The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-01-11

increased wages and other conces- Sions.
 The telephone tieup resulted when ACEW threw picket lines around exchanges and members oi the National Federation of Tele- phone Workers (Ind) generally re- spected them.
 Schwellenbach earlier had hinteo at possible government seizure oi telephone facilities when, in reply to a question on that point, he said:
 If we get the picketing called off, it may not be necessary"
 Full extent of the tieup could moi yet be assessed, as picketing across the nation got under way at vary ing hours. The majority of tele- phone workers had not been due tc report for work at most points un- til later in the day.
 But in such major cities as New York, Washington, Chicago, Phila- delphia, Detroit, Cleveland ane Dallas, only emergency long dis tance calls were being accepted and 1t appeared that by this after noon communication among most of the nations cities would be prac- tically at a standstill.
 No violence was reported any where.
 In New York, only the American Telephone & Telegraph Company'S huge long-lineS center was affected. It normally handles 75,000 calls a day. Tickets were not scheduled to be thrown around regular New York exchanges until 2 a. m. to- morrow.
 Press association, radio, and newspaepr leased wires were not affected, and it was believed they would not be, since union officials directing the tieup had promised that basic objections to use of tell ephone facilities would be waived fin the case of the press"
 Dial Service Unaffected
 Dial service, which covers the bulk of telephones in most of the larger cities of the country, was unaffected thus far, but manual telephone subscribers at many points were without service.
 Such services as information, trouble, and the like were affected.
 The tieup came as the striking Association of Communications Equipment Workers (Ind.) threw picket lines around the exchanges, and telephone workers, members of the National Federation of Tele- phone Workers (Ind) generally re- spected them.
 Picketing started after a night of rapid-fire developments in which the ACEW action was first on, then of, then on again.
 A meeting between ACEW leaders and officials of Western Electric Company, against which the union had struck Wednesday in @ de- mand for wage increases and other concessions, had ended without an agreement late yesterday, although the union made a compromise offer"
 Ernest Weaver, ACEW president, then said that plans for picketing the exchanges would go ahead.
 But U. s. Conciliator J. R. Man delbaum, making every effort to avoid the tie-up, reported to Sec retary of Labor Lewis B. Schwellen- bach, and the secretary shortly be- fore 10 o'clock last night made an urgent appeal to the ACEW to postpone the picketing move. He asked both sides in the dispute to meet with him at 4 p. m. today in Washington.
 Tried to Halt Tickets
 Weaver enlisted the aid of press and radio at that time in an effort to inform his locals across the na- ton of the new development, and halt the picketing.
 After telephonic conferences with leaders of most of the locals, how- ever, Weaver announced that 1t had been too late to call of the picket ing, and directed that the union with its plans for the tieup.
 Boston, Jan. il - CUP) - New England local telephone service will not be affected by a national sym- pathy strike for the Western Elec~ trio Company installation workers walkout, according to New England union officials.
 Miss Katherine P. Holman. vice. president of the New England Fed- eration of Telephone Operators saio last night:
 "Our union is not affiliated in any way with the Western Electric unions. We are conducting our own wage negotiations with the New England Telephone Company. So far, the negotiations have proceeded satisfactory. We expect to continue at work and do not expect that tele. phone service in the New England states will be affected by the threat anad etFikes."