The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-06-07
Nation Threatened
 With Great Strike
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meeting in tho elaborate offices 0 Tho American Iron and Steel in stituto last night with tho appar ont refusal to consider a plan Q Gen Hugh $. Johnson for creation of a special labor board, similu to that functioncd In tho rccon automobile strike, to mediate th Johnson, accom- panied by Donal' Richbcrg, general counsel, heN meeting. Although ho remained u Now York it was not known wheth CT ho would confer With the own CTS again today.
 Tho steel men Issued thls brie statement after tho conferences
 TWO believe tho demands Of th' nmalgamnted association do not re lato to grievances Of tho workers and that tho sole demand is for { closed shop. As tho industry il unnlternbly opposed 10 the. closed shop, tho demand could not bo con siderod.
 Tt was mado eleur that tho in. dustry was definitely committed te tho maintenanco Of employe rop' rosentation plans now cffective in tho industry and to tho principle of tho opon shop"
 They believed that tho man who works nt tho blast furnaces and who pours tho hot mot0l into flowing ingots is not dissn tlsilod With many mills roaring for the first tlme in four yenrs, in m crn Of recovery, they believed workers wero host represented for wnge md hour bargaining purposes througl, unions which thoy themselves or' gunl2c,
 Won't Believe lt Tho private convo rSntion own CTS were confident tho strlke VII not matcrlallxc. They folt that oith' or President Roosevelt or work CTS themselves, who arc snld to bo receiving hiRhor wages thnn nt tho peak of 1929, will avert tho
 Nearly zoo, 900 men now arc at work In steel mills, Tho nmniga. mated predicted that ht least 100. . 900 will walk off their jobs if closed shop demands nre not mel and that tho remainder will be forced 10 strike.
 The strike, if it should develop, would undoubtedly be far more serious than tho disastrous strike of 1919, whom the nnmos Of sam uel Gompors, Elbeft Gray and William z, Fostor became immor tally linked with steel tradition. ft was reported that mills in tho Plttsburg aren. throughout tho Mnhoning valley of Ohio and the industrial eenters Of northern ln' diana wern Rrming secretly In pre- pnrntlon for tho strike but ownera repeatedly have denied this,
 Heads of tho amnlgnm1tcd said that failure Of owners to heeoed 10 n closed shop constituted unfnir domlnltIon Of tho worker and closed tho only avenue by which workers could be assured of equit- able bargaining rights. They Vicwed employe representation unions, commonly but incorrectly termed "compnny unions as nutoerntie nnd unfair,
 Crisis Started in April The present crisis began devel' oping on April i7, ot tho Amhlga mated convention in Pittsburg Young leadership outvoted tho con servative and colorful Michael Tiehe, long the guiding power be. hind the union. The present strike throat was forced through the convention on tho last day
 Steel men quickly accepted the challenge. Eugene Grace, Of Beth iehon,, announced his company would retain open shop al any cost T. M. Glrdlcr, of Republic steel one Of the outstanding figures St yesterdays conference, echoed the sentiment of several owners when he snid he would prefer to return to his apple farm rather than deal with nmalgamated,
 The rebel leadership was spur red by owners open denuncIntion owners. on the other hand, decided to accept the present issue as q final one and fight it through to tho finish.
 Up to the President
 Gen Hugh $. Johnson and hi' NRA aides were expected to report to the president today that they had met little success thus far ir attempting to win compromise In the stubborn and long l btteI ui5Ddit'
 Union leaders, hardened by years of struggle for what they believe to be their rights, contcmptuosl, rejected anything less than ful recognition of the collective bar gaining principle throughout thu industry
 The Iron and Steel institute, com posed of steed executives, met II New York to consider Johnson peace suggestions and emerged with a statement of undying oppo sition to the "closed shop" This left the controversy jus about where 1t was except L emphasize the general resistanc of the industry to any change fl its labor set up.
 The Amalgamated Association o Iron, Steel and Tin Workers quick ly pointed out that they were no asking the "closed shop" bu merely the right guaranteed by tn national recovery act of negotiat ing with employers under the gen orally accepted principles of col lective bargaining.
 Development of the steel situa ton to the point where the presi dent would he forced to take hand was a trend which Johnson general MIRA counsel Donald Rich berg and Senator Robert r. Wae ner of the rationai labor boar had heen fighting.
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