Word: steele
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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Question of Precedent. Although it was obviously true that pensions would cost the steelmen money, the fact finders had agreed among themselves that steel's profits were large enough to absorb the full cost of the pension and welfare plans. Nevertheless, Steelman Fairless was on firm ground when he insisted that this was a matter to be thrashed out at the bargaining table. That was a part of the original agreement...
...saying that a pension and welfare plan financed entirely by management would set a precedent, Ben Fairless was not on firm ground. Murray's union already had a number of noncontributory contracts among some 400 pension and insurance agreements with the steel industry and metal fabricators. Bethlehem Steel and Jones & Laughlin had been paying the full cost of pension plans for more than 20 years. Fairless' U.S. Steel itself had been an important party to the royalty-pension contract which operators of soft-coal mines had signed with John Lewis (see below). A steel spokesman said: "The Government...
...Meaning of Words. All sober questions were temporarily lost, however, in the acrimony of Murray's and Fairless' continuing debate. All week they thundered at each other over Western Union's wires. Murray telegraphed Fairless that the operators' attitude was "the public be damned," that steel was trying "to force a strike on the nation." Fairless wired Murray that he was being "dictatorial." Murray fired back that he would like to see Fairless (who was himself in line for a noncontributory pension of $50,000 a year) justify before the public his "attitude of horror towards...
This week the disputants traveled to Washington. There, at the head of a delegation of 71 officials of the nation's steel companies, Fairless met a very weary-looking Phil Murray. They posed together for photographers. Said Ching: "Let us all say 'cheese' when we have our picture taken so we will look pretty." Then they got down to business in the Labor building...
...eleven aides emerged. This time Murray made his meaning quite clear. To reporters he said: "If by late Saturday night the companies have not agreed to 4? for insurance and 6? for pensions on a noncontributory basis, the mills will go down. I can say that flatly." Steel operators had no comment. Ching, still hopeful, looked forward to another meeting the next...