Talking Points of the President Before Union and Company Negotiators in the Copper Strike

I appreciate your prompt response to my invitation to come to Washington today to discuss the copper dispute.

I asked you here because of our deep concern over the continuation of the strike and the effect it is having on our domestic economy, on our international balance of payments, and on our defense mission in Southeast Asia.

IMPACT OF STRIKE

The strike is now in its 234th day. It involves all of our major copper producers, their shareholders and 60,000 workers in the copper industry. Ninety percent of the Nation's copper mining capacity and 80 percent of its refining capacity has been closed down.

At first--because of inventory buildup and the availability of imported copper--the impact of the Strike was limited to the parties. Now, this is no longer so.

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS

First, our balance of payments position is being seriously threatened. The strike is weakening our dollar.
--Our trade deficit in copper--because of the strike--reached about $50 million monthly in late 1967. In January it jumped to a huge $95 million.
--If this trend continues, the trade deficit from copper alone will run over $1 billion yearly. This is one-quarter of last year's entire, intolerable deficit.

DEFENSE DELIVERIES

The copper shortage is causing some civilian production to close down. Many of these plants also produce materials and supplies vital to our defense efforts.

When civilian production lines close, defense production lines in the same plant may also be forced to shut down.

If the present situation continues, we may feel a tight pinch. --It may cause delays and it may hinder our ability to gear up production to meet any increased threats abroad. Our fighting men in Vietnam must have all the equipment they need for their missions, and indeed their lives--without any interruption.

--There is virtually no item in our defense arsenal that does not depend on copper to some extent--from ammunition to complex electronic gear on our ships and planes.
--We are now operating under a tight margin of safety--so much so that all producers have been told that they cannot ship U.S. refined copper except under defense-rated orders.

IMPACT ON THE NATION'S ECONOMY

The strike is now threatening domestic prosperity.
--Reductions in production and employment in copper-using industries have already begun, and will increase rapidly.
--Among the industries that will be hit hardest are electrical machinery, electronics, automobiles and trucks, heating and air conditioning.
--Prices are up from a prestrike level of around 40 cents a pound to over 80 cents.
--Civilian copper consumption is now down to 65 percent of the prestrike level.

--The precarious nature of the copper supply situation was dramatized by last week's dock tie-ups.
--In five States--Arizona, Utah, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, all of whose Governors and Congressmen I met with last week--40,000 copper workers have been out since last July. Local businesses are failing. State and local tax revenues have dropped sharply. Welfare payments have jumped.

IMPACT ON COMPANIES AND WORKERS

To the workers the strike has meant a quarter of a billion dollars in lost wages, with the rate running at $7 million weekly.

To the companies, the strike has meant a drop of $123 million (from 1966) in 1967 after tax profits.

To the industry generally, a long tie-up will speed the search for substitute metals and thus mean the permanent loss of profits and jobs.

BARGAINING HISTORY

Free collective bargaining is the keystone of our industrial democracy. This is the way labor disputes should be settled.

The Government has offered to help the parties break the deadlock through the collective bargaining process.
--Throughout the dispute, the Mediation Service has assigned a special team to assist the parties.
--Last September, Secretaries Wirtz and Trowbridge requested the parties to meet with them in Washington.
--In January, Secretaries Wirtz and Trowbridge appointed a mediation panel of three outstanding labor experts: Dr. George Taylor, Mr. George Reedy, and Monsignor George Higgins.
--Last month, that panel developed a framework to help guide the parties toward settlement.

A TIME FOR RESPONSIBLE ACTION

I recognize that issues of deep principle separate the parties. Yet, there comes a time when these differences must be resolved in the larger interests of our Nation, of the continued strength of our economy, and for the men who fight for all of us half a world away in Vietnam.

There comes a time when our dollar must be defended, our armies equipped, and our domestic economy kept on a steady and healthy course.

I have always believed that the answers to a labor dispute must be found in free collective bargaining.

I urge the parties to get on with their bargaining on an urgent, intensive around-the-clock basis.

I ask the parties to consider very carefully the proposals of the Taylor panel as a framework for constructive bargaining.

I have asked Secretaries Wirtz, Clifford, and Smith and the Taylor mediation panel to assist you in any way they can in finding just and fair answers to this dispute.

So now, as you begin your negotiations across the street, I urge you to take the Nation's interest into your hearts and into your minds as you speed the search for a fair and just settlement.

I have asked the Secretaries to keep in touch with me on the progress of the bargaining.

Before you begin your bargaining, I think it would help you realize how deeply the Nation's interest is involved as you hear from Secretary Clifford and Secretary Fowler.