Evening star., 1945-11-20
Puttern of Economic
War Seen Unfolding
Public Interest Demands Action
by Government, Says Writer
By David La.crence

BY DaUfd laurence
The pattern of economic war Is un-
folding before the very eyes of the
labor-management conference. The
automobile manufacturers are girding
for a showdown. The big union of
auto workers is preparing to use the
strike weapon. ..
Nobody is going to be benefited by
the coming War-least of all the public
which needs new motor vehicle trans
portation for reasons of safety on the
roads and to supply the economic needs
of country which has been deprived
of new automobiles for three years.
But the auto manufacturers doubtless
feel this Is the time to have it out
with the unions not only because Of the
wage demands which the employers
deem excessive but to compel some
degree of responsibility by the unions
for the arbitrary acts and unauthorized
work stoppages of their members when
these are violation Of written contracts.
Fears Loss of Prestige.
The union leaders, on the other hand,
feel that their prestige and power
among their own members is at stake
and that dues-paying will not continue
in as big a flow as before if the leaders
fail to get for the workers the same
take-home pay that labor received dur
ing the long work days and overtime
period of the war era.
Here is a controversary which de-
pends more than anything else for its
proper settlement on the self-restraint
that both sides can be persuaded to
exercise and. on the capacity of gov
ernment either to bring about mediation
or some form of fact-finding so as to
convince both management and labor
of the limits beyond which neither can
afford to go and retain the respect of
public opinion.
One move made over the weekend by
government tends to simplify the issue.
Rightly or wrongly, the OPA has at
last fixed selling prices for automobiles
at somewhere around January, 1912
levels. This automatically prevents
wage increases from being passed on to
the public and means they either can
not be granted at all or else that such
wage increases as are granted must
come out of employer profits.
There is, of course, a bare possibility
that the Government might take a
hand and fix wages as it has prices. It
may be politically unwise for the ad-
ministration to take such a step but
it may, on the other hand, prove po-
litically unwise not to do so. For
whichever way the situation drifts, if
it is not settled and a long strike ensues,
President Truman will be blamed for
the failure to bring about settlement.
Still Has Legal Power.
Most persons may have overlooked or
forgotten the fact that the President
still has the legal power to fix wages.
Those wage stabilization regulations
which he revoked just after VI Day
can be put back again overnight by
executive order. Indeed, the order says
that wages cannot be raised if they in
volve a dispute as to prices to be
charged the public.
So If there is a strike, 1t will be
President Truman's responsibility un-
Wage-Price Law to take action. 1t
would be much better therefore, if the
President took charge of the situation
at once, appointed fact-hnding body
and after due inquiry told the public
and the employers and unions just what
the facts do show.
The unions may not like it If they
are, in effect, ordered to take an in
crease of basic pay which is less than
they now demand. The employers in
the auto industry may not like it if
they are, in effect, ordered to absorb
an increase in workers pay out of
profits. But when collective bargaining
breaks down in a vital industry or is
impracticable due to Government con-
troll of wages or prices or both, the
public interest demands action by the
Government itself to prevent serious
Interruptions in the flow of goods
through interstate commerce.
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