Evening star., 1944-11-26

steel companies conduct collective
bargaining on establishment of sew
erance pay. If no agreement is
reached within go days, the ques-
ton of a severance-pay schedule
is to be brought back to the board
Heretofore the board had de-
clined to order severance pay in
any industry where it is not now
customary but has directed its con-
tinuance in industries where it
has been in effect
The board said it would approve
group insurance plan and a
reasonable sick leave" plan if
agreed to by the company and the
union but it declined to order them.
Both had been asked by the union,
Vacation With Pay Granted.
Granted were one weeks vaca-
ton with pay for one years serv-
ice and two weeks with pay after
five years service. The union asked
two weeks vacation after three
years employment.
Affected directly by the decision
were sc basic steel" companies and
approximately 100000 employees. In
directly the decision is likely to
affect about 600 other companies
with 100000 employees where the
CIO United Steelworkers have col
lective bargaining agreements.
Makes Separate Report.
In declining to order a guaran-
teed annual wage, the board an
nounced it was recommending to
the President in separate report:
"Q) That the whole question of
guaranteed wage plans, and the pos
sibility of their future development
in American industries as an aid
in the stabilization of employment
and the regularization of produc-
ton, should now be comprehensively
studied on national scale;
"(2D That such study should be
conducted by a specially appointed
commission charged with the duty
of examining into the experience
which industry and labor have thus
far had with these plans, and of
reporting the facts for the benefit
of the country, together with recon-
mendations regarding any further
steps in this direction which may
seem practical;
"(3) That such a body would be
best able to perform its nationally
important tasks if created inde-
pendently of the War Labor Board
by the President; and
40 That the President appoint
commission for these purposes"
Industry members of the board
vigorously dissented from the de-
cision on severance pay.
We construe the action of the
najority,' they said in a statement,
"as tending to carry this board into
the field of overall post plan
ming, beyond, in our opinion, the
functions for which this board was
created and beyond the duties i'm
posed upon it by law and executive
orders.
I'VE fear that the very action of
the board in this respect will
jeopardiZe settlement of the prob
lem on national basis. For that
reason we voted against the pro-
posal contrary to our views on
severance pay under normal condi-
tionS."
Union Security Hit
The industry members also pro-
tested against continuing mainte-
nance-of-membership provisions
now in the unions contract. They
said the unions record of strikes"
should have produced denial of
union maintenance"
The industry members agreed to
provisions for ironing out intraplant
wage inequities, but objected to the
pay differentials for second and
third shift operations, asserting they
would mean more pay for no more
work" and would disrupt wage rela-
tlonships in plants where men earn
by seniority the right to work on
the day shift.
On other points in the unions
supplemental demands, the decision
rejected elimination of geographical
wage differentials, request that
learners" receive no less than the
commentator rate of pay and re-