Tough Foremen

On the U.S. industrial front, factory foremen are the top sergeants, the voice of management in the shop. Many U.S. industrialists were concerned when a foreman's union took shape (TIME, March 29). They breathed easier when NLRB ruled last May that the Wagner Act does not apply to foremen. But last week the up-&-coming Foreman's Association of America proved that the foreman problem is far from settled.

In the Willow Run bomber plant, the company docked the pay of a foreman for spending company time on union business. The foremen promptly struck. The Association estimated that 1,800, or 90%, went out; the Ford company estimate, 1,130. Although the 40,000 other workers stayed on the job, production nosedived, was cut in half in the manufacturing department. After one day, the strike ended when the company reportedly agreed not to dock the foreman.

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