Evening star., 1945-10-06

whether we could get away with a
national strike" William M. Dunn,
labor representative of the War
Labor Board Telephone Commits
sion, told the mass meeting. Il
think we can"
II a strike Is voted by the tele-
phone workers in an NLRB election,
q 30-day period must elapse before
the walkout can begin. In the
meantime, however, the federation
may call further walkouts like those
staged yesterday if 10 chooses.
About 100000 workers left their
jobs throughout the Nation to at
tend the meetings, the union es-
timated. Local service was affected
seriously only in communities where
the dial system is not general. In
Washington, only telephones on the
Ludlow exchange are still operated
manually. Zone calls to outlying
communities in Maryland and Vir-
ginla, requiring the services OF an
operator, were stopped.
Teletype News interrupted.
The National Brtadcasting Co.
and the American Broadcasting Co.
said their teletype news service to
$50 afiliated stations was inter-
rupted by the strike. TELEPHONE
communication to some foreign
countries also was halted.
Ironically, broadcast made by
Mrs. Mary Cannon, president of the
Washington Telephone Traffic I'm
ion, over Station VOL, at S pm,
and which was to be ''piped in" to
the Uline meeting, could not be
heard by the Union members be-
cause no telephone line could be OBJ
tanned.
The local meeting, attended by
more than 1000 union members
from six locals in the District and
Maryland, passed five resolutions
provided by the national federation.
Not dissenting vote was cast
The unions, like those meeting all
over the United States, voted to:
/. Authorize the national fedora
tion to seek an NLRB strike vote.
.. Authorize the federation to call
other meetings like those held yes
terday.
3. Give the federation blanket au-
thority to act in the Kearny IN. J.)
case. This referred to the recon-
mendation last week by an NLRB
trial examiner that federation -afili-
ated unions in "a Western Electric
Co. plants in New York and New
Jersey be dissolved as company
dominated.
4. Write to Congress members and
Government officials seeking JUS
tice" in the Kearny case.
). Send presidents of local unions
to Washington to confer with off,
cials who might help in getting
reversal of the recommendation in
the Kearny case. This resolution
was for the benefit of locals else
where. but it was passed by the
Washington unions anyway.
The meeting at Uline began at
2:30 pm. after half an hour of
dance music provided by a five-
piece orchestra and crooner. The
four-hour meeting was frequently
interrupted by intermissions, during
which the orchestra played and
union members milled around the
hall.
The resolution authorizing the
federation to ask for strike vote
was passed at 4::30 pm. Most Of the
members filed out of the hall then,
but they were warned by their
leaders not to return to their jobs
until 6 pm.
Mr.. Dunn told the telephone work.
ers he had been asked whether the
walkout was not costing them a
great deal of pay.
Let me tell you this" he said.
For every dollar it costs us in
wages. it costs the telephone COM
pany IS In income
Mr.. Dunn recognized the fact that
the prevalence of dial telephones
In washington meant service could
be maintained locally even ii i
strike we're In progress.
Could Cripple Phones.
Il have heard. he said, that i
little aluminium paint over the dial
points kyi1l nut te1cnhone sArvjce mt