The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1945-03-08
NWLB Finding In Favor OF
Keeping Wage Formula
Assailed By AFL

Washington, D. C.-Sharply reject
ing the findings of the public men,
bers of the National War Labor
Board against any change in the
wage freeze, the AFL members of
the board called upon President
Roosevelt to prevent economic dis
aster" by promptly and realistically
modifying the Little Steel formula.
Since the President Incorporated
the Little Steel formula into an ex-
ecutive order and thus made it part
of the nations stabilization program,
the AFL group contended that it is
up to the President to make the final
decision on whether the formula
should now be changed.
Arguments of the public members
against modification of the formula
were blasted to smithereens in the
AFL dissent.
The statement charged that the
public members, after years delay,
have resorted to the tricky expedient
of changing the measuring rod" of
wages in order to Justify their po-
sition.
From the beginning, the AFL
group pointed out, the NWLB has
limited it's sphere of regulation TO
"wage rates" and has not used gross
earnings or "take-home pay" as its
guide. In their latest report, how
ever, the public members seized upon
a new measuring rod, adjusted
straight-time hourly earnings" This
amounts to a statistical about t-face
since the "adjustments" that are in
cluded make the new measure kind
of "take-home pay figure"
Exposing the injustice of this
method, the AFL asserted that if 10
men in plant received 10 cents an
hour increase, an average process is
used to show that 20 men received a
cents hourly increase.
"In this manner" the AFL state
ment declared, "the public members
have concocted 36.7 per cent in
crease in adjusted straight time
hourly earnings for all wage earn
ers subject to the War Labor Boards
jurisdiction.
"The workers of America are dis
ilusioned by this change in wage
control technique. But they have not
been hypnotized into believing that
an increase for some workers is an
increase in the wages of all workers.
Only statisticians can be confused by
the magic of their averaging tech
nique."
Turning to the postwar signifi
canoe of frozen wage rates, the AFL
charged the public members of the
WLB with seeking greater govern
ment control over collective bargain
ing, which would be mot only objec-
tionable but an indication of dan
gerous trend of thinking"
Submission to government regula-
tion Of wages and interference with
the rights of American workers dur
ing war fought to defend freedom
has been necessary. But even sug
gestion that free collective bargain
ing shall be supplanted in large
measure by government regulation
during the underlined reconversion
period is timely warning that the
organized workers of America can
i'll afford TO overlook.
"The eventual outcome Of this kind
Of thinking is government dominated
and controlled unionism. We cannot
subscribe to this solution of the
problem, which will be inescapable if
the rigid control of wages represent
ed by the Little Steel formula is to
be continued"
The dissenting report was signed
by AFL Secretary-Treasurer George
Meany, Vice President Matthew Woll,
Robert J. Watt and James A. Brown
low.