Detroit evening times., 1945-12-06
BEHIND y
The NEWS
By Pau
Major

ence broke down completely.
a few hours before the final
inSlpld report was made 10
President Truman the White
House had been informed there
was a good chance of agree
ment in favor of fact finding.
The confcrees were then seeking
a report favoring the establish
ment Of Just what Mr. Truman
later recommended TO Congress
the establishment OF an in
veStigating committee to deter
mine the facts in big national
wage strike disputes.
But labor baked at this. The
proposal for such a settlement
had come, in the beginning,
from the side Of management
and by the final hours the con-
fcreeS had reached what seemed
to White House observers as a
stage Of childish petulance. The
mere fact that management had
proposed the idea was enough
10 defeat il in the eyes OF labor.
IN SUBSTANCE, however, II
L represented the mildest pos
Sible escape for labor from the
predicament Of unpopular
strikes and the threat of real
labor reform legislation from
Congress. II was a fur-lined
way out for CIO and AFL, bat
they did not take it, and. in
deed, conducted some sham
show of resistance when Mr..
Truman offered the same propo-
Sition.
If you think this is silly the
inner dealings Of the conference
were actually much worse. At
one time Go President Phil
Murray offered a last-plan reSo-
luton. merely stating that the
conference was in favor of wage
increases Not even manage
ment could oppose such a propo-
Sltion, as an increase Of 10 per
cent already had been offered
far, far back. only to be de-
clined by labor then.
The Murray resolution did
not even mention 10 per cent,
but m erely said wage in
crease. SmItc me If you Will
so help me, AFL President Will
liam Green voted against the
resolution and caused its defeat.
When asked by Murray why
AFL was voting against the
wage increase resolution, Mr..
Green responded that the time
was wrong for such PROPOSE
ton.
THERE may have been some
Il reasonable substance 70 what
Mr.. Green Contcnded but the
residue point was nevertheless
clear, namely-not even AFL
and CIO could agree on any
thing.
AS far as management was
concerned, it could see arising
in Congress out Of public dis
taste for the strikes against
public convenience the various
legislative proposals to require
labor 10 assume a legal reSpon-
siblllty commensurate with its
new national political power. If
matters were drifting that way,
management naturally may also
have resisted agreement,
But the salient fact behind
the whole collapse was the
| knowledge on both sides that
this is the crisis. The White
House apparently is playing for
a wage settlement providing A
Is or 20 per cent increase,
Labor has demanded 30 per cent
which its leaders do not really
expect 10 get Management has
offered 10 per cent which labor
has refused. Therefore, 15 or
20 per cent is the logical me-
dunn.
Ny VERY definite informa-
vi tion suggests that this
arithmetical conn promis Q is
what is behind Mr.. Truman s
proposal for fact-findlng COM
mission. In short, he expects the
investigation to work toward
that conclusion, and is privately
working that way himself.
This, Of course, would settle
nothing but only alleviate the
Immediately pressing condition.
The unions could very well
strike next year for another l5,
so %. or 100 per cent and the
year following for that IS their
purpose The essence OF the
trouble is far beyond arithmetic.
What remains 10 he settled
and must be settled. is the
place Of the unions IN the ma
tional economy If they can
direct our economics by wage
demands and compromise settle
mcntS continuously over the
period Of coming years. they
viii control tho national econ
omy They viii fix prices as
we'll as wages and thus even
control profits
An arithmetical compromise
would leave their power 10 do
so full and unimpaircd A set
tlcmcnt by which they would be
made responsible for strikes and
their power would relcgatc
fhnr1 10 nnnnllfical nnlnniSn1