Evening star., 1946-06-09
AFL Ship Union
Cancels Votefor
Pacific WaIkout
PorIeys to Avert
CIO Strike Appear
To Be DeudIocked
By james Y. Newton

The immediate threat of a
strike by the AFL Sailors Union
of the Pacific was eased last
night as acknowledgement
negotiations to avert a June IS
Walkout of CIO maritime unions
rocked along with little apparent
progress.
Good news on the Nations en-
battled maritime labor front came
from San Francisco where Harry
Lundeberg, Sailors Union head. an
nounced cancellation of a strike
vote. The union held the first con-
tract negotiating session in six
months with the Pacific Shipowners
Association, after which a manage
ment spokesman said definite
progress was made Both sides
were optimistic over prospect of
settlement.
In Washington. where the Labor
Department is attempting to head
of the strike of the CIO unions and
the one independent group which
form the Committee for Maritime
Unity, the news was not so good.
Assistant Secretary of Labor John
w. Gibson told newsmen there is
no reason for great optimism and
no reason for pessimism either at
this stage"
Propose Shore Leave Pay.
Mr.. Gibson revealed that Federal
concillators had proposed giving
sailors shore leave with pay instead
OF a shortened work week at sea,
In an effort to remove the main OBJ
stacle toward settlement of differ
ences between the CIO National
Maritime Union, largest of the
group. and the ship owners. The
union. now working 56-hour week
at sea, originally demanded a 40
hour week and later revised it to A
hours.
Both the NMU, headed by Joseph
Curran, and East Coast ship opera
tors took the proposal under advise
ment and will give their answer
soon, Mr.. Gibson said. So far, the
operators have not budged from the
56-hour week, while there were in
dications the union did not take too
kindly to the Government proposal.
Mr.. Gibson explained the plan
would work something like this:
Sailors would be granted a day off
on shore with full pay for each IA
days spent at sea.
Other Parleys Due Today.
Additional negotiating sessions
will be held today. The West Coast
operators and the unions are due to
meet at 4:30 pm, and the NMU and
the East Coast operators four hours
later. Mr.. Gibson said his men had
scheduled other meetings with the
disputing parties individually.
Meanwhile, the NMU went ahead
with plans for the strike, now only
six days away. The unions ma
tional council met most of yester-
day and voted to release a 81 900 900
strike fund for division among the
various port cities. Arrangements
for a prestrike rally in New York'S
Madison Square Garden Thursday
night also were discussed.
The Committee for Maritime Unity
announced it had received a prom :
ise of cooperation in the strike
from Latin American maritime
unions Louis Goldblatt, committee
secretary, said the unions of the
CTAL Gatin-American Federation
Of Labor had given assurance they
would not handle United States
cargo if President Truman SeiZes
American ships and attempts TO
run them with armed force per-
sonnel.
Little Progress Evidenced
Earlier both French and New
Zealand dock workers had made
similar promises.
1t appeared that actually little
progress toward settling the mari
time dispute had been made in the
10 days of Government-SponS
talks. Mr.. Gibson said he would
not predict that the proposal for
compensatory time off on shore
would settle the hours issue, the
chief hurdle to agreement. He did
say, hopefully:
when the parties are discussing
(See MARITIME, Page A-12)