n the first place, the boards aus thority extends ufltii six months after the end Of the war, as declared by the President or Congress. That means not just the end Of the war against Germany, but the end Of the war against Japan, which may not come before i046, So there Is no danger that the boards Jurisdiction may be running out,
 THE BOARD MIGHT BE
 OUT OF A JOB
 Under Executive order 00i7, sets ting Up the board, 1t is charged with finally disposifg Of labor disputes which might interrupt work which contributes to the effective pFoses cution of the war. The board might therefore find itself out Of 6 job f the secretary of labor should not certify q case to the board as afs feeting the war effort, but the board itself has frequently taken the pos sition that any labor dispute, even q strike ifi 6 confetti plant, is most certain to have q detrimental effect upon the war effort,
 1t is C question, however, whether this situation would De equally true after the end Of tie war in Europe, To War Labor Board Chairman William II. Davis, this VsB Day IS even more significant than election day, because it is more imminent and because after VsE Day the country viii have c divided economy part war economy and part de- iibefate effort to convert to peaee- time production.
 The War Labor Board has been giving q great deal of thought lately as to what effect this VsB Day will have on it's wage policies, And Chairman Davis admits frankly that in this coming period Of a two. headed economy, he doesn't know whether c strike ii1 q confetti piant will affect the war effort or not. His present inclination seems to be that even though the board IS c war agency, If 1t is expected to settle disputes affecting the continuing war effort against Japan, it must have some pattern on which to base it's settlement.
 SHORTAGE OF GOODS,
 ABUNDANCE OF LABOR
 Inevitably" he says, we are on the threshold Of new wage policy for q period i1 which We viii have q shortage Of goods and an abund- ance of labor" But he points out that the change in policy might easily be different from the policies demanded by the A. r, Of L. and the SteelworkerS.
 There is one field in which the board might be limited. This comes through the fact that the board has no discretion in making any changes in the administrations wartime mobilization policy as set forth in Presidential Executive Orders 0260 and o329.
 Executive order o25O, creating the Office of Economic Stabilizatlon and outlining stabilization policy, de- clareS that The National War La. Dor Board shall not approve any in. crease in wage rates prevailing on September IS, io42," with certain exceptions.
 The same principle is restated in Executive Order 032S of April 8, l043, directing no further increases in wages or salaries, except to cor- rect Sub-standards of living or to compensate for rises in the cost of living from January 1, 1o4l, to May ]. l942, as set forth in the Little Steel Formula.
 These orders look like tight fence-with an open gate almost every 10 feet. What the courts would or could do in preventing the War Labor Board from declaring a new wage policy that might seem to be in contradiction to these orders, is something you'll have to ask the Philadelphia lawyers. While waiting for your answer, the President could easily dash of a new executive order. repeating 9250 and 9328 and declaring something else to be the postwar stabilization policy, or the VaNAaUaRseto~s akatatft~nkfa.. ...fl.,,