Evening star., 1941-04-05
Ford

IOIU
Continued From First Page.)
that the surplus product not used
by the company itself had been reg
ularly distributed to other aircraft
manufacturers.
Construction of new airplane
parts plant near Ypsilanti, Mich.
for which excavation has barely
been begun, has not been affected
by the strike.
A parts shortage brought an an
nouncement that the EdgeWater
IN. j. Ford plant, which has orders
for 600 whippet tanks for the Greek
Army and 1000 for the United States
Government, would close Monday
unless a settlement of the River
Rouge plant dispute could be
reached.
Capizzi Charges Communism.
Reports were current here that I.
A. CapiZzi, Ford attorney, planned
to place charges of union sabotage
before War Secretary Stimson. Ar
irving at Washington by plane last
night, however, Mr. Capizzi said
only that he intended to offer evi-
dence of communist activities" in
Ford labor disputes to the National
Labor Relations Board at a hear
ing today.
The N. l.. r. B. was scheduled to
hear oral arguments on the U. A.
VIC. l. o. petition for employe
elections at Ford's River Rouge and
Lincoln plants here.
c. I. o. attorneys here delayed
filing motion to dismiss Federal
Court restraining order forbidding
interference with Ford employees, in
hopes Of obtaining service of sub
poenas for appearance of Henry
Ford, founder, and Edsel Ford, pres
ident of the company, and Harry H.
Bennett, Ford personnel director.
Unable to Find FOrds.
United States Marshal John J.
Bare reported he and two deputies
made fruitless 75-mile motor trip
in efforts to serve the subpoenas.
At Mr.. Benefits Office in the Ford
Motor Co., Mr.. Bare reported, he
was told the official was not ex-
pected until the trouble is over"
Henry Ford could not be located
either at his Dearborn estate or at
the Ford Experimental Laboratories,
nor could Edsel Ford be found at
his estate on Lake ST. Clair.
To company claims that the
strikers had caused weeks of delay in
work on Ford's s155 100000 in de-
fenSe orders, U. A. VIC. I. o. off,
cials replied that "the Ford Co. has
no interest in the defense work now
in the plant except as it can be used
as propaganda club against the
strikers"
Asserting that the union informed
Gov. Van Wagoner's mediation
board Tuesday it was agreeable that
defense workers as we'll as mainte-
nance men should enter the strike
bound plant, the union leaders said
that when the company submitted to
State police list of those it felt
should enter the plant at once" de-
fense workers were not included.
Few Pickets on Duty.
"The service department - the
company's private police, strong-arm
and spy force-Was or the list" they
| said.
Abolition of the service depart
ment is one of the union demands
on the Ford Co. The others are re-
instatement of workers it claims
were discharged for union activity;
10-cent hourly wage increase; estab-
lishment of shop seniority and griev-
ance systems, and a contractual
agreement.
Few pickets we're on duty at the
River Rouge plant gates this morn
ing, and only two picket lines were
marching, the picEets circling under
two overpasses along Miller road to
take advantage of the shelter of
fered from the rain. At other gates,
pickets either sat in parked automo-
biles or huddled about small bon
fires.
Most of the Ford strikers left the
picket lines last night to attend a
union mass meeting in the Coliseum
at the State Fair Grounds.
Shouldn't Last Long"
Mr.. Widman told the gathering
that overfowed the 11,000-seat ca
pacity that "the other members of
the union are not going to see the
Ford workers abused in this situa-
ton if it means that all of them
have got to go out and help"
The strike should not last long"
Mr. Widman said. There is no need
of it lasting long if decent labor
policies are established by the COM
pany We're making some progress
in the negotiations and I'm hopeful" T"
The Ford Co. announcement that
it was closing branch plants be-
cause of the strike listed 16 assem-
bly, plants and Is parts manufac-
turing units, in addition to small
i village industries in some Michigan
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