The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-10-05
Strikes Keep 682,56O Idle in US. Only 112,65O
 Directly Involved
 In WoIkouts
BY UNITED PRESS


 More than 682,56O persons were idle today as the result of labor dis putes ranging from the nationwide shipping walkout to strike of school teachers at Wilkes Barre, Pa.
 Both the teachers and the mari- time strikers demanded higher pay. So did workers in most of the other strikes.
 Of the 682.560 idle, only 112,65O were involved directly in walkouts. Most of the others were laid off as a result of the shipping strike and the Pittsburgh power tie-up.
 The major developments:
 l. The Government, in an
 attempt to end the four-day
 maritime strike, called West
 Coast shipowners to Washing
 ton to participate in negotia-
 tions. The West Coast operators
 had been represented in the ne-
 gotiations by their trade organ
 ization, the Pacific American
 Ship Owners Association.
 2. The ranks of Pittsburgh
 power strikers were split by a
 Revolt" against the leadership
 of President George L. Mueller
 of the Independent Union of
 Power Workers.
 3. At Hollywood, motion
 picture producers and strikers
 looked for the aid of negotiations
 to end the dispute which has
 resulted in picket line violence
 at several studios.
 Owners Object to Strategy
 In the shipping strike, East and Gulf Coast ship owners reportedly were objecting to the Government strategy of attempting to east the strike by negotiating separate set- dement's, leaving the difficult West Coast problem to the last.
 AS result, the Government con- ciliators shifted their peace efforts by inviting West Coast ship owners themselves to the conference table. The Government hoped that the ship owners would be less adamant than the association which has rep resented them.
 At San Francisco, President liar ry Bridges of the c. I. O. Long shormen's Union, sent a telegram to Secretary of Labor Lewis Schwel- lenbtch offering to end the walk out of 23,O00 longshormen which has tied up the West Coast water front. Bridges offered to leave to future negotiations the minor issue of whether longshoremen or sailors should unload 16 steam schooners.
 At Pittsburgh, an insurgent fac- tion of the power workers union petitioned the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board for an election to determined representative of 700 production workers at one sub-sta- tion. Leaders of the faction said the strike should have been settled long ago" They said the 700 sub station workers had formed a new union, independent of the one on strike.
 Hope for Clarity in Chicago
 At Hollywood, the Striking Con- ference of Studio Unions, GA. F. L.) , appealed to U. S. conciliation Di- rector Edgar Warren to attempt settlement of the dispute, which has spread to nine major studios. Motion picture producers affected by the walkout hoped that the A. F. L. national convention in Chicago would act to eliminate jurisdictional union issues which caused the work stoppage.
 Attempts to settle the transpor- tation tie-up at Columbus, O. made little progress as the strike of 500 bus drivers and streetcar employees entered it's third day.
 At Chicago, Federal conciliator called another meeting between management and union representa- tives in an attempt to end two-day bus strike.