War Labor Board: "Little Steel" hearing. Philip Murray, Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO) leader, left, and Harold Ruttenberg, research director for United Steel Workers (USW), at the "Little Steel" hearing held by the War Labor Board, at the Hotel Washington in Washington, D.C., July 1. The hearing arose from a wage dispute between union demands and four "Little Steel" companies: Bethlehem Steel, Republic Steel, Youngstown Sheet and Tube, and Inland Steel. The hearing resulted in a fifteen per cent wage increase formula, and set a precedent for future wage adjustments to meet recent increases in the cost of living