Labor: A Need for Jawboning

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President Johnson's 3.2% guidelines for wage and price increases are, in the light of some 1966 labor contracts negotiated with Administration approval, about as up-to-date as last year's newspaper. Nevertheless, the Administration intends to carry on what an aide calls "a jawbone campaign" urging wage restraint and a return to 3.2%. The reason is that wages are a key factor in the fight on inflation, and in 1967 no less than 32 major contracts will be up for renegotiation.

Of the 32, twelve are especially critical because they involve large groups of workers and some basic industries. The twelve:

Telephone Number of Workers 147,000 Month of Expiration Jan. & March

Apparel Number of Workers 151,000 Month of Expiration Jan., May, July

Local Transit Number of Workers 38,000 Month of Expiration Jan. & Dec.

Trucking (for hire) Number of Workers 350,000 Month of Expiration March

Pulp & Paper Number of Workers 33,000 Month of Expiration March & May

Rubber Number of Workers 70,000 Month of Expiration April

Breweries Number of Workers 17,000 Month of Expiration May

Meatpacking Number of Workers 40,000 Month of Expiration August

Other Food Number of Workers 75,000 Month of Expiration Various

Autos Number of Workers 600,000 Month of Expiration Sept.

Farm Equipment Number of Workers 75,000 Month of Expiration Sept. & Oct.

Electrical Machinery Number of Workers 30,000 Month of Expiration Various