Evening star., 1946-01-19
Breakdown in Steel

TiCSlucit 1IuIIldU Is uIlQueSClOQ-
ably right when he says that the
repercussions of a steel strike will
be felt all over the country and for
a long time to come. There is
equally little doubt that that is why
he drew upon the prestige of his
Office in an earnest, if not too we'll
considered, effort to avert the shut
down.
The United States Steel Corpora
tion had offered it's workers an
increase of Is cents an hour. Philip
Murray, president of the CIO, in
sisted on 1912 cents. When nego-
tiations collapsed at that point the
President stepped into the picture
with a recommendation of 1872
cents. This has been rejected by
Benjamin F. Fairless, president of
the steel corporation, and Mr..
Murray has given the signal for
an industry-wide strike beginning
Monday.
1t is difficult, in the light of the
conflicting statements from the
parties to the dispute, to determine
where the equities lie. Mr.. FairleSs
regards the 15-cent offer as a gen.
erous one. He says that it would
represent the largest increase in the
history of the industry, that it would
boost the pay of the workers we'll
above the rise in living costs, and
that strike, if staged, would be in
"clear violation" of the contract.
which does not expire until october
Is. Mr.. Murray challenges virtually
all of these statements, and accuses
the, corporation of an "evil con-
spiracy' against the CIO and the
country.
The attitudes reflected by these
statements are cause for concern,
for they point to costly and bitter
strike. But. from the long-range
point of view there may be more
reason to be concerned about the
Governments role in this contro-
versy.
Unfortunately, the record is OBJ
scure. 1t is evident that a price
increase of some sort was offered
the steel corporation, but it is not
clear whether the increase was to
Offset past advances in costs or
whether it was intended to protect
the industry against the higher costs
which would result from a new wage
increase. Apparently, however, the
latter was not the case, for Mr..
Fairless said that a wage increase
such as that proposed by the Pres
ident must result in higher prices
for steel than have previously been
proposed to us by the Government"
There is also doubt as to how the
President arrived at his 181a-cent
figure. His statement says that he
studied the facts and figures very
carefully" But the fact-fnding
board which he appointed some days
ago has not taken jurisdiction of
the case, and Mr.. Truman conceded
that the board had not had oppor-
tunity to "go into the merits of the
case very fully" If that is so, upon
what basis did he pass Judgment
on the merits?
Essentially, however, these are
matters of detail. A more significant
question is whether, with hostilities
ended, the President of the United
States can Or should undertake per-
sonally to settle labor disputes. Even
as an expedient, this is of doubtful
value. And certainly, as a long
range proposition, it would be sheer
folly to make the office of the Pres
ident serve as substitute for col
lective bargaining, or even for COM
pulsory arbitration. The inevitable
result would be to impair the dignity
and prestige of the Office without in
anywise solving the problem which
arises when workers and manage
ment in an industry affected with
public interest cannot or will not
resolve their differences. This is a
problem for the Congress, and it
may be hoped, if we are to have a
steel strike and a meat packers
strike and an automobile strike and
an electrical workers strike. all at
public expense, that one result will
be to compel Congress to deal ade-
quately with a problem which it has
been unwilling to tackle in the past.