The Week

If you wonder how Congress can conceivably spend so much money, here are a few samples of its handiwork in recent years. Study of Polish bisexual frogs $6,000. Chasing wild boars in Pakistan $35,000. A potato chip machine for Morocco $37,314. Payment to the Queen of England for not growing cotton on her Mississippi plantation $68,000. A carpet for House Speaker Carl Albert $31,650. A yacht for Marshal Tito $2 million. Study of Australian aborigines’ sweat $70,000. Carl Albert’s draperies $21,000. Study of the cultural, economic, and social impact of rural road construction in Poland $85,000. Analysis of violin varnish $5,000. Carl Albert’s chandeliers $44,000. Budget of the Interdepartmental Screw Thread Committee, a WW I emergency bureau $250,000. Carl Albert’s furniture $65,000. Traveler’s aid to migrants lost on the Los Angeles freeways $203,979. Study of Frisbees $375,000.

In theory, one might expect that union demands would stop short of driving employers out of business. In practice, however, unions have played a key role in the demise of railroads, coal mines, and manufacturers (e.g., Studebaker). Such apparently suicidal strategies have been nowhere more evident than among New York newspaper unions. A 114-day printers’ strike in 1962-63 helped bury four New York newspapers, and another strike two years ago closed a daily racing paper. This may not be entirely irrational. By reducing the number of competitors, unions may see a possibility of sharing in monopoly profits. And if the majority of union members has firm seniority protection, they might hold out for top dollar regardless of how many jobs are lost by new or part-time workers. It is no coincidence that the average age of New York printers is 55. Now, the New York Typographical Union is fighting the automation which its own actions have made inevitable. There is also some quarrel with fixed-dollar pay increases rather than percentage increases, since the latter offer proportionately more to those who are already well paid. Barred by injunctions from violating a no-strike pledge, the union is threatening a rerun of the “chapel meeting” (standing around on company time). Meanwhile, Washington Post reporters are striking for a $478 weekly minimum after two years, plus a full cost-of-living escalator, plus 16 cents a mile gasoline allowance, and various fringe benefits. Perhaps the Post will put in for a government subsidy?

Featured Tags

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

If you wonder how Congress can conceivably spend so much money, here are a few samples of its handiwork in recent years. Study of Polish bisexual frogs $6,000. Chasing wild boars in Pakistan $35,000. A potato chip machine for Morocco $37,314. Payment to the Queen of England for not growing cotton on her Mississippi plantation $68,000. A carpet for House Speaker Carl Albert $31,650. A yacht for Marshal Tito $2 million. Study of Australian aborigines’ sweat $70,000. Carl Albert’s draperies $21,000. Study of the cultural, economic, and social impact of rural road construction in Poland $85,000. Analysis of violin varnish $5,000. Carl Albert’s chandeliers $44,000. Budget of the Interdepartmental Screw Thread Committee, a WW I emergency bureau $250,000. Carl Albert’s furniture $65,000. Traveler’s aid to migrants lost on the Los Angeles freeways $203,979. Study of Frisbees $375,000.

In theory, one might expect that union demands would stop short of driving employers out of business. In practice, however, unions have played a key role in the demise of railroads, coal mines, and manufacturers (e.g., Studebaker). Such apparently suicidal strategies have been nowhere more evident than among New York newspaper unions. A 114-day printers’ strike in 1962-63 helped bury four New York newspapers, and another strike two years ago closed a daily racing paper. This may not be entirely irrational. By reducing the number of competitors, unions may see a possibility of sharing in monopoly profits. And if the majority of union members has firm seniority protection, they might hold out for top dollar regardless of how many jobs are lost by new or part-time workers. It is no coincidence that the average age of New York printers is 55. Now, the New York Typographical Union is fighting the automation which its own actions have made inevitable. There is also some quarrel with fixed-dollar pay increases rather than percentage increases, since the latter offer proportionately more to those who are already well paid. Barred by injunctions from violating a no-strike pledge, the union is threatening a rerun of the “chapel meeting” (standing around on company time). Meanwhile, Washington Post reporters are striking for a $478 weekly minimum after two years, plus a full cost-of-living escalator, plus 16 cents a mile gasoline allowance, and various fringe benefits. Perhaps the Post will put in for a government subsidy?