Evening star., 1945-09-18
vance the JAWS April national con
vention date to this fall.
Wave of Postwar Strikes
Spreads to Oil Industry
BY the Associated Press.

by lnt ASSOClhteu f1eSS,
The wave of postwar work stop
pages, already keeping approximate
ly 200 1000 workers idle, spread to the
oil industry today
CIO oil workers left their jobs in
East Chicago, Ind. and in the
Detroit area yesterday and strikes
threatened all Gulf Oil and Texas
Co. refineries in Texas. Union off,
cials said some 10000 workers in
six States had been alerted for a
possibly industry strike to en-
force union demands for reduction
in work-week hours from So to 40
with no cut in pay. They were
in Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana.
Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky.
The work stoppage spread from
California to New York and into the
South, but the bulk of workers were
idle in varied lines of industry and
business in the North Central sec
ton.
May Hit Bigger Cities.
The disputes hit many of the bigger
cities-New York, Chicago, Detroit,
Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Baltimore,
St. Louis, Cleveland, Philadelphia,
Milwaukee and Memphis.
The strike of the Socony- Vacuum
Oil Co. in East Chicago affected only
500 workers, but the union said it
was the first of series that would
ultimately close all reflneries in the
Chicago area, keeping $500 idle.
In the Detroit area, 200 struck at
Reflners' Transport & Terminal
Corp. for a 80 per cent wage in
crease
In Toledo, union officials said all
refneries were expected to be on
strike by Friday, after a walkout by
400 employees of the Pure Oil Co. re-
finery. They also demanded re-
duced hours from 50 to 40 hours
weekly with no wage cut and 60
hour level when returning service
men provide added manpower.
In Port Arthur, Tex. union men,
bers Of the Texas Co. voted to l last
week to strike. Their demands are
the same as those made by the
East Chicago workers, plus union
shop and other issues. Union work
ers at the Gulf Oil Corp. refinery at
Port Arthur, Tex, yesterday voted
81 per cent in favor of a strike un-
less demands similar to those asked
by Texas Co. workers are met.
Workers Offered Raises.
The Socony-Vacuum Co. said it
had offered IS per cent increase
in hourly pay rates, while the Texas
Co. recently announced a IS per
cent blanket pay increase when the
40-hour work week was resumed.
Oil workers in seven Houston
(TexO area plants were to take a
strike vote tonight.
Carnegie Illinois Steel Corp. re-
ported a walkout of 535 men pro-
testing against Sunday work closed
four rolling mills in its Clarion
Pa) works. making another 205
persons idle.
The Reading Co. announced in
Philadelphia that the strike of 400
tugboat workers had forced the
closing of its Port Richmond grain
eleva cor. largest on the Atlantic sea-
board, and its coal dumping facil-
tiles there
Many of the IS ships bottled
up in the Delaware River are wait
ing to transport coal and grain
to Europe
Transformer Output Retarded.
A Westinghouse Electric Corp.
official declared in Pittsburgh that
the 10-day-old strike of the COM
pany's white collar" workers will
slowly affect much American in
dustrial activity.
H. v. Putnam, vice president in
charge of the transformer division,
said stoppage of work on orders
for $500 transformers will cause
a slowing up in some cases and
soon stop production of many
plants
Many transformers on order for
veterans and other hospitals are
stopped and these hospitals will not
be able to open for operation on
their scheduled time" he added
Westinghouse reported that more
than $1,000 idle at its mills in six
States. A few pickets appeared for
the first time today at the East
Pittsburgh works,