The $3.70-an-Hour Raise

That old construction wage game--Can You Top This?--regularly features a new union winner, but the International Union of Operating Engineers may hold top spot longer than usual. It has just ended a 15-month strike in Western Pennsylvania by accepting wage and benefit increases totaling as much as $3.70 an hour over the next four years. Of that, $3.11 will be in straight pay. By 1973, the wages of men who operate bulldozers, scrapers and graders will rise more than 55%, to $8.72 an hour, or $348.80 for a 40-hour week. Contractors will meet the extra cost by charging higher prices to federal, state and local governments for building roads, locks and dams, which means, of course, that the taxpayer will foot the bill.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.