Labor: The Worst Year

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The list of U.S. companies being struck last week read like a what's what of business. Such basic industries as steel, chemicals and copper were affected by work stoppages. So were farming and farm machinery, bricklaying, metalworking, bronze refining, shipbuilding, office-machine and computer production, and even toys and teaching. The Ford Motor Co. was shut down and its new-car production halted by a walkout of 161,000 employees. At one end of the television industry, 1,450 employees struck the Fort Wayne,

Ind., plant of Magnavox, Inc.; at the other end, ABC-TV continued to operate while striking technicians pounded pavemejits. In all, the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service was faced with calls to mediate 207 strikes affecting 261,000 workers in 32 states. Labor's continuing militancy (TIME, Sept. 22) is more than matched by hard-nosed managements, and the number of "major" strikes occurring as a result makes this the worst year for labor-management relations since 1953.

Stresses & Strains. Actually, of all labor problems referred to the mediation service so far in 1967, about 88% have been settled. "Despite stresses and strains," says Director William E. Simkin, a pipe-puffing, peace-seeking Quaker, "the bargaining process is working reasonably well." But the remaining 12% of the disputes present major headaches for industry and for the economy as a whole. If the Ford strike lasts until Thanksgiving, former CEA Chairman Walter Heller last week warned the Economic Club of Detroit, the resulting drop in the gross national product could reach $4 billion.

Management has hardened because of rising costs and declining profits, and is inclined to suffer strikes, especially those that help to clear away excess inventories. Union attitudes have stiffened both because the labor market is tight and because of increased militancy on the part of the rank and file. Most union members are in a better position this year to sit out a strike. A Detroit striker who is drawing benefits from the United Auto Workers and has some money in his bank account was inclined to welcome the chance to watch the World Series on television and to take to the woods for Michigan's fall hunting season.

The Suffering Consumer. The strikes damage the economy as a whole and the Viet Nam war effort in particular. Nineteen plants presently shuttered by strikes are considered war plants because they turn out supplies or equipment for Viet Nam; the Government last week appealed to the U.A.W. to allow some urgently needed Ford truck parts to be crated and shipped off to the war. The consumer is also likely to suffer, judging from settlements so far. When a strike of 54,000 rubber workers ended with a 5% pay increase, the five big rubber companies affected quickly passed on the cost to customers.