Word: wage
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Barging into Charleston, W.Va. for his first big speech on behalf of Adlai Stevenson, the coal miners' John L. Lewis faced an unexpected and thoroughly embarrassing predicament. From Washington had just come news that the Wage Stabilization Board had cut the $1.90 daily-wage increase agreed upon by the mine operators and the United Mine Workers' soft coal diggers. WSB's ruling...
...Harvard Law School professor. Explaining his. board's action, Cox said: "The real issue before us, in this case, is whether we shall now abandon the fight against inflation . . . Our decision is against such a step . . ." The coal miners, he added, could not justly claim larger wage increases than those granted to steel, rubber, auto and other workers...
...Board approved only $1.50 of the $1.90 daily wage increase agreed upon by the Union and the mine operators. This $1.50 is not an arbitrary figure, nor is it a compromise; it is the maximum increase that a group empowered to set maximum wages think safe for the country's economy...
...figure breaks down into two sums. The first, $1.05, automatically compensates for the rising cost of living, without need of the Board's approval. The second, $.45 cents, is the maximum salary increase the Board considers just in relation to the wage indexes of other heavy industries...
...Board, having set the maximum wage on the basis of carefully established calculations, gives the miners more than they deserve, it sets a dangerous inflationary precedent. Should the coal miners receive more than they are entitled to, the way is clear for excessive demands by other workers. The UMW's strike can only succeed if it forces the Board to scrap the principle of stabilization on a rational basis...