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Probably the most significant negotiations of the year will begin this month between the United Steelworkers, headed by I.W. Abel, and ten big steel companies. In an experiment that could change the future shape of collective bargaining, the union has agreed in advance not to strike. The companies, in return, will pay every worker a $150 bonus this year, grant an additional 3% pay increase for each year of the new contract and continue an unlimited cost-of-living escalator clause. Any issues left unresolved by April 15 will be submitted to compulsory arbitration by a panel of one union representative, one management man and three mutually agreed-upon outsiders.
Less Stockpiling. Abel wanted that novel arrangement because, when contract talks approached in the past, steelmakers and users typically amassed huge stockpiles as a hedge against a strike. When an agreement was won after anything less than a walkout, thousands of workers were laid off until the stockpiles were depleted. Steel executives were also eager to end that pattern of speedup and slowdown. Their furnaces were not being used efficiently, and customers were turning more and more to foreign steel to help build pre-strike stockpiles.
Leaders of other labor unions view the Steelworkers' agreement with a mixture of hope and caution. AFL-CIO President George Meany is opposed to an absolute no-strike promise, but would favor a temporary strike-free period after a contract expires. If major issues remain unresolved after, say, a year of further bargaining, then the union would be free to strike. "When you get a strike, you got a hell of a lot to lose," he says. "I think the Steelworkers' plan is really a breakthrough."
The outcome of the rest of this year's bargaining load still depends largely upon the fate of the Administration's economic controls. If formal wage guidelines are ended or greatly eased, some unions may try to press for much more than a catch-up raise. The year's labor peace will also be affected by the health of the economy. If, as expected, there is a pronounced downturn in the first half, union men could be less willing to back up hefty demands with a strike. Yet the recession of 1970 had little moderating effect on either wage settlements or strikes. And after a year of near-record inflation, it may take more than a dose of downturn to keep workers from trying to win back the money that has been slipping through their fingers.