Memorandum, Notes on Meeting of Dr. Steelman, Mr. Fairless and Mr. Murray

Meeting of Dr. Steelman, Mr. Fairless and Mr. Murray The meeting started about 3:15 and continued until 5. Mr. Murray and Mr. Fairless spoke very highly of each other. Fairless sai d he wished every worker in the steel companies belonged to Murray's union, and Murray expressed a warm, friendly feeling toward Mr. Fairless personally. Dr. Steelman told them the reason he asked them to come together was that he feared a misunderstanding if he acted as intermediary in getting an answer to the question which the company operators posed -- namely, does Mr. Murray consider the WSB recommendations as if they were a binding arbitrary award or is he willing to use them as a general bases for negotiations of a settlement? Steelman said the answer to that type of question is very likely to be misunderstood and, therefore, he wanted the two men to discuss that question directly with each other. Mr. Fairless made it clear that he was willing to talk in a general way with Mr. Murray but that he was not willing to be bound by what he said. He was not negotiating at all. Mr. Murray said he wasn't negotiating either, - just canvassing the possibility of getting down to negotiations. On that basis they talked about the whole problem. Each agreed he wouldn't report back everything said, but in order to clarify what each meant by the use of the Board's recommendations as a basis for settlement it was inevitable that they would discuss issues. They discussed the money terms of the contract, retroactivity, paid holidays, Sunday premium pay, differentials, and union shop. The difficulty presented to the companies by the step-up of wages in July of 1952 and January 1953 was pointed out clearly by Mr. Fairless.