Friday, Jul. 06, 1962

Forgotten Method

From Arthur Goldberg on down, government mediators have been so involved in recent labor-management bargaining that a lot of people have forgotten that settlement can come any other way. Last week the U.S. got a pleasant reminder--with less fuss and happier results. After more than a month of negotiations so quiet that they escaped public notice, the United Steelworkers of America and the nation's five major aluminum companies signed two-year contracts that provide no wage increases for 27,000 union workers but give them improved vacation, pension and supplemental unemployment benefits.

And nary a government mediator was in sight.

Like the new steel contract that went into effect last week for 450,000 steelworkers, the aluminum agreement was hailed as noninflationary. Though they complain that their profits are inadequate, the aluminum companies do not intend to raise prices "because of world conditions." Both management and labor were obviously pleased at settling their differences without the help of a third party.

Said Union President David McDonald: "The agreement was reached without government intervention or pressure from any outside source." As for the companies, Kaiser Aluminum spoke for them when it called the new contract "an outstanding example of collective bargaining working as it should work."

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