Unions Slaying Close lo Pay Iiniits Asked by President, Survey Finds
The Government made public yesterday a survey of 19G2 wage increases showing that labor unions are keeping fairly close to the limits prescribed by President Kennedy to help keep down inflation.</br></br>The survey reported that major collective bargaining agreements concluded up to Oct. 1 and covering about 3.1 million workers provided pay increases that averaged about</br></br>This included large groups of workers, such as in the steel and aluminum industries, for whom new labor contracts were negotiated lacking any increase in wages but including substantial gains in other benefits such as pensions, vacations and so on.</br></br>When only those settlements providing wage increases are considered, the average pay raise was 3.4 per cent of estimated straight-time average hourly earnings.</br></br>The data strongly indicated that wage settlements, on the whole, have been staying right within or just a bit above the level contemplated in the guideposts set forth by the Kennedy Administration early this year.