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The Right Price. Productivity is a notoriously slippery statistic. For one thing, it rises abnormally fast in recoveries when production picks up more rapidly than hiring. But Government estimates of the long-term annual rise in steel productivity fall between 2.1% (for blue-collar workers only) and 1.8% (including white-collar workers). On that basis, one top steelmaker figures that "we can eat a 2% to 2½% yearly increase in labor costs without raising prices."
Steelmen expect that a deal within that range will be closed, perhaps within a month. "It looks encouraging as hell," said one industry spokesman. Barring an unexpected bog-down in negotiations—or some unanticipated demand by the union—peace at a reasonable price seems the outlook.