Evening star., 1946-03-07
Telephone
Continued From First Page.

the compromise then in the making
would be suitable.
That required many hours, and
it was not until Is minutes before
the deadline that Mr.. Beirne tele-
graphed the 81 affiliated unions,
representing 250,000 workers, that
the strike was Cancelled To ex-
pedite the order, Carlton w. Werkau
NFTW secretary treasurer and
strike director. began telephoning
the locals to remain on the job.
The agreement Mr.. Beirne called
fair" will provide wage increases
for the entire industry of from
S. to So a week effective Feb
ruary /, and will remain in
effect until March 6, 1947. Mr..
Warren said the agreement con-
stituted a national pattern, but
Mr.. Beirne said some local nego-
tiations must take place with re-
spect to the pattern" in bargain
ing at company-local levels.
In New York, Frank p Lawrence,
vice president of A. T. 9 T. in charge
of the long lines department, said
the department felt "a very fair
and equitable agreement has been
reached"
Mr.. Lawrence said the wage ad-
justment will increase the long lines
payroll by about $6,800,000 a year
and affect 19,300 employees.
THE operators are the largest
single group of employees" he said.
With the increase agreed upon, the
beginners rate will range from $27
to $31 for a basic five-day week, de-
pending on the locality. Top rates
will range from $50 to $45 for five
day week. This is exclusive of extra
compensation for overtime, Sundays
and holidays"
Mr.. Lawrence added that the
maximum for craftsmen will range
from $62 to $50 per week and that
average take-home pay for these
men will run $104 for day workers
and STA for men on the night shift, u
when overtime is figured.
In addition, the workers will re-
ceive $270000 more annually in
fringe" benefits. These benefits
include differentials for night work.
No change was made in the basic
work week of 40 hours.
When consideration of the Long
Lines dispute was transferred from
New York to Washington, the COM
pany was offering IS cents and the
union was holding out for 1871
cents. At that time the company
said it was prepared to seriously
consider something slightly under
II cents.
Six union representatives, headed
by J. ]. Moran, president of Long
Lines, and three company negotia-
tors closeted themselves with Mr..
Warren and Cancellation Service
commissioners at 10 am. Tuesday.
That meeting broke up at am.
Wednesday with little progress re-
| ported.
Labor Official Confident.
At 4 pm. yesterday Mr.. Beirne
said he had telegraphed all NFTW
afflliates that a strike was newt
able. Even then, Labor Depart
ment official said he was confident
the strike could be averted.
Altogether, conciliators kept the
A. T. & T. and Long Lines nego-
tiators in session for more than go
hours during the past week. 1t was
the willingness of the parties to
confer at all times that gave con-
ciliators reason to believe the COM
munications strike, projected as the
greatest in the Nations history,
could be blocked.
Before their president, Mrs. Mary
Cannon, had been informed Of the
settlement, operators began picket
ing in the Washington area at am.
Most of them had just left their
jobs after working all night
Sixteen pickets walked in front of
the downtown telephone office at
725 Thirteenth street NV They
carried signs such as: "We Want 81
Day So We Can Maintain Rea-
sonable Standard of Living" 1.-TWO
Bucks a Day to Hike Our Pay
Enough to Keep the Wolf Away" and
1.-The Voice With a Smile Will Be
Gone for a While-She's Walking
These Lines Til Mamma Bell
Signs"
These and other pickets parading
in the District were called off as
quickly as couriers could reach
them. The operators had been
warned not to heed announcements
of strike termination other than
those carried by authorized messen-
gers.
The Maryland strike also was
|, short-lived, even though it got
under way as early as 10 pm. yes
terday in Baltimore. The operators
there and in Cumberland, Hagers-
town and Frederick were going
back to work at 7 am.
/ Most of the pickets here seemed
| AnVEDTrCENNENT