Evening star., 1941-01-31
Wright Field Strike
Settled, but Others
Delay Defense Jobs
New WoIkout Threatened
At Air Base as Copper
Plant Suffers Shutdown
BY the Associated Press.

Plant Suffers Shutdown
By the Associated Press.
A strike which had held up work
on 81 $4,000 expansion program at
Wright Field, Ohio, was settled but
labor disputes continued to delay
other defense projects today at vari-
Gus industrial centers.
Between 400 and 500 A. F. of L.
building trades workers who walked
off the Wright Field job Wednesday
agreed to return to work after the
War Department suspended oper-
ations on an electrical project where
four C. I. o. members had been
working. The strikers had protested
the employment of non-A. F. of L.
men. The c. 1. o. declared it had
cloSed-Shop agreement with the
Penner Construction Co., New York,
which was handling the electrical
installation.
AS this strike ended, however, a
Federal mediator sought to prevent
another dispute from bringing a
walkout of 1,5O0 truck drivers at
midnight. Wage differences are the
issue.
C. 7. o. workers at the Phelps
Dodge copper plant at Elizabeth,
N. j., went on strike with the day
shift. The locals president said the
management had refused to permit
an election to determine collective
bargaining agency at the plant.
Wylie Brown, PhelpS-Dodge pres
ident, said more than 5000, ZOO, 900
IN defense orders depend on goods
his firm it supplying other manu-
facturerS. These orders, he said,
were in addition to Army and Navy
contracts totaling more than $780,
100000.
Mr.. Brown said the strike was
called with utter disregard for the
rules and regulations of the Ma
tional Labor Relations Act and is
designed to force us to void our
present contract by consenting to
an immediate election among our
employees"
San Diego Dispute Settled.
An agreement hating a strike at
the Martinolich Boat Co. shipyards
at San Diego was reported fitting out
a minesweeper, after the labor dis
pute had halted work on five boats
for the Navy. The strike affected
160 workmen.
Work by the Allis- Chalmers Man
ufacturing Co. on 100000 worth
of defense orders in its Wisconsin
plants continued to be held up by a
strike called 10 days ago by the
c. I. O,-United Automobile Workers
Union.
r. J Thomas, union president.
arrived by plane to take a hand in
efforts to settle the strike.
Illness of representative of the
management of the International
Harvester Co. held up negotiations
for settling strike which kept $500
employees of the firms Chicago
tractor works idle. Monday was
viewed as the earliest date when
conferences could be resumed.
Meanwhile, a company spokesman
said. several million dollars" worth
of defense orders are being delayed.
Mobile Plant Idle.
A l. n
ployes of the Alabama Drydock &
Shipbuilding Co. were idle as a re-
suit of a strike called by the Indus
trial Union of Marine and Ship
building Workers &C. I. o.. The
company holds contracts to repair
several destroyers for the Navy
In New York a S. month tenn
porary increase in wages offered by
shipowners in negotiations with the
National Maritime Union &C. I. o.
was rejected last night without dis
cussion by 5000 seamen.
Joseph Curran, N. M. U. president,
said, "the union Negotiating Com
mittee believes that the ship owners
are negotiating in bad faith, and
that there is an attempt on the part
of the ship owners to provoke the
union into a badly advised strike
situation"
Original demands were for fiat
25 per cent pay increase and monthly
war bonuses of $125 to $3.50 on
voyages to belligerent waters. Mr..
Curran said the union had reduced
its demand to a $40 monthly in
crease.
In Flint, Mich, Carl A. Swanson,
regional director of the United Au-
tomobile Workers &C. I. o., ex-
pressed belief a decision by DR..
George w. Taylor, General Motors
U. A. w. umpire, has eliminated
threat of a strike in the Chevrolet
division. AS result of DR.. Taylor's
ruling, he said, a discharged union
committeeman has been reinstated.
A strike had been authorized fol-
lowing discharge of the committee
man.