The Daily Alaska empire., 1946-01-17
LABOR MEN MEET WITH
 PRESIDENT
Efforts Are Being Made io Avert Big Strike on
 Next Monday
tBy The Associated pressl

A fact-finding board was named today to consider the nationwide meat strike as the House labor com- mittee cleared the way for prompt action on President Truman's pro- posal that such boards be granted legislative authority.
 Secretary of Labor Schwellenbach, who appointed the meat panel said 1t would meet later today with rep resentatives of the 263,000 CIO and AFL meat workers on strike and the packing companies involved. The Labor Secretary will also participate 1 in the meeting
 Earlier today the House Labor Committee agreed to act before next | Tuesday on the fact-finding bill which would prohibit strikes during 30-day period and give investiga- tcrs access to company records.
 Idle Boosted
 The agreement was announced as government officials strove to head off q threatened strike of 800000 next Monday and find road to settlement of strike of 263, 900 in the meat packing industry walk out that boosted the number of strike-idle in the nation to 886.000
 The House committee decision came after it refused by a to ' tic vote to approve a modified yer- sion of such ieeislatiors
 In the Senate, Senator Eastland tD~Miss) presented motion for speedy floor action on the fact ! finding bill. but no action can be taken on 1t until the next Senate session. The Senate Labor Commit tee is conducting hearings now { Wage Arbitration
 Meanwhile Albert J. Fitzgerald. head of the CIO Electrical workers, whose 100000 members struck again. st General Electric, Westinghouse and General Motors Tuesday. of l fered to submit the wage dispute to arbitration.
 ! He made the offer before the Sem ate Labor Committee, where he ap- peared as witness on President Truman's proposal for establishment |, of fact-finding boards in labor dis lputes.
 i The CIO United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Company, two cents an hour apart on their wage dispute. failed to agree at another bargaining session today and will meet again tomorrow
 1 Seizure Urged
 Thirteen midwestern Senators urg- ed President Truman today to order seizure of strikebound midwest truck lines as conferences were called in Washington in an affort to settle the nationwide meat strike and head off threatened tieup of the steel industry.
 i Tn the threatened strike of 800.- GOO steel workers. the President promised to submit his own proposal if principals in the controversy fail- ed to reach agreement over the wage issue.
 Presidential Press Secretary Char les c. Ross said fact-finding board members named by the President to inquire into the steel dispute would ! call on MT. Truman later today to discuss the entire situation. l Meat supplies on hand. already ! depleted by lower receipts the past several days, dropped lower as the strike of 263,000 packing house em- lployees entered it's second day. { Negotiations Collapsed | WASHINGTON. Jan. 17.--Steel wage negotiations between CIO Pres ident Murray and Benjamin F. Fair less. President of U. S. Steel Corp, collapsed today at the White House ! President Truman promptly of- fered a compromise proposal which Murray and Hairless took under ad- visement for decision by tomorrow noon.
 The President called the two into his office at 4 p. m. (EST. Press Secretary Charles G. Ross told re- porters. and Murray and Hairless re- ported they were ''still in disagree mcntr
 Ross gave the following statement to reporters:
 \ MT. Murray and MT. Hairless came back at D m. to renew the negotiations. At p. m. they were asked to come into the Presidents office and did They reported tkey were still in dira0re fr,- r.r,f