Page images
PDF
EPUB

Mr. SNYDER. But there was a large number of strikes where somebody took it into their heads to ask some fellows to walk out?

Dr. TAYLOR. Yes.

Mr. SNYDER. What percentage was that?

Dr. TAYLOR. The total number of those walk-outs increased to about 5,000 in 1944, as compared with 3,750 in 1943. So there has been an increase in those unauthorized walk-outs from 3,750 to 5,000 during the

Fear.

Mr. SNYDER. We have heard of those cases of fellows walking out without being asked to walk out. But there are others who did not. walk out. Why did they walk out?

Dr. TAYLOR. There would be a whole host of answers to that. Sometimes it is claimed that the employer was provocative. In some case the employer refused to accept the War Labor Board's decision. There were cases where they claimed there was too much delay. Each one is likely to be a very complicated case. You have these folks who have developed a sense of grievance and they explode, even while the war is on. One of our big jobs is to see to it that they get back to work and that the grievance is dispelled. The Board has all sorts of approaches to that.

Mr. O'NEAL. Have you any table showing the disputed cases and how they were settled?

Mr. KHEEL. We have tables showing the number we received and The number disposed of. We have that on an over-all basis.

NUMBER OF DECISIONS BY N. W. L. B.

Mr. O'NEAL. Have you got any figures to show how many cases. were compromised? How would that run?

Mr. KHEEL. Some cases are settled by agreement. They are ertified as disputes, but during the course of settling the dispute they reach an agreement and the case is closed.

Mr. O'NEAL. I mean those that the Board actually decided. Have you those figures?

Mr. KHEEL. Yes. There were decided last year 7,800 cases by ommissions, by regional war labor boards, or by the National Board, appeal.

Mr. O'NEAL. How many decisions have to be rendered by the National Board?

Dr. TAYLOR. We can give you those figures on the decisions of the National Board on disputes. From January 1944 through March 45 we disposed in Washington 621 dispute cases by action of the National Board. The national industry commissions disposed of, ng the same period, 1,351 dispute cases.

Mr. O'NEAL. I would like to have a statement put in the record out the attitude of the Board toward cases, which we discussed off Le record.

Dr. TAYLOR. I would like to submit that.

The statement referred to is as follows:)

72467-45

1

National War Labor Board vote in dispute and voluntary cases, June 15-Sept.

[blocks in formation]

1 Includes some cases in which 1 or more representatives of both industry and labor dissented in different issues in same case.

Source: Daily Minutes, National War Labor Board.

REASON FOR INCREASE IN NUMBER OF STRIKES FROM 1942 TO 1944

Mr. RABAUT. I notice from your testimony, Dr. Taylor, that you said the number of strikes have increased from 1942 to 1944. Do you account for that by the greater number of people employed or the conditions of hardship that develop through the increase in the cost of living? How do you account for that?

Dr. TAYLOR. I think that is accounted for in a lot of ways. One of the real reasons is that the wage stabilization program has been pretty rigorous. We have about 25,000,000 wage earners subject to our jurisdiction. About half of them have not received wage increases since 1942. But they have had more opportunity for overtime and consequently for a greater amount of work. I think a great deal of the difficulty in some of these areas is a sense of insecurity as they look ahead and say "We will have to do everything possible to get wage increases in preparation for the future." So that it is a little hard to gage, but I think what I have mentioned is among the very significant things causing strikes to occur.

DECREASE IN PERIOD OF STRIKES

Mr. RABAUT. I notice in reference to the strikes and the durations of strikes there has been a lesser period of strikes as the years have progressed. While there were more strikes in 1944 than in 1942, the actual period of strikes was longer in 1942 than in 1943, according to your testimony, but they have further decreased in 1944. I would like to have the reason for your deduction.

Dr. TAYLOR. The War Labor Board is very active in stepping in every time there is a strike which might interfere with the prosecution of the war.

We have developed good organizations in each of our regional boards to step in rapidly. In some of the areas we have techniques for the issuance of show-cause orders and hearings immediately if a strike is not terminated in the first day and the people will be called before the War Labor Board, and we use all of our persuasive efforts to get the strike terminated. I think we have developed those techniques very effectively.

Mr. RABAUT. Is it not the fact that war tension accentuates the reason as to why there are more men who go out on strikes, but they do not stay out very long?

Dr. TAYLOR. Yes, but they also have a deep sense of their responsibility, and we find when we talk with them that they are aware of their responsibilities as citizens, when that is brought very forcibly to them, and you explain what the consequences might be, and they respond very quickly.

Mr. RABAUT. I selected these two points in your testimony to talk about because I feel they are very significant. So, when we have more strikes but have less periods of strikes, that speaks at least to some extent of cooperation. You have a shorter period of a strike, and the strike period has been greatly reduced from 1942 to 1944. Dr. TAYLOR. Yes.

