"Pretty Damn Tough"

On wages under $5,000 War Labor Board Chairman William H. Davis last week tightened screws that already were tight.

"Pretty damn tough" was his term for a new WLB policy that: 1) practically bars more raises for workers who--under the Little Steel formula--got 15% increases to offset higher living costs; 2) entirely ends raises that might boost prices, hamper the war effort and lure workers from one job to another.

One slim out: raises may be allowed unions in order to correct gross inequalities and substandards of living (which WLB left undefined), and to "aid in the effective prosecution of the war."

For high-salaried men the Treasury eased its $25,000 limit on net 1942 salaries for which employer and employe signed bona fide contracts before Oct. 4. This was a swell break for Hollywood (see p. 92).

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