Henderson daily dispatch., 1943-12-29
Railroad Strike,
Set For Thursday,
Has Been Cancelled
Three Unions Agree
After Comforting
With Gen. Somervell

J
The railroad strike is off.
Three operating unions. aft
e. resisting previous offers OF
arbitration. agreed today 10
call off the nationwide strike
which had been set for tomor-
row.
1hrir decision. following SIM
liar action by two other upcrat-
ing brOthcrhOotlS and Is nan
operating unions, apparently
cleared the first hurdle in the
way oil The governments return
OF The railroads 10 private op-
Grafton.
On order of President Roosevelt,
who sand that a strike mus, not nc
permitted Ia Interfere with the
tranSp, rtalI"n of the men and ma
chimes ui war, the army has taken
over operation of the carriers Mon
day night.
Caritulation of the last three
brothcrhOOdS - locomotive fire
men and cngincmcn. con luctors
and SWitchmcn-Camc at con-
ference of their chiefs with 1T.
Gen. Snmcrvcll, chief of army
service forces, who had been as
signed to operate the railroads
under Secretary of War Slim
son.
After the cOaicrcucc. N SDmCr-
Wells office. the union lCndc!S--Ja-
Nld l.. Robertson. OF The li.cmra
and CnGincmCn. II. ". Fraser of the
conductors. and L. {. Ca$hcu of he
Swi,Chn"n-ioIn"d with SsmgrvCil
~ a"npuncinG thai there would %
10 strike.
In" bricl announcement. read -
Maior General Alexander Sur!rS
head of the War Department public
relations bureau:
The Secretary OF War ANNOUNCE
Cd that there will be no railrOut
strikes. Representatives of the Or
der of Railway Conductors. the
Brotherhood 6! Locomotive Fire
men and EnGincmcn. and the
SwIlchmcn's Union ui North Amer
!CI .0day assured General Somrr-
veil that they and the organizations
they represent viii take uu action
which might impcril the successful!
prosecution of the war. and they
VIII immediately cancel the strike
order"
Both Stims0n and S0mcrvcil
SAID that aS far as they were
concerned there would be no ar
bitratiOn of wages while the
reads are under their control.
IL remained in their discretion
whether capitulation of the three
bfcihcThoOdS would be on 4 CO.
operative or forced basis. Even
complete capitulation ny the
ircmcn, conductors and switch
men would not diSpSUr of the
wage controversy. The fifteen
rn-operating unions of more
than Il million workers accept
cd the Presidents offer 10 arbi-
tratc. hut the President an
nounccd that he cannot proceed
To do that until the unions and
The carriers agree on what is TO
he arbitratcd.
Thus the controversy is back
where II started. except that the -
unions Withdrew their strike AIT
'h"rlIati"n. They accepted the
graduated increases oi four Ia ten
cents and want the President 10 de
cidr their rights Ia overtime after
i" hours. but the carriers wan, both
questions HrbItrdird ats one.
The two operating unIpnS-'raln-
men and engineers vino promptly
accepted the President - referee
"f" receiving meanwhile the bcnc-
nus Of Il iiyC-C,ui hourly increase
Whirh he awarded a. an overtime
benefit.
Secretary Sum-ou broadcast last
n'Hh' AN assurance ~ the pubic.
MAT there will be no alteration ~
:ch"dulcS. IN service or IN person.
h'I because of The change"
Mr.. Roosevelt expressed hope at
ms news conference that the rail
roads can bC turned back 10 private
"pcra'ion soon but nc WAS not Spc-
cue about conditions.
Both tho President and the army
made II clear they believed that 'ha
criminal proviSio~S of the war La
Dor Disputes Act arc applicable tn
any act of conspiracy OF cncoGr-
agCmCnt 10 strike.