August Crop

Like corn, the strike crop grew in August. Man-days lost on Army contracts alone totaled 421,000, up nearly one-third over July's figure of 286,000.

Bewildered by last week's War Department figures were those observers who had thought labor troubles would vanish after Hitler invaded Russia. Their arguments then: Communists were at the root of the most disputes; with Russia fighting alongside the democracies, Communists would be anxious as anyone to speed rearmament.

The not-so-simple answer was that 1941's labor troubles sprouted out of the 1941 U.S. economy. Majority of demands were belly demands. Money poured out of Washington, manufacturers' profits-before-taxes soared, and labor wanted more of it than it got. Sensing disaster in a post-war depression, labor also fought for future security; another big strike cause was the feud between A.F. of L. and C.I.O., now farther from peace than ever.

On labor fronts last week:

>C.I.O. workers at the Pressed Steel Car Co., in Pittsburgh, picketed the gates, closed the plant because officials rejected their demand for a new election. Certified as bargaining agent 18 months ago was an unaffiliated union. C.I.O. claimed that it had since gained a majority, wanted a second chance, after ten days went back to work at the request of the National Defense Mediation Board.

>Out on strike went 900 C.I.O. shipyard workers at the Lorain yards of the American Shipbuilding Co., protesting the com pany's recent recognition of the A.F. of L. as bargaining agent.

> In Alabama 25,000 coal miners struck for a wage boost of 40-c- a day. The district is outside the Appalachian area covered by the recently signed contract which gave miners $7 a day. Alabama miners get $5.50.

> Over a million railroad workers voted to strike when the roads rejected their demands for two wage increases of 30% and up. The strike date was set for this week. No immediate walkout was threatened, however. Under the Railway Labor Act, employes will keep working for 60 more days while a Presidential commission investigates and recommends a settlement.

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