Montana labor news., 1946-01-24

small alike. and many OF the small
ones went out OF business during the
Val years or only Just broke even.
This means tina, II we consider only
those corporations and industries which
recorded a profit. the size OF their
earnings Will siaggcr us even more.
Take a look al these percentage IN
crcases IN 1919 earnings. compiled by
the OP.A. Compare with average pre-
war l95o-l95o) earnings in the same
Industries.
Motor vehicle parts ............ 500
Iron, steel and by products. . $50
Lumber and timber by -produ,is 1901
Electrical machinery ............ 4S4Gc
Communications equipment . =. SIG
Industrial electrical equipment. S99le
Other electrical products ..... ire
Non-clcctrical machinery ...... 5000
Engines and turbines ........ 245lct
Transportation equipment ..... osS'e
Aircraft and parts ........l 1886
Railroad equipment .,........ NS''
Food and kindred products l9o'o
Meat products -l'f
Annarel .lS0't
Textile mill products ........... ST.
Petroleum and coal products. 1870
Rubber products .............. o'S'o
Biiuminous and other SOFT coal las =
And here is how the special Senate
committee. investigating the national
defense program, summed mp the stu
alton:
The planning division OF the War
Production board has estimated that net
profits, alter rcncgotiaiion aud taxes,
oi the war industries lmctals, chemicals,
petroleum and rubber ior the ioiir war
wears Will be about 10 billion dollars.
Since the proportion oil civilian business
III these industries had been very small,
almost all these profits may be re-
gardcd as coming from government
business. Such profits are about twice
the prc-war average Of such indus
tries.
The Senate committee also lnNcsu-
gated the relative earnings OF the 100
t. :. corporations which had the largest
volume OF val business. They discoN-
cred that, after all ,oursl deductions
Tor wartime taNcS in le+2. three ON
panics made more than 10 times their
average pre-war net profit, ~ earned
more than three times prc-war proiits ,
- others between one and three times
normal profits. OF the remainder, l.
companies which had shown average
deficits during the prc-war base period,
earned in 1912 a net profit Of between
one and Is million dollars.
Many q Us have criticized organized
labor ior striking in wartime and be-
lic,e even now that labor demands ior
increased wages are unreasonable.
Unions have been accused ol being I'M
patriotic. But lets look at their side
OF the picture.
The cost OF living. as every house
wife knows, has gone up tremendously
during the war years. \ large part
OF the increased wages has gone simply
to pay for that initiation. The unions.
according to their own research bureaus
and the evidence Of government agcn-
cics, know that the corporations have
been making these fantastic profits.
4 study. called Five Years Of War
Profits, published by the Research Blu
rcau Of the United S%teclworkerS d
America (CIO), reveals further facts
on the earnings of big corporations
It may be assumed that the unions base
| their decisions to strike or not 10 strike
on these revelations. The study claim,
that 200 great steel corporations tarnct
more than two billion dollars IN opeI
and concealed profits during the war
From l94U 10 !o45 the industry ave
aged a profit cater taNcs) Of PAS mil
hen dollars per year. Total rcp"rtrt
profits in the s-r,l industry. a. r. ta>cs
ior cu.npai.',ve periods are:
l9T-W ...... q mIlior
l940-44 ...................l22o
Increase ......... ....... ll3 per cen
The United Auto Workers Cnio'
has released a study OF 20 aircrai
companies and their earnings dur
ing comparative years. The %percentag
increase in this industry is even NOR
staggering.
l93o-W ....................S 2O,554,A
! lq4l-4 .................... l73,s9S,42
Increase .74S per cen
Ii you have ever wondered how I
make ends meet after you've PAID you
7 ,4nuA a1nl lAnA. IN -cA1ra fnN dlllarS