Evening star., 1937-01-27
TENAUTOPLANTS
BEING REOPENED
10000 Employees Are Called
Back to Work by Gen.
eral Motors.
BY the Associated Press.

6y lIe hbSOCldLcQ EIooS.
DETROIT, January 27.-The return
Of 10000 General Motors employees,
called back to work or a part-time
basis, started without incident today at
10 Chevrolet plants in Michigan and
Indiana.
About 10000 employees filed into the
plants at s am. for whatever work
can be provided, the company said,
until strikes In II key" plants are
settled.
Another 10000 were due to return
to work in midafternoon on might"
shifts and still another $500 had no.
tice to report tomorrow at Fisher Body
plants in this State
The principal plant TO reopen was
the Chevrolet factory in Flint, where
"sit-down" strikers occupy Fisher
Plant No. 2, scene Of street fighting
with police on January 10.
No policemen or pickets we're in sight
as the men entered the Chevrolet
plant, and "sit-downers" the Fisher
plant across the street watched with
out comment
Union PicketS Mass.
In Detroit a crowd of union pickets
estimated by police at close to 1000
maSsed at the Cadillac plant-a Cen
eral Motors unit not affected by the
back-to-work movement-and pre-
vented executives and office employees
from entering.
More than 100 policemen, including
l6 mounted patrolmen, stood by, but
there was no violence Police said
they turned away several automobiles
carrying company executives to pre-
vent disorder.
AS workers went into the Flint plant
the noise Of footsteps was broken
only by phonograph music, union
marches" played by strikers in the
Fisher plant.
The orderly return Of the employees
appeared typical Of other plants. In
Detroit workers had broad smiles as
they punched the time clock again at
two Chevrolet plants.
Before the worlds largest automo-
producing company started this
back-to-work movement more than
125,o00 of its employees were idle.
Seventeen plants were closed by
strikes in them, and the company has
said it would not reopen them until
the dispute is settled. Two of these
the Fisher Body plants at F1int-have
been held by it-down" strikers since
December 30.
40 Factories Affected.
Altogether more than 40 General
Motors factories from coast 10 coast
were closed or their operations cur
tailed as a consequence of the strikes
called by the United Automobile
Workers Of America.
The refusal of the union to evac-
uate the "sit-downers" at Flint has
blocked negotiations for a settlement
Of the strikes, the corporation refus-
ing to meet with the U. A. w. A. until
the strikers have left the company's
property.
The men summoned back today
we're employees of Chevrolet plants
at Indianapolis and Muncie, Ind, and
Detroit, Flint, Saginaw and Bay City,
Mich.
A committee representing the Flint
Alliance sought an audience with Gov.
Frank Murphy at Lansing today to
ask him to guarantee all workers
full protection in going to and coming
from work
This action was called for in .
resolution adopted at a mass meeting
conducted by the alliance at Flint
yesterday afternoon. The alliance
was organized by George E. Boysen,
former Flint Mayor, to rally anti
strike sentiment.
Another resolution adopted by the
meeting called upon John L. Lewis,
Committee for Industrial Organization
head directing the strike, to remove
his paid organizers and agitators"
from Flint and charged him with
gross impudence in suggesting that
the President Of the United States
side with" the union. which the reso-
luton said represented only a small
minority of all automobile workers.