The union times. (New Haven, Conn.) 1941-1948, 1944-01-08
Mills Won't Make
Low-Cost Clothing

WASHINGTON - Here's the
story of one strike that probably
hasn't even hit the back pages of
your daily newspaper-because this
time it's employers who are doing
the striking and workers who are
the victims.
1t begins with an old gag line.
He'd take the shirt off your back. .
But to workers scanning empty
store shelves for the formely plen-
tiful work shirts and work clothes
made of sturdy denims and cham
brays, it's not funny. And house
wives looking i'm vain for cheap
house dresses-the kind you used
to buy for about $2-don't think
it's funny either.
Behind the suddenly dwindling
stocks of low-cost clothing is the SIM
pie decision of clothing and textile
manufacturers that expensive lines
of merchandise are more profitable
The issue manufacturers have blunt
ly placed before WPB and OPA Off
Gals is higher prices or no more pro-
duction of cheap lines of clothing
And instead of selling ON the OBJ
viOus sOlutiOn-fOr WPB to allO-
cate the more expensive textiles to
manufacturers only on condition
that they resume output of essen
tial work clothing-WPB officials
i'm the textile and clothing division,
most of them dOllar-a-year men
from the industry, are fronting for
the manufacturers demands for
price increases i'm conferences with
sympathetic OPA clothing officials.
One member of OPA'S labor pol
icy committee summed up the sit
uation in bitter tones: "War Pro-
duction Board is walking picket
line for the industry.
At one point the manufacturers and
WPB people hit on what they con-
sidered a very neat compromise. Only
the Navy, which buys 500 Of all
workshirts, would be forced to pay
higher prices they decided. But this
industry version of a government sub
sidy had to be dropped when it was
discovered that sailors pay for the
shirts out of their $50-a-month sala-
rieS.
OPA labor representatives, who are
battling WPB and OPA clothing Off
Gals on this issue, point to the case
of the chambray work shirt as an ex-
ample of manufacturers disregard
for anything but more profits. The
shirts are manufactured by only four
companies-Avondale, Peperill, Riv-
erside and Aristo. Avondale has al
ready stopped production of cham
bray work shirts, while the other
companies are threatening to do the
same, unless OPA comes through
with price boost.
Yet Avondale's profits have i'm
creased almost 5000 since the
start of the war. In the 1860
period, the company made &c
profit on every dollar of sales. In
the fiscal year ending June 30,
l943, the profit on every dollar
had jumped to 9.8c. Riverside has
tripled its profits during the same
period, while the other companies
have also shown tidy increases.
With company profits at high
point, the manufacturers could
well afford to absorb any small
loss on chambray shirts. But de-
spite the fact that manufacturers
never before made profit on
many of these cheap grades of
clothing, they are demanding pro-
fits on these items now. Not con-
tent with an overall profit, they
want to make a profit on each indi-
vidual item.
The story isn't finished yet. Or
gained labor's spokesman within
OPA are fighting hard to prevent the
workers already frayed pocketbook
from taking another licking. They
realize that next to food, clothing is
one of he most important items in
the workers budget. Clothing prices
have gone up an estimated 3512 in
the three years since Jan. IS, 1o41,
but that is only half of the picture
Hidden increases in the form of poor
err quality have snatched another 351l
away from the consumer.
Those are the figures labor's
Spokesman have i'm mind when they
demand that clothing manufacture
ers end their strike and turn out
enough work clothes to supply the
needs of the people without fore
ing them to pay exOrbitant prices.