Evening star., 1937-01-04
Strike
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Workers, and also Glen W. McCabe Of
Columbus, Ohio. president of the
Federation of Fiat Glass Workers OF
America.
The U. A. w. A. and the glass
workers have q joint council to de-
termine action relating to the auto
motive industry and both are afiliated
with the Committee for Industrial
Organization, for which they are
suspension from the American Fed
Grafton Of Labor
A shortage Of glass, caused by q
strike in that industry, has been an
other factor in the closing Of some
automotive plants.
Full Support Pledged.
John A. Brophy, director Of the
c. I. O., and several other of its
leaders attended the union confer
ence in Flint. Brophy pledged the
full support Of the John L. Lewis
headed C. I. o. in the auto workers
efforts to obtain a collective bargain
ing agreement with General Motors.
"The Board Of Strategy" said
Brophy, shall determine the ques-
ton Of extending the strikes and de-
claring a general strike against the
General Motors Corp"
NJ At. ~. r<;~ sddaSs
I'VE will call all the strikes neces-
sary to accomplish our purpose. We
have enough members to close down
General Motors If We want to.
"The workers want the essence-not
the shadow-of a collective bargaining
agreement. If the heads of General
Motors continue to refuse to CO.
operate with us in a sincere attempt at
collective bargaining, they alone have
the responsibility"
General Motors executives in De-
troit withheld comment after the Flint
union meeting, but earlier william s.
Knudsen, executive vice president, had
told newsmen:
by the end of the week approx
mately 1876 900 out Of the total ATS, 600
General Motors employees operating in
all countries will be out of work. The
reason is the stoppage of production
caused by the shortage of bodies.
There is enough glass to last three
weeks and enough other parts to last
probably through January"
That's up to Mr.. Martin" Knudsen
replied when asked if he thought it
was likely that all General Motors
plants would be closed. 1T is not up
to me-"
The number Of the corporations
factories close1 VS. increased from II
to 19 when 1t was announced at An
derson, Ind, that the seven plants
there Of the Delco-R -Remy division
would not open today. throwing ap-
proximately 5000 employees out Of
work. Fred c. Kroeger, general man
ager, said the closing was caused by
lack of production needs" attributed
to the strikes in eight other General
Motors plants.
Shortages of materials supplied by
these units principally bodies
caused the closing Of four others OF
the corporations factories. General
Motors has plants in IS cities in the
United States.
About 500 men remained in two
Fisher body plants at Flint over the
week end despite a court order to
leave which General Motors obtained
Saturday. Police and deputy sheriffs
who visited the plants Saturday night
departed without attempting TO evict
the "sit-down" strikers. Sheriff
Thomas Wolcott went to the hall
where yesterdays meeting was held
but left without seizing any Of the
union leaders named in the injunc-
ton.
The strikes in the two Flint Fisher
plants, called December 80, left 5000
workers idle and subsequently caused
the closing Of some divisions Of the
Chevrolet and Buick plants there
causing $500 men to halt work.
There are about $4,000 General
Motors employees IN its various
branches at Flint. A fortnight ago
the United Automobile Workers esti-
mated that $500 Of these belonged
to the union. Since then, leaders
said. other workers have been Join
ing so fast we can't keep up the
totals"
A similar answer was given when
union leaders were asked about its
membership throughout the entire
automobile industry. Neither was any
estimate available on the membership
Of rival unions.
City's Situation Critical
The closed factories at Anderson
and Flint especially created critical
situations for those cities. Many oi
Anderson's 10000 residents are de.
pendent upon their living from the
Delco- Remy plants. which closed to-
day, and the Guide Lamp division Of
General Motors, closed by q strike
December 81 that left $500 idle.
Flint IL an industrial city Of l65 600
about one-fourth Of whom ere esti-
mated to be employed by General
Motors. Its transportation system has
been paralyzed for . month BY Z
strike Of bus and coach operators en-
ployed BY the Flint Trolley Coach,
lne. The striking bus opsratoes havs