Hold the Line Order Freezes Wages While Corporate Profits Soar

President Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9328, the “Hold the Line Order,” on April 8, 1943, directing the National War Labor Board to prohibit any further wage increases except to correct substandard conditions or inequities. The order freezes wages for most workers while corporate profits reach record highs, creating a framework where workers sacrifice and corporations accumulate wartime wealth.

The order explicitly states that the War Labor Board shall not approve wage increases except to correct “maladjustments or inequities” or to aid in the “effective prosecution of the war.” This rigid standard essentially freezes the wage structure at early 1942 levels despite mounting inflation. Real wages decline as prices for food, housing, and other necessities outpace controlled wage rates.

Corporate profits tell a different story. After-tax profits for corporations more than double between 1939 and 1943, from $6.4 billion to $15.8 billion. While workers are told to sacrifice for the war effort, executives receive bonuses, dividends flow to shareholders, and companies accumulate reserves for postwar expansion.

United Mine Workers President John L. Lewis openly defies the wage freeze, leading coal miners in work stoppages despite government seizure of the mines. Lewis famously declares “I will not be a stooge for the War Labor Board” and secures portal-to-portal pay increases that exceed the Little Steel Formula. His defiance makes him a villain in the mainstream press but demonstrates that militant action can extract concessions even during wartime.

The “Hold the Line” order intensifies worker resentment that erupts in wildcat strikes across war industries. In 1944, there are over 4,900 work stoppages involving 2.1 million workers, despite the no-strike pledge. This rank-and-file militancy is suppressed by union leadership committed to wartime collaboration, but the grievances fester and contribute to the massive strike wave of 1945-46 once wartime restrictions end.