Evening star., 1944-10-05
Detroit Strikers
Vote 10 Return
To Work Today
Action Is Token at
Meeting Of Union
And LocuI Leaders
By the Associated Press.

DETROIT, Oct. 5.-Approxi-
mately 5000 maintenance work.
ers, whose strike action yester-
day tied up or impaired war
production in 80 Detroit area
plants, voted today to return to
work on afternoon shifts, ac-
cording to United Automobile
Workers (CIO) spokesmen.
The action was announced follow
ing meeting of officials of the Ex-
ecutive Board of the union and rep
resentatives of local unions making
up the Maintenance, Construction
and Powerhouse Council
The strike, which had begun to
spread again this morning, had
made more than $4,000 workers idle
through plant closings and assembly
line Interruptions.
Vote Not Announced.
Most seriously impaired by the
strike was the production Of air.
craft subassembles, aviation engines,
antiaircraft guns, tank and truck
parts and other war materiel
The vote favoring or opposing a
return to work was not announced.
Principal speaker at this mornings
brief meeting was Walter P. Reuther,
international vice president of the
union, who with a council COM
mittee and Regional Directors
Richard T. Leonard and Melvin
Bishop few back to Detroit from
Atlantic City and Washington to
urge that the strike be called off.
They told the strikers representa-
tives that demands for a War Labor
Board panel investigation of wage
issues would not be considered as
long as the strike was in progress.
Mr.. Reuther was quoted by
union official as having told the
strikers they should have realized
that you can't pressure the War
Labor Board to act through strikes"
and that they had violated the laws
of their own international union
and their no-strike pledge.
Study of Proposal Promised.
He was reported to have said the
WLB had promised to consider the
merits of union proposal for ap-
pointment of fact-finding panel
when the strikers return"
A union spokesman said Mr..
Reuther would accompany the
Maintenance Workers Committee
when it returns to Washington,
probably Saturday or Sunday, after
all the strikers are back at work"
Ofi1cials of the affected plants said
it was necessary to send production
workers home because the skilled
and semiskilled maintenance men
electricians, carpenters, millwrights,
machine repair men, etc.-keep the
assembly lines and equipment in
running condition.
Plants Hit Hardest.
Hardest hit by the walkout yes
| terday were plants of the Briggs
Manufacturing Co., Chrysler Corp,
Kelsey Hayes Wheel Co. and Bohn
Aluminium & Brass Corp. Others
less affected included the Detroit
Naval Ordnance Arsenal operated
by the Westinghouse Electric &
Manufacturing Co.. Packard Motor
Car Co., Continental Motors Corp.
and other Chrysler and Briggs units.
Protesting inequalities in wage
rate structures as they affect CIO-
affiliated maintenance men COM
pared with those belonging to the
AFL, the council threatened gen.
eral walkout in 300 plants that might
involve nearly a million workers un-
less the WLB agrees to set up fact
finding panel to study the case.
Establishment of such panel has
been refused by the WLB on the
grounds that the grievance had not
been presented properly to the board
and that the maintenance men al
ready had received wage increases
under the Little Steel" formula.