The Wrangell sentinel., 1938-03-04
BUSINESS MEN AND SEWERS MEET
 WITH LOCAL CANNERY OPERATORS

A meeting of representative bus mess men and fishermen to whom the present gloomy outlook of the Salmon Industry in general and of Wrangell salmon packers in par ticular. is of vital interest. was held at the city hall last night following short session Of the city council.
 Included in the fifty men present were Karl Thiele and H. Kittilsby. president and vice president of the Diamond K Packing Company, F. S. Barnes, president of the Wran- gell Packing Co, and J. J. Coul- ter. vice president Of the ARB Pack ing Company, who had been invited to attend the conference.
 Mir Thiele on being called upon made very clear presentation of the problems now confronting the cannery operators.
 Last year I was a member of the Labor Board of the Salmon In dustry that negotiated agreements with the unions." said MT. Thiele ''The Industry gave the men em- ployed in all it's branches recogni- ton all through the A. F. L. I want to say this: 'I am not here to favor either one or the other. the CIO or the AFL.
 Concerning the Diamond k, peo- pie have been asking me, Are you going to operate?' I have but one answer: I do not know.
 Unsold Salmon
 Last year" continued Mir. Thiele. .'the Diamond K packed S4,000 cases of salmon. have not until now told anyone outside of MT Kittilsby the position we are in. We tried to maintain a price of S125 a dozen for pinks and $1.20 for chums As a consequence we have sold 750 cases of reds and 250 cases of chums and have unsold in the warehouse S3,000 cases of salmon. Some com panies have sold more; some have been compelled to sell at S1.15. Con- ditions over which none of us have control are such that I don't know if we can maintain the market. If the price goes to S1.00 we will take a loss of $1.00 on every case. (4 dozen). doubt if any one in the Salmon Industry can make a profit under S1.25 a dozen. We have been trying to hold the market. If it goes to $1.00 it's going to break the ma jority of the smaller packers You understand 1 am talking about pinks. the major pack in South eastern Alaska.
 Negotiations Not Finished
 'The day I left Seattle we had not finished negotiations and work ing agreements with any union. The Fishermen's Union in western Alas ka is asking a 10 percent increase over last year. Some unions have asked 40 to 50 percent increase over last year.
 No one in the industry can op crate" stated Mir. Thiele, unless he first has assurance that he can continue through the season without interference. Now supposing we do come to some agreement with the unions. What shall we do with the salmon on hand?
 We went into operation last year with less carryover than we ever had. We packed six million cases of which four million cases are still unsold.
 Lack of Curtailment
 From some quarters comes talk of curtailment. How can you curtaii the pack except not to operate? Sup posing agreements are reached with unions what are the small packers going to do with stocks on hand? They must dispose of these before they resume operations. All right; what are they going to get? Then are they going to be in position to resume?
 Suppose conditions are such that