Evening star., 1946-09-29
.ConciIiators Toll
As Ship Strike
|Dead|ine Nears
AGENTS of Owners
And Unions Here;
All Coasts ImperiIed
By jones Y. Newton

The Government worked few
erishly over the week end to head
off a second all-coast shipping
strike within a month, set for to-
morrow midnight by merchant
marine licensed personnel.
Representatives of ship owners Of
all coasts and the two unions in
volved in the dispute were here, the
West Coast officials arriving late
yesterday. Negotiating sessions were
scheduled for today, but less than
48 hours remained in which to reach
agreement.
Secretary of Labor Schwellenbach
| told the ship owners and union Of
ficials at the first meeting last night
that another maritime strike would
be tragedy" He told the nego-
tiators they had to reach agreement
before the strike deadline and that
both sides should be prepared to
make sacrifices.
Owners, Union Confer.
The ship owners conferred for
about an hour with officials of the
CIO Marine Engineers Beneficial
Association. representing merchant
marine engine room officers. Later
last night there was meeting with
the other union, the AFL Masters.
Mates and Pilots, an organization
of deck officers.
Then the negotiations were re-
cessed until 10 m today.
Earlier, the AFL union renewed
an offer to postpone the strike. Capt.
Harry Martin, president of tbs
MMP, said he would recommend .
delay in strike action to his mem
bership if the CIO engineers wofald
do likewise and provided the na0o.
tiations showed signs of real pf1g-
ress.
I There was no immediate reply
!, from S. J. Hogan, head of the CIO
union, or from the ship operators.
Meanwhile, there still remained
the threat of another strike. also set
for tomorrow midnight by Harry
Bridges CIO longShoremen. The
dispute affects only the West Coast.
Word from San Francisco was that
a union demand for a safety code
was still the chief obstacle to agree
ment. Labor Department ofYicials
said they had received very en-
couraging news" from Nathan p
Feinsinger. their mediator in the
( dispute between Mr. Bridges union
, and waterfront associations. They
refused to elaborate on the state
ment.
Mr.. Feinsinger told reporters that
if they could get the safety code
issue out of the way 1T won't take
, long to reach a final agreement.
) He said another key issue remaining
was the union demand for 33-
cents-per-hour wage increase.
Negotiations here between ship
owners and the two unions of off,
GERS were delayed by indecision Of
the Pacific American Shipowners'
Association on whether to send
their president, j. B. Bryan. to thf
conferences. Secretary Schwellen@
bach had been insistent that Mr..
Bryan attend.
! May Lack Power.
However, the association dele
gated Wallace L. Brown. the secre-
tary, and Marion Plant, attorney.
as negotiators. They arrived late
Yesterday There was some doubt
among Labor Department officials
as to whether the substitutes had
sufficient power, despite Mr..
| Bryan's message that the two had
: full instructions and adequate au-
thority" to deal with the unions.
The AFL pilots are demanding .
80 per cent pay hike and the CIO
engineers an increase of IS per
cent. Neither was involved directly
5 in the recent 17-day shipping strike.
5 A walkout by either probably would
tltie In all pOrtS