COMPLIANCE WITH THE DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL WAR LABOR BOARD

Mr. RABAUT. I would like to ask one other question. In your opinion, what is the reason why the press of the country publicizes small strikes, insofar as the headlines are concerned, even as it does over strikes of greater proportions? I think it is a little misleading to the general public to accentuate something not at all in proportion to something else that takes place. What is the reason for that?

Dr. TAYLOR. Those of us who sit and watch these labor disputes see them flow by at a very rapid rate, with 150 dispute cases alone a week, and we are very much impressed by the fact that 16,000 labor disputes have been settled by the War Labor Board since October 2, 1942. The Board has had compliance with its decisions in all but 30 of these cases.

In 30 cases we have had difficulties; but in 15,970 cases, even though the parties might not have agreed with the decision, and very frequently they do not, they nevertheless have said "We will accept the decision voluntarily as our responsibility.

[ocr errors]

I suppose it is not news that in 15,970 cases that have come to us the people have said: "We will go ahead with this solution, even though we do not like the decision of the Board."

Mr. RABAUT. It is not news to be good, but it is news to be naughty. Dr. TAYLOR. I think the good news in the picture gives you a great sense of respect for labor and industry in this country.

UNAUTHORIZED STRIKES

Mr. LUDLOW. We hear a great deal about unauthorized strikes. Speaking generally about unauthorized strikes and authorized strikes, what is the percentage of unauthorized strikes and the percentage of authorized strikes?

Dr. TAYLOR. When I said "authorized strikes" I said authorized by the national union. I do not know of any authorized strikes, with one or two possible exceptions.

Many strikes involve a relatively small number of men. They will say "We are going to walk out."It is at that point that we, as the War Labor Board, call in the national officers and say to them: "You have some recalcitrants and it is your responsibility to see that your men meet their responsibility, and see that they are back at the factory"; but perhaps some local union will have a meeting and they will say: "All right, but we will not go in tomorrow." In a sense that might be considered as being authorized by a local union.

Mr. LUDLOW. I think you said you knew of one strike that had been authorized by a national union.

Dr. TAYLOR. Yes.

Mr. LUDLOW. All the rest, insofar as authorization by a national union is concerned, would properly be unauthorized strikes? Dr. TAYLOR. Yes; they would be.

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES, WASHINGTON AND THE FIELD

Mr. TABER. Will you tell me how many employees you had on the 1st day of July 1944? I am going to ask you, as you give me that information, to break it down between Washington and the field.

Mr. KHEEL. This table shows approximately 2,387. We will put more precise figures into the record. We do not have them immediately available. We can supply them.

Mr. TABER. Do you have a month-by-month break-down of that picture?

Mr. KHEEL. We will be able to supply that.

Mr. TABER. How does it stand at the moment?

Mr. KHEEL. At the present time we have 2,523.

Mr. TABER. In other words, you have increased at least 200?

Mr. KHEEL. Yes, sir. Most of that is the result of the transfer of the C. A. S. functions to the Board.

Mr. TABER. What is that?

Mr. KHEEL. The Central Administrative Service.

Mr. TABER. You mean, bookkeeping, and that kind of work? Mr. KHEEL. Yes; and all other administrative services such as pay-roll preparation, audit, and so forth, for the national, as well as the 12 regional war labor boards. It was performed by the O. A. S. previously and was transferred to us about 6 months ago.

Mr. TABER. I would like to have you put into the record a table showing on the 1st day of each month the number of employees over all, between Washington and the field, down through the 1st of April 1945, beginning the 1st day of July 1944; and then I would like to have you put in another column the amount of your monthly over-all expenditures, month by month.

Mr. KHEEL. For personnel or for all items?
Mr. TABER. The whole picture.

(Information requested is as follows:)

Personal services summary including Alaska and Hawaii

[blocks in formation]

NOTE.-Monthly obligations from July 1, 1944, to Apr. 1, 1945 will be found elsehwere.

TRAVEL

Mr. TABER. Is there a tremendously big item for travel? How much is involved in this esitmate for travel, all together?

Mr. KHEEL. The over-all travel cost is $800,000, a decrease of $200,000 from last year's appropriation. We have that broken down by departments, beginning on page 85 of our estimates.

Mr. TABER. This group in the Wage Stabilization Section does not have to do any traveling to speak of, does it?

Mr. KHEEL. The travel items for Wage Stabilization are $11,000 for the national office and $18,000 for the field offices. Most of the travel, so far as the national people are concerned, consisted of visits to the regional offices for the purpose of correlating their work with the national office. The travel by the people in the field is usually in connection with some specific case where more exact information is required and one of our people has to visit the plant. Their travel expenditures are proportionately very small.

On page 82 of the justifications there is an over-all summary. It summarizes the items that appear in the other one.

Mr. TABER. I do not know whether that table will appear in the record naturally or not, but I would like to have it go in.

Mr. CANNON. Without objection it will be included in the record at this point.

(The table referred to is as follows:)

[blocks in formation]

A break-down of travel estimates will be found in the details of 1946 Budget estimates.

« PreviousContinue »