Labor Asserts Itself.

American workers never had it so good as in the years after World War II. The postwar boom created a demand for consumer items of all sorts, from appliances to autos. Organized labor, which had gained power during the Great Depression, had consolidated its gains during the war. Yet by 1946 many unions felt that the nation owed their members for the sacrifices they had made during the war. Wages, for example, had been frozen. Postwar inflation cut into workers' paychecks for the first time in twenty years. Consequently, as the recession of 1948-1949 ended, labor was poised to reassert its interests.

New Benefits.

The decade started well for the unions. Strikes of the coal industry and the Chrysler company's automotive plants led to the adoption of company-financed pension plans and health insurance. Such benefits soon became standards of American...