Evening star., 1937-06-20
MEDIATION PARLEY
TO Be TOMORROW
Board Will Meet Union
Leaders and Later
Company Officials.
n the Associated Press.

~ the Associated Press.
CLEVELAND, Ohio, June 19-John
l.. Lewis, general of the vast steel
strike which has made 100000 work.
ers idle and brought turbulent disor-
der to the Great Lakes regions, will
confer with President RooseveltS me-
diation board here Monday.
Moving swiftly to try and bring
peace in the great labor war, the
board, which convened today, at the
same time announced that Tom Grid
Ter. chairman of the Republic Steel
Corp. and implacable foe of Lewis. will
confer with it two hours after it
meets Lewis.
Drama May Result.
Drama as dynamic as the flaring
disorders that have studded the long
steel strike front, may result with
Girdler and Lewis under the same roof.
OF Lewis, the truculent, pipes -smok
ing Girdler said at press conference
shortly after the steel strike started:
II have never seen Lewis except at
distance. l have never met him,
and I hope to God l never do" Lewis
and Philip Murray. his first lieuten-
ant, are to meet the board here at
Gam.
At the conference with steel execu
tives, in addition to Girdler, will be
Frank Purnell president of Youngs-
town Sheet & Tube; Eugene Grace,
president of Bethlehem Steel, and a
representative of Inland Steel.
Joint Conference Ponds.
Charles P. Taft, the boards chair
man, said any effort to bring the
two sides together would depend upon
the outcome of the separate confer
ences.
In statement after an all-day
board meeting, the board said that
both the corporation and union Off
cials expressed their readiness to
meet with us as soon as possible, but
because of circumstances over which
the parties concerned had no con-
troll, conferences cannot be held until
Monday
From a source close to the con-
ference however, it was learned that
Cirdler, invited to meet the board this
afternoon. had said he would rather
confer along with representatives Of
the other corporations.
Taft and Lloyd Garrison, another
board member, Cancelled college COM
mencement speech engagements to
be here Monday. They, with Ed
ward F. McGrady. Assistant Secre-
tary of Labor and the third board
member. decided to stay in Cleveland
over the week end.
All members, the boards statement
added, would stay here "as long as
necessary in attempting to carry out
this mediation successfully"
After the board had decided to de-
lay any fact-finding hearings until
after conciliation had been tried the
members spent most of the day MAX
ing long distance telephone calls to
arrange the Monday conferences.
In bringing the leaders of both cor
porations and the steel workers Or
ganizing Committee into the same
building-even thought not into the
same room inmediately-the board is
using mediation technique which
has been frequently successful recently
Each Side to State Position.
The board intends to ask each side
TO state its position and to ask each
for peace proposal. These proposals,
If made. will be submitted to the
other side for comment, suggested
amendment, acceptance or rejection.
This process then would be repeated
until common ground was found.
Eventually, board members hope to
bring both sides together around
peace conference table. Rejection of
proposal for joint conference, how
ever. would not mean the end of the
boards peace attempts, it was learned.
The board held its first unofficial
meeting in a hotel coffee shop this
morning. Garrison. just arrived from
Madison, Wis, found Taft there This
meeting was strictly informal" how
ever, and they went from breakfast
to suite upstairs where they met
James F. Dewey, veteran Labor De-
partment conciliator, and Ralph A.
Lind. Cleveland regional labor board
director.