Evening star., 1946-01-11

oAiClC NC CA1OA AL til1S JuuSIllCilCy II
is probably on the conservative
side"
Living Cost Rise Cited.
Turning to the factor of increased
cost of living, the board said:
"As indicated by the company's
offer of IL cents as cost-of- Living
adjustment, the prewar real wage
of the General Motors workers, in
terms of Straight-time hourly pay,
has been seriously impaired by the
rise in the cost of living since jan
uary 1941.
During the war this impairment
was not a serious matter, because
the weekly take-home pay rose more
than the cost of living as a result
of the longer work week and other
factors. With the reduction of take
home pay incident to peacetime pro-
duction, it becomes important to cor
rect this inequity."
The board next considered the
extent of the company's offer, and
current wage movements, saying:
I'm making its final offer of 1872
cents, the company stressed the fact
that this adjustment, if made, would
be the largest general wage increase
ever granted to General Motors
workers. This is a true statement.
"It should be pointed out, on the
other hand, that in 1941 and 1912
the company made two general in
creases aggregating IA cents; that,
unlike most other workers, the Gen.
eral Motors employees have had no
general wage increase since 1912
and that the country is now in the
midst of readjusting wages on a
broad scale following the greatest
war in history, in the course of which
wages for the first time in our ex-
perience were subjected to Govern
ment control and were not per-
mitted, as in the last war, to rise
freely with the cost of living.
"The demands for substantial
wage increases, which were pent
up during the three years of sta
bilization, are now making them
selves felt at time when the sharp
curtailment of weekly earnings are
being contrasted in the minds of
workers with the high prospects for
capacity production and profits dur
ing the next few years.
Comparison Held Invalid.
at is not possible, in short, to
compare the situation which exists
today with the prewar situation.
Many of the wage demands are ex-
cessive and cannot possibly be met,
and there is great need of self
restraint and moderation in their
presentation; but they cannot real
istically be measured only in terms
of the old yardsticks, If we expect
to solve the difficulties now con-
fronting us and to move forward
speedily to full production and to
the economy of abundance which all
are hoping for.
I'm weighing the General Motors
offer of 1874 cents approximately
IL per cent?, we think it pertinent
to consider how other companies
and Industries have been meeting
the present-day problem of wage
adjustment.
Information from the Bureau OF
Labor Statistics indicates a steady
flow of substantial wage increases
in varying amounts, company by
company and industry by industry
These variations are, of course, to be
expected, and will continue. Some
OF the adjustments are only pro-
visional, with reopening provisions
contingent upon the settlement in
General Motors. These provisions
were entered into with the expec-
tation that higher adjustments
would result from that settlement.
The situation as reported to us
may be summarized by saying that
II General Motors were to make a
wage adjustment limited to 13k
cents it would fall definitely into the
lower group of employers who have
been granting wage increases, and
that If it were to make an adjust
ment Of Is cents or more it would
be in the category of the highest
paying employers and in the posi-
ton of leadership of American in
dustry which it has occupied in the
past. In earning capacity, and in
prospects for profitable and contin-
uous maximum production, it is out
standing among American corpora
tions."
Ability to Pay Question Touched.
The board then touched on the
controversial question of ability to
pay. It said that in referring to
the high earning capacity of the
company:
I'VE stress this fact not as a
ground in and of itself for establish
ing a wage increase, but as a sig
niflcant element which may proper
ly be taken into account in deter
mining the full weight to be at
tached to the factors of cost of liv-
ing, reduction of weekly hours and
down-grading and demotions."
In significant footnote the board
added:
"As the. board said in its state
ment of December %, 1945, there
is nothing new in this practice of
considering ability to pay as one,
but only one, of the factors in a
wage controversy, to be given as
much, or as little weight, in con-
JUNCTION with other factors, as the
nature of the case may warrant.
This practice has generally been
followed by arbitrators and wage
tribunals, and the practice has by
no means been limited to public util-
tiles.
"It is worthy of note that at the
opening of the General Motors wage
case before a panel of the National
War Labor Board on May 81, 1912,
the company, in opposing the unions
wage demand, introduced detailed
evidence and charts relating to re-
duced profits and dividends, not for
the purpose of pleading inability to
pay, but as factors to be taken into
account by the board in weighing
the equities"
"Fair and Consistent"
The board said, in proposing 1917
cents:
Taking into account all the cir
cumstances, the board has concluded
that a general wage increase of 1917