Oral history transcript, David Ginsburg, interview 1 (I), 8/15/1988, by Michael L. Gillette

Meeting LBJ in the 1930s and interaction between LBJ and Ginsburg in the Office of Price Administration; socializing with LBJ; LBJ's concern over the price of copper; sending Averell Harriman to Chile to negotiate to stabilize copper prices; price-wage control in the airlines; the need for increased revenues without tax increases; Wilbur Mills' perceived opposition to taxation; International Association of Machinists (IAM) president Roy Siemiller's efforts to break the 3.2 per cent wage-price increase; LBJ's creation of a board comprised of Wayne Morse, Richard Neustadt and Ginsburg to advise him on the issue of an impending airline strike; working as a member of the Board with the primary goal of maintaining the 3.2 per cent guidelines; the Board members' backgrounds and labor-related experience; the Board's work with the Department of Labor and presentation to LBJ; Siemiller's message to the union members regarding whether they should accept the governments guidelines; the union's vote to decline the settlement and demand a wage increase formula that was greater than 3.2 per cent; Gardner Ackley's conviction that the airline strike did not cause an economic emergency; LBJ's efforts to get the support of the union members to end the strike and his dealings with Siemiller; Siemiller's effort to single-handedly break the guidelines and what could have been done differently to end or avoid the strike; LBJ's refusal to deal directly with Siemiller and risk losing to a private citizen; Ginsburg's impression of the Labor Department; the need for permanent rather than emergency legislation related to labor disputes