Evening star., 1946-05-22
Unions Submit
.'FinaIP|an' 10
.AyertRai| Strike
Brotherhood Heads
Await Invitation
To White House
BY the Associated Press


Railroad brotherhoods said to-
day they had submitted to the
Government final proposition"
for settlement of the rail strike
and may confer during the day
with President Truman.
A. F.. Whitney, president of the
tralnmen's brotherhood, told a re-
porter that DR.. John R. Steelman,
presidential labor adviser, had in
formed him this morning by tele-
phone that the brotherhood officials
may be invited to the White House.
Mr.. Whitney said he is waiting to
hear further from DR.. Steelman as
to what time
Two hours after Mr.. Whitney
made his statement, the carriers
spokesman told reporters mo new
proposal has been made to us yet,
either by the brotherhoods or by
the White House"
Hold Off on Embargo.
The carriers said they intend to
hold off issuing an embargo on ship
ments of perishable food and live
stock until it becomes apparent no
possible settlement is in sight be-
fore the strike deadline
The strike of 250,OOO engineers and
trainmen is set for 4 pm. tomorrow.
I'VE gave Mr.. Steelman a final
proposition, Mr.. Whitney said 1T
is better than any we have sub
mitted yet"
Won't Give Details.
Mr.. Whitney refused to give any
details, saying, you'll have to ask
DR.. Steelman about that" The
union leader said it was the second
offer made since the two brother
hoods scaled down their wage de-
mands from an original minimum Of
$3.50 a day and 25 per cent gen.
orally to a minimum S1.44 per day
with general l8 per cent wage
: boost
We now are waiting to hear from
the Government whether the new
offer is acceptable to the carriers"
Mr.. Whitney said
Mr.. Whitney said he did not
invite only the brotherhoods to the
White House or both the carriers
and brotherhoods.
Rule Changes Big Issue.
4 Negotiators said solution of the
: dispute would be relatively simple
if only wages were at issue. One Of
the carrier spokesmen described
brotherhood demands for changes in
IS working rules as "by far the most
troublesome feature in the whole
picture"
Working rules are the stipulated
conditions under which railmen per-
form their duties. Among changes
proposed by the trainmen and en-
g!neers are that the carriers pay for
all uniforms and reimburse men for
time lost during depot and switch
ing delays and stopovers.
Statistics on Cost.
/ The carriers estimated the pro-
posed rules changes would cost
them $500 900 a year. They have
agreed to pay the 16-cents hourly
!; increase for all their l 100000 work.
ers as recommended by fact-fnding
boards functioning under the rail-
way labor law. They estimate this
would cost them $619,00O,00O.
! Mr.. Steelman told reporters he
still was trying to work out CON-
/, promise between the Brotherhoods'
demand and the fact-finding rec
concentrations. In this he reported
making perhaps little progress"
but, mot much"
Mr.. Whitney and Alvanley john
ston of the locomotive engineers said
in statement I'VE hope we are
making progress toward a settle-
ment," but carrier spokesman
commented privately "it looks
awfully forlorn to me: Those fell
lows are adamant"
Insist Strike Would Be Legal.
The brotherhoods say they can
go ahead legally with their strike
at pm. tomorrow. even though
railmen are now working for Uncle
Sam, because their walkout was
formally arranged before the Gov
ernment took over They contend
| the wartime Smith, Connally Act
penalizing strikers against the
Government applies only to strikes
promoted after Federal seizure Of
an industry or enterprise
Edward j. Flynn, Bronx Demo-
cratic leader and former attorney
for the railroad brotherhoods, came
into the picture yesterday. He saw
Mr.. Truman at the White House at
) noon and then visited twice at the
hotel suite of Mr. Whitney and Mr..
Johnston.
Mr.. Flynns visits were described
as purely social" and he merely
grinned when neWsmen asked
: whether he had carried any sort of
personal White House message to
, the brotherhood officials.