End of the Strike

After eleven long weeks the break finally came. All last week, while the country waited, both sides in the steel strike maneuvered. Then, at week's end, the Government made its move. It boosted its offer to 13-c- an hour. With holiday pay and other concessions, the actual raise was closer to 16-c- an hour, slightly more than the strikers' final demand.

Neither Prime Minister Mackenzie King nor Labor Minister Humphrey Mitchell, both of whom had failed in earlier negotiations, figured publicly in the final talks. The solution was advanced by Frederick Kilbourn, Government-appointed controller of the struck steel plants. In Montreal he conferred unexpectedly with C.I.O. strike leader Charles Millard. Then Millard hurried back to his colleagues in Toronto to report the new offer: a flat 13-c- raise (10-c- retroactive to April 1, the remaining 3-c- to be effective when the strike ended). Other union demands would be referred to a mediator for a decision, subject to National War Labor board approval.

The national strike committee quickly approved the terms, recommended that striking locals do so too. If they did, said a strike official hopefully, the men would go back to work just as fast as the mills could be restarted. Mill owners had still to accept the terms. But the Government's offer was made in such a way that they would be hard put to it to turn it down. If they accepted, the strikers had won a notable victory.

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