The Pittsburgh Press (September 13, 1944)
Background of news –
Wage decision coming up
By Blair Moody
Washington –
The proposal of War Mobilization Director James F. Byrnes that labor return to a 40-hour week in civilian plants after the defeat of Germany adds another difficult factor to the wage issues which confront President Roosevelt in the midst of the presidential campaign.
With the question of breaking the “Little Steel” formula and thus shifting the base of his whole stabilization program shortly coming up before the War Labor Board, Mr. Byrnes’ suggestion that hours must be reemployment in the reconversion period would on the basis of present hourly rates involves a 30 percent reduction in “take-home” pay for hundreds of thousands of workers.
One of the principal reasons no action has been taken so far to increase the “15 percent over 1941” maximum hourly raise allowed by the “Little Steel” formula, despite the fact that the cost of living has admittedly gone up at least 25 percent, officials say, is that the actual earnings of most workers, when overtime is included, have risen much more than living costs.
Let workers take the loss?
But if eight “overtime hours” are chopped off, many workers will go back to 40 hours’ pay instead of receiving the equivalent of 52. The issue, officials point out, then will be whether to let the workers absorb this loss, or to raise their hourly pay to compensate for it.
The matter of costs and prices of products sold to the public, which Mr. Byrnes says will in many cases have to be higher, and other inflationary factors, will be involved in this decision.
Informed officials predict that the entire wage issue will be given a thorough public airing before the War Labor Board before Nov. 7. When the tensely awaited panel report in the steel case formally gets to the WLB it will take its place beside previous panel reports “finding facts” on requests for more money for auto and packing house workers of the CIO and several cases from the AFL.
In all of these, the fact-finding bodies point out that no substantial blanket raises can be granted now without changing the whole wage stabilization policy.
Decision up to Roosevelt
The steel panel’s report will set up clearly the fact that a discrepancy of approximately 15 percent exists between wage and price movements, and the President is the only man who can settle it.
Before the WLB decides to recommend a change in the wage formula, if it does, it will call a public hearing, where all the big guns of both unions and industry certainly would be aligned in a memorable economic debate with sharp political overtones. Of course, the WLB could decide to quash the whole idea, and hold no hearing. But in that case, a parade of union officials to the White House would be likely.
If it holds a public hearing and decides the “Little Steel” rate is no longer fair to labor, the WLB then will make a recommendation to the President. This procedure will take some weeks, but whether the board’s action, if any, reaches the President’s desk before election in the end may depend on whether it is planned that way.