Strikes v. Wage-Cuts

At a convention of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen at Houston last week Secretary of Labor William Nuckles Doak pulled from his pocket an old, flat, Irish potato. This, he announced, was his "magic potato." It brought him good luck. Said he: "It is even good for neurasthenia."

Secretary of Labor Doak had good reason last week to be glad of a "magic potato." Throughout the land the following events were taking place:

In St. Louis when Public Service Co. announced a 10% wage-cut for its 3,500 streetcar employes, the motormen and conductors promptly voted to strike in protest. After two days of negotiations, city officials secured from the company and its men a tentative agreement to arbitrate.

At Mansfield, Ohio, Empire Steel Corp. ordered 15% wage-cut in its plant. Out walked 1,600 Empire workers in the first steel strike of the Depression. Three days later Empire officials rescinded their pay-cut order. The victorious strikers trooped back to work.

At Indianapolis building workmen ended a 15-day strike against a blanket 20% pay-cut and went back to their jobs when the contractors capitulated.

At Glen Falls, N. Y., a 10% wage-cut for shirt-cutters in the Yorke, McMullen Leavens and the Bronne factories precipitated a protest strike.

At Pittsburgh, Vesta Coal Co. (Jones & Laughlin steel subsidiary), announced a pay-cut from $6 to $5 per day, affecting 3,000 men.

In New York the U. S. Lines (Leviathan, George Washington, etc.) cut all salaries over $150 per month by 10%. Affected were 600 non-seagoing employes.

These and other reductions last week had spread to such an extent that William Green, conservative president of the

American Federation of Labor, began to talk publicly about strikes. Said he: "We feel we are being driven to the point where we must resist attempts to reduce wages, even though it may be necessary for workers to go on strike." At the White House conferences in the first days of the Depression, Mr. Green had pledged Labor not to strike for higher pay in return for Industry's promise to maintain existing wage scales. Now he suspected Industry of beginning to break its promise. He felt labor would thus be automatically released from its no-strike pledge. Cited was the fact that the 1921 Depression produced 2,400 strikes whereas this one has witnessed less than 40, most of them small and local--so far. At Indianapolis the national executive committee of the American Legion voted to petition President Hoover to call a nonpolitical national conference to do something about Unemployment and Depression. Legion reports to headquarters showed 6,000,000 jobless of whom 750,000 were former service men. At the White House the Hoover secretariat announced: "Mr. Hoover is as interested in maintaining the American wage scale as any man alive." Returned to Washington, Secretary Doak took credit for settling six threatened strikes during the week, announced that any wage reductions by Industry would be considered by the Administration a violation of confidence, would justify Labor's demand for pay increases.

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