Evening star., 1946-12-04
7 Teuchers' Strike Gives
Lesson on Initiation
Fixed Income Farmers Hard Hit
by Union Labor Demands
By Dapid Laurence

by Union Labor Demands
BY Dapid Lsurtncs
The teachers strike in st. Paul, Mimi,
has served to emphasize 4 phase OF In
fiation which has been predicted but
which most communities have failed to
realize. For. in any infiationary period, it
is the person with the nxed income who
suffers the brunt OF the dislocation in
wages and prices.
The school teachers OF America as
class are underpaid and have been for
long time, but today their incomes
are even more seriously out Of balance
than ever before.
Yet the school teachers are the per-
sons who guide the minds and form. the
characters of millions Of American boys
and girls every day. II the school teach
ers think that the right to strike should
be asserted in their own behalf, they
are likely to teach that same doctrine
to others.
The businessmen of America who are
interested In keeping down ''leftist" In
nuences are the citizens with RESPONSE
biiity in the local communities. They
can, ii they assert themselves, influence
the municipal governments to get rid
Of their red tape and make the city
budgets conform to current living costs.
Civic Employees Hit.-
As matter OF fact. State and rnunici-
pal government employees generally have
not been able to keep pace with the
rise in the cost OF living. Historically.
the time that 1t takes to get city
council or Q State Legislature to en-
large budget works against the city
or State emplcye. The private employer
can be reached more quickly and more
effectively by direct negotiations. The
city and State governments are so COM
plex that the opportunity for buck
passing" is considerable.
Imitation Is here The white collar
worker and the city. county and State
employees are making the greatest sac
riflee because they are attempting, with
their relatively unchanged incomes, to
meet the higher prices imposed by the
organized labor unions
II the Truman administration had
followed the pattern of the British La
bor government In maintaining both
wage and price controls for the period
Of Ieconversion, there would have been
stabilization. AS it was, the Washington
administration released the wage con-
trolls and kept prices under control, Gre
ating finally q chaotic situation from
which the Nation is now struggling to
emerge.
But the damage has been done. Very
largely 1t has been inflicted by the self
ish groups which demanded, through
labor unions, fiat 80 per cent incress.
and then settled for about Is cents AZ
hour, which represented somewhere tes
tween Is and 10 per cent increase
President Truman encouraged such SEE.
Elements last winter and though he may
not have intended to give blanket ap-
proyal to such an increase. the effect
| Eas the same. What actually vas done
| was to make American industry, which
had undergone drastic decline in vol-
| ume Of orders. accept an even higher
wage rate than was paid during the
peak Of production In wartime.
Organized labor's reckless disregard
OF the needs Of the national economy
IS whole has brought on the present
infation. The unions have thought only
Of their own selflsh interests and were
not content to accept the moderate 10
or u per cent increases which manage
ment offered last spring and which
would have resulted eventually in more
real income because it would have kept
the imitation spiral from rising.
The school teachers were powerless to
prevent their fellow citizens from up
setting the economic balance. They
could not get instant action from city
council or State government. In many
communities the teachers are patiently
waiting for the governing institutions
Of city or State to bring them relief.
When q strike occurs In q service such
as teaching, it must be after all other
methods of obtaining prompt considera.
ton have failed. The endorsements
Of city charters and State constitutions
is partly responsible for the slowness in
acting on the needs OF government eIn-
ployes. The Federal Congress has been
far more considerate than have many
State and city governments.
Businessmen In every community who
are dealing with the figures on the cost
OF living and wage rates know that
teachers in many instances get less pay
than ditch digEers and less pay than
many persons who work in semiskilled
trades or industries. Teachers are peo-
pie. too. and must pay the same prices
to buy necessities as do the organized
workers.
fReproduetion Riehts RessryeaN