The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, January 31, 1946, Image 9
Thursdoy, Jonuory 31, 1946,
THE CLINTON CHRONICLE
Poge Nina
NEW BATTERIES
Wc hove o good supply of heavy duty batteries.
Get yours while they last;
TIRE RECAPPING
NEW TIRES — USED TIRES
MOTOR REPAIRING "
NEW MOTORS — REPAIRS — ALL MAKES
FOR SALE-
1941 BUICK SPECIAL 4-DOOR SEDAN
New Tires. Low Mileage. Motor Perfeet
(Within OPA CrUInt)
FOR SALE-
1938 DODGE STATION WAGON
A Good Buy.'— Can Haul 10 Passengers
(Within OPA Celllnil
FOR SALE —USED OIL HEATER
In Good Condition — Very Reasonable
Timmerman Meitor Co.
Oldsmobile — Cadillac —• (4MC Trucks
Phone 119 y^ales and Service
■ Ipcal hospital
Lonnie B. Tinsley, local
and Interior decorator, woo
mark throush * Eastman Col
received 80, and Robert S
Mr. Tinsley has been employed at
the rorphanage' for the past 18
.... Surviving
bert Lyda and .Mrs. till
husband, Andy W. Lyda,
• 27 last year. Shy Is also
Southern Methodist ‘church to de-
"Southern Methodism on the March."
and ahould be helpful to those who
CRAMPS
UnNSIHSIOII
A Letter to the President
of the United States
January 18, 1946.
Hon. Harry S. Truman
.President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D. C.
Dear Mr. President:
Your proposal to me in Washington last eve
ning that the wage demand. of the United
Steelworkers of America-CIO b* settled on.the
basis of a wage increase of IS',4 cents an hour,
retroactive to January 1, 1946, cannot, I regret
to say, be accepted by the United States Steel
Corporation for the reasons set forth below.
As you must be aware, your proposal is al
most equivalent to granting in full the Union’s
revised demand of a wage increase of • IS 1 /*
cents an hour, which was advanced- by Philip
.Murray, the President of the Union, at our
collective bargaining conference with th< Union
in New York a week ago today. In our opinion,
there is no just basis from any point of view
for a wage increase to our steel workers of the
large size you have proposed, which, if put into
effect, is certain to result. in great financial
harm not only to this Corporation but also to
users of steel in general.
As I have tried to make dear to you'and
other Government officials during our confer
ences in Washington over the past few days,
there is a limit in the extent to which the
Union wage demands can be met by us. We
reached that limit when we raised our offer to
the Union last Friday from a wage increase of
12V4 cents an hour to one of 16 cents an hour.
This would constitute the highest single in
crease ever made by our steel-making .subsidi
aries. Our offer of 16 cents was equivalent to
meeting 60%-of the Union’s original excessive
demand of a 62 a day general wage increase.
Our offer met 76% of the Union's- final pro
posal Of a wage increase of 19V4 cents an
hour. A wage increase of 16 cents an hour,
such as we offered, would increase the direct
labor costs of our manufacturing subsidiaries
by approximately 660,000,000 a year. That is
a most substantial sum, and does not take into
account the higher costs we shall have to pay
for purchased goods and services, when large
. wagb* increases generally become effective
throughout American industry, as is inevitable
after a substantial increase in steel wages..
As you know, collective bargaining negoti
ations with the Union broke down at the White
House yesterday afternoon, because Mr. Mur
ray then refused to budge from his position
that a counlry-wide steel strike must take
- place, unless steel workers are granted a gen
eral wage increase of 19V4''cents an hour. Our
offer of a wage increase of 15 cents an hour
was again rejected by the Union.
The Union threatened to go ahead with its
program for a national steel strike at midnight
0 next Sunday, although such a strike will be a
clear violation of the no-strike provision con
tained in our labor contracts with the Union,
which continue by their terms until October
16, 1946.
From the outset, we have recognized how
injurious a steel strike will be to reconversion
and tq the economy of this whole country.
Most industries are dependent upon a supply
of steel for their continued operations. We
have done everything reasonably within our
power to avert such a strike. If a strike oc
curs, the responsibility rests with the Union.
When the Government at the eleventh hour
informed us dbout a week ago of its willing
ness to sanction an increase in steel ceiling'
prices, we at once resumed collective bargain
ing negotiations with the Union. Such price
action by the Government was a recognition
by it of the right of the steel industry s to ’ft* -
ceive price relief because of past, heavy in
creases in costs, jomething.which the steel in
dustry for many months has unsuccessfully
sought to establish with OPA. ' . ’•
I'should like again to point out some perti
nent facts relative to - the wages of'our steel
workers...
Since January, 1941, the average straight-
time hourly pay, without overtime, of our steel
workers has increased more than the 88% in
crease in the cost of living during that period,
recently computed by Government authorities.
Steel workers' wages have kept pace with in
creased living costs. Such average' straight-
time pay in our steel-producing subsidiaries
was 8L14 ah hour in each of -the months of
September, October and- November 1945, ex
cluding any overtime premium and any amount
for correction of,possible wage-inequities. An
.increase of 16 cents, in accordance with our
offer, would raise such average straight-time
pay to 61.29 an hour, placing such pay among
the highest today in all of American industry.
Under oirr offer of a 15 cent increase, the
average weekly take-home pay of our steel
workers for a forty-hour "week would amount
to’ 661.60, assuming that no overtime is in
volved. This figure is only 64.'54 less than ther.
actual average weekly earnings of these, em
ployees, including overtime, in the last full
war year of 1944, when the average work week
was 46.1 hours. The difference is really less,
because we will undoubtedly continue to have
overtime in the future, just as we have at the
present time. In November, 1946, overtime
premiums to our steel workers aggregated
more than 61,300,000. Such reduction of 64.54
in weekly take-home pay- is the natural conse
quence of a shorter work week of forty hours,
and therefore one of lower production.
Much as we desire to avoid a steel strike, we
cannot overlook the effect both on this Cor
poration and on our customers and American
business in general, of the 18V4 cent an hour
wage increase, which you have proposed. Such
a wage increase must result in .higher prices
for steel than have previously been proposed
would be obliged to pay higher prices for their
steel, higher wages to their employees, and
still have the prices for their own products sub
ject to OPA control. Such a high and unjusti
fied wage scale might well spell financial disas
ter for many of the smaller steel companies
; and for a large number of steel fabricators and
^processors. The nation needs the output of
these companies. Increased wages and increas
ed prices which force companies out of busi
ness can only result in irreparable damage to
the American people.
In our judgment, it js distinctly in the public
interest to take into account the iiijurious ef
fect upon American industry- of an unjustified
After a full and careful consideration of
your.proposal, we have reached the conclusion
Respectfully yours,
Benjamin F. Fairless
United States Steel Corporation