Evening star., 1949-06-05
Unions Put
More Stress
DIMENSIONS
May Replace Wages
as M ain Point
in Contracts
ey Clarke Beech


Pensions are becoming a hotter
issue In labor negotiations this
year than ever before. according
70 Government and private labor
relations experts.
| Some labor leaders are talking
a lot about new pay raises. but In
the opinion Of various experts the
pension demands are the ones they
viii really press.
! The recent drop In living costs.
although small, has weakened the
argument for higher pay among
those unions which obtained raises
In the past several years. Leaders
Of these unions are said to believe
that getting liberal pension plans
into their contracts will be easier
and will satisfy their members.
John L. Lewis dramatic pension
victory In 1948 put many other
union leaders on the spot. Each
qualifying coal miner now gets
500 a month when he retires at
the age Of go. paid entirely by the
coal operators.
War Spurred Drive
II Social Security were widely
extended and liberalized, as the
administration has recommended.
the drive for pensions would
slacken. say the labor experts. But
they see little prospect of the
present economy minded Congress
authorizing greatly increased PEN
sion payments.
Labor feels that its position is
strong for the pension fight: The
labor market is still tight, and
many corporations showed record
profits for 1948. although the trend
in profits Is now downward.
Herbert L. Jamison. an insurance
executive. told the American Man
agement Association In February
that many private industrial rela-
tions experts predict more pension
plans will be set up in l949 and
1850 than at any time.
An order by the Supreme Court
on April rs is viewed by labor as
turning point in its battle for
pensions. The court refused to
review q lower court decision up
holding q ruling of the National
Labor Relations Board In the In
land Steel Case. The board had
said that under the Taft-Hartley
Act the company Is compelled to
engage in collective bargaining on
q retirement pension program If
the union wishes It,.
The unions want existing pen
sion plans nberalized. They want
pension plans established where
there are none. They want pen
sion programs put into their union
contracts where they are now
operated Informally and without
contract.
The war put fire into the drive
for pensions.
Competition for labor was keen,
but employers could not give big
pay raises because Of wage stabil-
ization regulations. Corporations
were making high profits and felt
they could afford to take on addi-
tional expense. Besides. in figuring
income and excess profits taxes.
they could deduct pension costs as
an operating expense.
| Covered in Contracts
Union leaders. moreover. had to
show results. Workers were faced
with rising living costs and de-
manded some kind Of compensa-
ton. As prices rose social security
benefits became increasingly in
adequate. The average social Sc
curity pension payment is now $26
a month. and the maximum Is $85.
(The administration Ia now seeking
to raise the maximum to $500
Private pension plans were the
obvious answer. Statistics Of the
Internal Revenue Bureau on pen
sion plans which 1t approved for
tax deduction purposes show the
result.
BY August. 1s4s, the bureau had
approved 9,370 plans covering
3,657,2 employees. OF this total
7.423 plans had become effective
between 1912 and 1946.
The bureau doesn't have any
later figures. But the Bureau Of
Labor Statistics estimates that
the number Of union workers
whose collective bargaining con-
tracts give them benefit plans OF
all kinds. including pensions. are
included in the contracts Of about
S. per cent Of these workers.
The idea Of pensions has been
developing for more than 100 years
in every industrial country. ac-
cording to Murray w. Latimer.
former chairman Of the United
States Railroad Retirement Board.
now a writer and consultant on
the subject.
People Live Longer
England has been In the lead,
experimenting with various forms
Of private and government PEN
sions. BY 1928 1t had established
o public pension similar TO the
social security plan which we later
adopted.
Pension programs In the United
States developed slowly until the
last war. Why have they now
become such an important issue?
Here are some reasons:
1. People live longer than they
used to 90 there are more old peo-
pie. Their families want them to
have some means of self-support,
The old people themselves, want
ing security. have developed politi-
cal power. The strength Of the
Townsend movement was one
straw In the wind.
2. Old folks are finding Ii ever
more difncult to keep employed.
Production lines are becoming al
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