Evening star., 1950-12-31
Wage Board Expected
To Extend Authority,
Double Membership
By jones Y. Newton

1ty OF the Wage Sterilization
Board as the panel approaches its
main task of setting a wage con-
trol policy for all industrial and
white collar employees in the
country.
AS an immediate step toward
meeting its increased work load,
WSB will be expanded from nine
to eighteen members. Instead of
the present representation of three
each from the public, labor and
industry, membership will be in
creased to six from each group.
Following that step and as the
board gets into the business of
clamping on compulsory wage and
salary control orders, the author
ity of the board will be extended
so that it will be able to handle
disputes resulting from the wage
control orders.
Mediation Service Shift.
This, it was said, will mean in
all probability that the Federal
Mediation and Cancellation Serv-
ice will be sought by WSB as its
dispute-handling branch. Such
a shift however, trespasses on the
Taft-Hartley labor relations law,
which created the Mediation .Serv-
ice as an independent agency. So
the move will have to wait con-
gressional action increasing Pres
ident Truman's emergency
powers.
The wage board has announced
that it has invited nine top level
officials of labor and management
to conferences here next week.
The board will get their views
on just what should be incor-
porated in a general wage-con-
troll policy.
So far the only positive action
of the wage board was to clamp
a wage and salary freeze on the
automobile industry. The freeze,
accompanying the rollback of car
prices, lasts until March /.
Formula Expected by March.
But by March the board ex-
poets to have drafted a formula
for control of all wages and sal
aries in the country, including the
automotive field.
Some officials of both unions
and industry have contended that
wage control measures to be effec-
tive must be accompanied by
formal no-strike pledge given by
the top union leaders. That ap-
proach was used in World War II
Shortly after Pearl Harbor, indus
trial and union officials worked
out rules for governing their re-
1ationships during the war. Those
rules included pledge from the
unions that they would not strike
This time Federal stabiIiZation
officials are shying away from the
formal no-strike pledge idea.
Controls Held Better.
They now believe that controls
would work more to the satisfac-
ton of all sides if there was cb-
tanned an informal understand
ing from labor and industry that
all would abide by control rulings
Of the wage BOARD.
This would be accompanied by
an understanding with the labor
leaders that the recommendations
of the board for settlement of dis
putes also would be final and
binding.
One big problem for wage
stabilization officials is, what to
do with the left-wir1g unions.
These unions. although they have
been booted out of the CIO and.
generally ostracized, still repre-
sent hundreds Of thousands of
workers.
Some of the unions have rather
strong footholds in vital national
defense industries. particularly in
the electronics and maritime fields.
Cyrus S. Ching, WSB chairman,
did not invite any left-Wing union
representative to the wage policy
conferences. Those unions include
many known Communists on their
membership rolls, and some Off
cials contend that the problem is
one for the FBI, rather than
'WSB, to handle.
= Two important additions to the
staff of the wage board will be
announced shortly, it was learned.
These are appointment of Arcn-
tbald Cox, Harvard Law School
professor, as general counsel and
OF Lewis Gill, probably, as board
secretary Mr.. Gill now is prac-
ticing law in Philadelphia. Both
he and Mr.. Cox are we'll known
here, Mr.. Gill having served with
the old National War Labor
Board.