Up Wages, Up Ceiling

In the cacophony of coal, steel and railroad shutdowns, the shrill cry of alarm from users of copper has gone unheard. Yet by last week the four-month strike of copper mine, smelter, and refinery workers threatened to shut down makers of refrigerators, washing machines, radios, telephones, vacuum cleaners, etc. Copper output was down to one-third of normal, while demand was at a peacetime peak.

Both big and little business have been crippled. General Electric's Charles E. Wilson announced that virtually all his company's operations using copper will be shut down next month if the strike continues. Small companies reported production off 25-40%. Many of these companies would be forced to shut down entirely in a week or two.

From Washington came one ray of hope. The Wage Stabilization Board gave copper producers approval to use a wage increase (not to exceed 18 1/2-c- an hour) as a basis for a boost in prices. Up till then the strike-bound mining companies (Kennecott, Phelps Dodge) had refused to meet demands for an 18 1/2-c- boost. The present 12-c--a-lb. copper ceiling price, they maintained, was too low to meet these demands. To take care of this, OPA is expected to announce a boost in the copper ceiling price to 14.32-c- this week--enough, it hopes, to absorb the wage boost and increased costs. Even after copper mining resumes, at least 90 days will elapse before copper reaches manufacturers.

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