Telephone Messages to Labor and Management Leaders following the Steel Settlement.

Mr. McDonald (Mr. Cooper), your fellow officers of the United Steel workers of America (and the representatives of the steel industry) those who served on the negotiating committees, members of the International Wage Policy Committee, and all who belong to the Steal Workers' Union:

I know that I speak for every American in congratulating you on the early and responsible settlement in steel. The contract that you have agreed upon with the steel industry is a document of high industrial statesmanship.

When I appealed to you and to the industry to begin negotiations early enough to avert an inventory build-up that would have had detrimental consequences for all, I did so with firm confidence that your union and the industry would serve the national interest. That confidence has been fully justified.

Of central importance to the value of your settlement is the fact that you reached it through free collective bargaining, without the pressure of a deadline or the tension of a strike threat. It is a settlement not forced but chosen. That is the true mark of responsibility in economic life.

Under this contract, the welfare of your members, of the industry, and of the public are equally secured.

It is obviously non-inflationary and should provide a solid base for continued price stability. At the same time, it provides new and imaginative benefits in areas most vital to employees--job and income security. The vacation savings plan is a new and distinct contribution to collective bargaining. You and the industry deserve great credit for developing this imaginative program. Improvements in Supplemental Unemployment Benefits, current vacations, pensions and other rights also contribute to improving job security and in alleviating the effects of involuntary unemployment.

I am sure that the Nation will agree with me that the most notable aspect of this settlement is that it demonstrates that the national interest can be protected and the interests of the industry and of the employees forwarded through free and responsible collective bargaining.

I want again to congratulate all concerned, to extend to you the thanks of the American people, and to extend to you my very warmest personal regards.