American industry has been blessed lately with a rare interlude of labor peace. The average wage-and-benefit increase granted by big employers last year was 7.6%, compared with the Nixon Administration's 6.2% guideline, and latest figures on the number of days lost to strikes are the lowest since 1964. Now, however, union leaders and company negotiators are bracing for a rough year of bargaining. Last week Labor Secretary Peter Brennan, a former construction-union chieftain, gave a hint of the future. "Workers are entitled to a fair share of the spoils," he said. "Workers will be looking for their pound of flesh —and I'm not saying they are wrong."
Contracts covering some 5,250,000 workers, about a half-million more than last year, come up for renegotiation this year in major industries: steel, aluminum, coal, aerospace, communications and railroads. Workers will be trying to catch up with the speediest inflation since the end of World War II. Consumer prices increased by more than 8% during 1973, and toward the end of the year they were roaring at an annual pace of nearly 10%.
Lost Ground. As a result, many workers are worse off in real terms. Some will have to press for wage increases simply to restore ground lost last year to rising prices; all would need a raise of 7% or so to insulate them against this year's expected inflation. "It's going to be a busy year because we have a lot of catching up to do," says Jerry Wurf, president of the half-million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "The American worker has waited patiently while the Nixon Administration has whittled and diddled with the economy. We're through waiting."
Union men were caught flat-footed by the magnitude of last year's inflation.After a relatively moderate 3.3% rise in consumer prices during 1972, they felt it safe to play along with the Administration's wage-and-benefit guidelines.Unions did not want to take the rap if the Administration's policies failed, and any large wage packages ran the risk of being cut down by the Cost of Living Council. Instead, labor concentrated on noneconomic issues—limiting compulsory overtime and improving plant conditions—and lobbied in Congress for pension reform and federally sponsored health insurance. For many unions, those noneconomic issues will probably become a lower priority this year.
In many industries, workers are looking for contract provisions that will protect them against energy-related layoffs. The Teamsters will likely push for a reopening of its not-yet-expired contracts with trucking companies, now that the 55-m.p.h. nationwide speed limit threatens to reduce truck drivers' incomes. The Air Line Pilots Association has threatened work slowdowns if more members are laid off due to the jet fuel shortage.