Wages of Steel

In the plant of smallish Corrigan-McKinney Steel Co. in Cleveland one day last week, employes clustered around bulletin boards on which were posted notices of a 10% wage increase effective April 1. Such was the signal for a general upping of all steel wages. One by one other steel companies fell in line. Finally U. S. Steel made it official for the industry by announcing a raise of "approximately 10%" for some 140,000 of its employes. Noteworthy was the fact that for the first time U. S. Steel allowed an independent to initiate the new wages of steel.

A 10% wage increase affecting some 420,000 workers will add about $40,000,000 to steel's annual wage bill at current rates of operation. It will up production costs about $1.30 per ton. Ducking off the front page where their wage news had landed them, steelmasters promptly raised prices for the second quarter between $3 and $4 per ton.

Upping of steel wages was no altruistic gesture by steelmasters. The industry as a whole is still losing money. Smart for once, they had their eyes on two places--Washington and Detroit. In his NRA speech last month President Roosevelt had asked a 10% cut in hours and a 10% increase in wages by all industry. By its action last week Steel was shouldering forward to take its place beside Automobiles as a prize pupil in the President's class on recovery.

More important in the steelmasters' logic was the fact that the American Federation of Labor had marked their open-shop business as the next objective in its unionization drive under NRA. Confronted with a similar A. F. of L. drive, the automobile industry had materially strengthened its position with Washington by a voluntary pay increase. Perhaps the same timely strategy would work for Steel and postpone the inevitable day of a showdown with organized Labor.

Other companies like General Electric and Pillsbury Flour followed the lead of Steel last week in boosting pay levels. But the procession was not so long nor so effusive as that which preceded the battle of the codes last summer. When General Johnson sent a questionnaire to all code authorities last week, bluntly asking whether they intended to comply with the Roosevelt wage program and if not, why not, Washington interpreted it as a sign that a President's wish may soon become a President's order.

April 1 may be All-Fools' Day to the rest of the world but to U. S. coal miners it is Eight Hour Day. It has been a coal fields holiday ever since 1898 when the shorter day was finally won. This year because April 1 fell on Sunday, no coal miners worked Monday. But when the happy cutters, loaders, drillers, bonders, spraggers, snappers, trappers, trimmers, timbermen, bottom-cagers, slate-pickers and all the rest went back to the mines on Tuesday, it was to work not eight hours but seven. For last week United Mine Workers of America signed an agreement with most of the Appalachian operators providing for a seven-hour day, a five-day week and a basic wage scale of $5 per day. By administrative order General Johnson promptly made it effective for the whole bituminous industry, thus making Coal's work week the shortest for any major industry. It was estimated that, including the cut in hours, the wage increase amounted to about $100,000,000 annually.

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