TABLE 8.-Strikes Ending in the 6-Month Period, January to June 1941, by Industry

Slightly more than half of the 1,890 strikes ending in the first 6 months of the year were settled with the assistance of Government officials or boards, and more than three-fourths of the total workers involved in strikes during the period obtained settlements through such assistance. Employers and union officials negotiating directly settled approximately one-third of the strikes which included 18 percent of the total workers involved. More than 11 percent of the strikes were terminated without formal settlements, the employees in most of these cases returning to work on employers' terms or in some cases they lost their jobs entirely through replacement or the permanent closing of the employers' business. The strikes terminating without formal settlements included 4 percent of the total workers involved (see table 9).

About 43 percent of the strikes ending in the period, January to June 1941, were successful from the standpoint of the workers involved, 35 percent were settled on a compromise basis, and nearly 14 percent resulted in little or no gains for the workers. Fifty-three percent of the total workers involved were connected with the successful strikes, 39 percent were included in the strikes which were

compromised, and only a little more than 4 percent were in the unsuccessful strikes (see table 10).

TABLE 9.-Methods of Negotiating Settlements of Strikes Ending in the 6-Month Period, January to June 1941

TABLE 10.-Results of Strikes Ending in the 6-Month Period, January to June 1941

In table 11, results of the strikes ending in the first 6 months of the year are shown in relation to the major issues involved. The percentages indicate that about the same proportions (47 percent) of the wageand-hour strikes and the union-organization strikes were successful from the workers' standpoint, while 43 percent of the wage-and-hour strikes were compromised as compared with 34 percent of the unionorganization strikes, and only 10 percent of the wage-and-hour strikes were unsuccessful as compared with 18 percent of the union-organization strikes. In other words, although the proportion of successful strikes was about the same in the two groups, the tendency was toward compromises in the wage-and-hour strikes with a larger proportion of the union-organization strikes ending with little or no gains to workers.

Of the workers involved in wage-and-hour strikes about 57 percent were successful in gaining their demands, 40 percent obtained compromise settlements, and 3 percent gained little or nothing. In the union-organization strikes about 52 percent of the workers were successful, 41 percent obtained compromise settlements, and 6 percent were unsuccessful.

TABLE 11.-Results of Strikes Ending in the 6-Month Period, January to June 1941, in Relation to Major Issues Involved

THE United States Conciliation Service during August disposed of 626 situations, involving 477,045 workers. The services of this agency were requested by the employers, employees, and other interested parties (table 1). Of these situations, 181 were strikes and lock-outs involving 72,450 workers; 243 were threatened strikes and controversies involving 201,582 workers. Thirteen disputes were certified during the month to the National Defense Mediation Board, and jurisdiction was assumed by other agencies in 13 others. The remaining 176 situations included investigations, arbitrations, requests for information, consultations, etc.

The facilities of the Service were used in 28 major industrial fields, such as building trades, and the manufacture of foods, iron and steel, textiles, etc. (table 2), and were utilized by employees and employers in 43 States, the District of Columbia, and Hawaii (table 3).

TABLE 1.—Situations Disposed of by U. S. Conciliation Service, August 1941, by Type of

TABLE 2.—Situations Disposed of by U. S. Conciliation Service, August 1941, by

TABLE 3.-Situations Disposed of by U. S. Conciliation Service, August 1941, by States

ACTIVITIES OF NATIONAL DEFENSE MEDIATION BOARD, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 1941

FOURTEEN cases were certified to the National Defense Mediation Board in August and 10 in September 1941, bringing the total to 81 since the Board was established. In addition, under the bituminouscoal certification of last April, the Board took jurisdiction over 2 new disputes in the industry during September; and in 2 other cases, which had been under investigation, hearings were resumed in September. The status of cases handled in this 2-month period, including those remaining unsettled at the end of July, is shown in the following table, with the 4 cases specially mentioned listed at the end.