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Show before his United Steel Workers for wage boosts over and above the Union to stir up united sentiment "Little Steel" base which he had denounced. Extension of the 48-hour week to most steel-producing areas which have the 40-hour week, it is believed in some quarters, will have a tendency to stem any great cry from workers for basic adjustment adjust-ment of the WLB policy because, to the steelmen as well as the meat packers, 48 hours with 8 hours at time-and-a-half means a 30 per cent increase in pay. (SpTUllUtCjtcrft by JameS Preston While many observers on Capitol Capi-tol Hill have concluded that the 48-hour work week was intended to uphold the WLB's "Little Steel" formula, they believe it may be more harmful to the national economy than some of the proposals propos-als that have been advanced for a controlled broadening of the 15 per cent wage increase. In their study of the general agitation for wage increases on the part of the labor union leaders, lead-ers, Congressmen recall the statements state-ments of Mr. Byrnes in his address to the nation: "The industrial worker and his family today enjoy the highest purchasing power that has ever existed in this or any other country. If we preserve and protect this purchasing power, it will constitute the basis of an unparalleled un-paralleled prosperity for American workers in the post-war period. There must be no further increases in wages beyond the 'Little Steel' formula except in limited and special spe-cial cases to correct patently gross inequities and to rectify plainly substandard wages." The OES Director Di-rector was the first Administration Administra-tion spokesman to concede freely that today "the income of the family fam-ily is far in excess of any increase in the cost of living to the family." I The net result of the President's order transmitted to the nation through Economic Stabilization Director Byrnes will probably be the temporary relief of a serious manpower shortage because of longer working hours, but a very definite help to inflation because of increased pay checks. Businessmen are asking their Congressmen how they can pay 30 per cent more wages (time-and-a-half for the extra 8 hours) for 20 per cent (6 days a week instead of 5) when they are "already squeezed to death by their price ceilings." Employees are asking their representatives repre-sentatives if they will be fired "because "be-cause the boss says he can't afford to pay me time-and-a-half for overtime" ? John L. Lewis has made it clear that he is out not only to break down the "Little Steel" yardstick but the War Labor Board as well. Before the President's order was issued, Congressional sources reported re-ported that CIO President Murray was making arrangements to go Legislation to give the Appropriations Appro-priations Committee a corps of financial fi-nancial experts to keep a close watch on budget requests and spending has been approved by the House. The "financial G-Men" will have broad authority to investigate inves-tigate all phases of government expenditures and check budget requests re-quests in advance of their submission submis-sion to the Committee. Where are the experts who will tell us, after the war, how we could have won the war in three months ? |