The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-07-15
LABOR DISPUTE
 IS NEAR CRISIS
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q expect to have formal state. ment some time today" he said. "No decision has been reached yet, and reports of action to be followed are pure speculation"
 No Formal Charges
 So far no formal charges have been drawn by the council. Lewis and his aides, in refusing an 1nvi- tation to appear before the cour1" eli to plead their case last week, insisted the council dared not split labor ranks during the critical Q. !. O, drive to organize 020,0O0 steel, automobile and rubber workers into industrial unions.
 Also supporting the belief that suspension may be voted imi1le. diately was Q conference last night between Edward r. Mc0rady, as- sistant secretary of labor, and la bor leaders. The administration IS anxious to avoid Q split in labor ranks, especially in view of It's pog- sible political representations in tnis presidential election year.
 LAhOT CfiDlB DeEIOuB
 Never in half c century of strugs rie 10 maintain c united front has organized labor faced Q more se- rious decision, council leaders ag. reed. Emphasizing the vital issue at stake was the fact that the sus. pension demand came coincident with Q campaign by Lewis to achieve one of labor's f1ost.deSired standardization of the great steel, rubber, automobile and other mass production industries.
 As the council weighed Q decision which would cut It's strength and it's revenue by one.third-the 0. l.. O.. unions contribute $i0,0o0 . month: informed leaders said two general courses were possible:
 1. Vote to suspend the l2 Tepel linions on the grounds that they re- fused to disbard their 0. I. o. drive for industrial-type unions in oppo' gition to the dominant craft union policy of the federation. This would be tantamount to expulsion because the suspended groups could not vote ct the next annual conven" ton when the action would DO rat'- fled.
 3. Vote to delay c final decision on suspension pending further nee eotiations with the 0. I. o. for 6 cor1promige. This will be urged by less personally einbittercd members of the council in view of the fact that Lewis recently indicated wil' llnRness to talk over the situation with the councils conciliatioil com inlttee headed by George Harrison. At that time, however, the comFnit- tee had no power to negotiate, be- ing instructed merely to determine if the 0. I. 0. would disband.
 Anybody Can Guess
 The action which the council VIII take was described as "arlybodys guess" by one of it's members and by a government representative keep ing in touch with the labor devel- opinents.
 Admittedly, there were sufficient votes on the council to suspend the rebel unions if the members follow JnelF perbOklAl oeDiESD' ASAv WsS S~s lot would be close, possibly 5 to ' with Green voting, and under the circumstances 1t WaS believed that some of the foes of Lewis would prefer not to take responsibility for splitting the federation by SO close Q margin.
 Deal With Each Union
 In discussing the verdict, the council probably will deal with each union separately, but Green said he believed the ballot would be on whether to suspend all of them. He added, however, that the council would make final decision on that and that 1t would decide whether to consider the case of only the eight original unions or of oil i2 unions now under the c. I. O.
 The Lewis headquarters remained confident that suspension would Dc avoided and declined to comment on their own action after the coutl: ell votes except that their drive will continue.