ABSTRACT
Conflicts over wage rates are the core of most industrial disputes, and the stated reason for most strikes. The basic problem is a conflict between the enterprise's view of wage as cost, and the employee's view of wage as income. From the point of view of the enterprise, "wage" is necessarily a part of the unit cost of production. The more important wages are in total costs, the more "labor intensive" an operation, the greater, of course, this need for a flexible wage rate. The elasticity of the total wage bill is a key factor in the enterprise's ability to survive a business setback. The insistence on a flexible wage burden must appear to the worker as a denial of his full citizenship and of his human dignity. The government is bound to set one national wage pattern for an entire industry–and such a pattern will be cut to fit the financial ability of the largest and strongest units.
