State of Business: Productivity & Profits

At the heart of the steel negotiations lies a dispute over productivity. Both sides pretty well agree that labor costs should go up only as productivity does. Steelworkers figure that they have been boosting productivity by somewhat more than 3% a year, while the steelmakers contend that the rise is 2% or less. Last week management's argument was publicly voiced by U.S. Steel Corp. President Leslie B. Worthington, 59, a coal miner's son who rose through sales to become second in command (to Chairman Roger Blough) of the world's biggest steelmaker. Said...