Evening star., 1947-01-04
New Portal Pay Suits
For S331,5OO, Pui
Total Above ) Billion
BY the Associated Press

By the Associated Press
Portal to- portal retroactive
wage suits filed by employees
against industry now have passed
the $4,000 ,O0O, 900 mark.
The total of new suits filed yes
terday involved more than 1891 ,500,-
600. This was far below the $685.
100000 total for Thursday, but it
brought the total flood of claims
throughout the country to more
than s3,048, ,132, 900.
This did not include suit, which
a CIO union attorney estimated at
several million dollars" filed in
Federal Court at Beaumont, Tex,
against the Texas Co. on behalf of
3,700 workers in the Texas Co. re-
finery and Texaco terminal in Port
Arthur, Tex. No sum was mentioned
in the suit, which asked the court
to determine the amount.
New suits filed yesterday ranged
from few thousand dollars to $52,-
$4,000 sought from the Wright
Aeronautical Co. at Cincinnati.
United States Allowed to Intervene.
Meanwhile in Detroit, Federal
Judge Frank A. Picard yesterday
granted the Federal Government the
right to enter the controversial
Mount Clemens Pottery Co. portal
pay case, which started the flood of
actions.
He signed an order giving the
Government until January II to file
briefs in the suit, the forerunner of
billions of dollars in portal pay
claims by hundreds of thousands of
American workmen.
Judge Picard, whose original rul-
ing in the Mount Clemens case was
upheld by the Supreme Court, said
he will leave for New York tomor-
row to sit on the Federal bench
there.
He said he may make public his
decision on the Mount Clemens case
while there.
Judge Picard revealed yesterday
that he visited the pottery company
in Mount Clemens, Mich, in a snow
storm Thursday and went from one
end of the plant to the ether" for
two hours in connection with the
case.
Judge Checks Time.
The judge asked stop watch to
fix the actual time required by the
workers to travel from the gates to
their jobs.
The amount of back pay and
damages to which the pottery en-
ployes may be entitled is yet to be
decided.
The Government asked leave to
intervene IN the case as a friend
of the court" and to offer citations
which may aid the judge in his
decision.
Assistant United States Attorney
Morris Overriding explained that the
Government is interested in any
Interpretation of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1898, on which the
Supreme Court based its portal pay
ruling.
He also pointed out that the Gov
ernment may have a financial in
terest in the many portal pay suits.
since some of the corporations were
working under Government con-
tracts during the war.
Judge Picard told the attorney
that the courts interest lies only
in the legal aspects of the case
and not in its economics
Mr.. ZWerdling agreed:
"The Government is more con-
cerned with a fair Interpretation of
the law than its effect on the United
States Treasury he said.
Tine Government is not taking
sides in the matter, Mr.. overriding
explained, but considers the ques-
tions of law involved sufficiently i'm
portant to warrant its giving the
court any aid possible.
In Philadelphia four employees of
the Doehler-Jar Corp. at Potts
town, Pa, makers of die castings,
yesterday filed with apologies" a
portal-to-portal suit and asked the
Federal court to determine the
amount of any overtime and dam
ages due them and other workers.
The suit stated that relations be-
tween employees Of the plant and the
company have been as pleasant as
the conditions of labor relations in
a factory permit" and that the
workers "harbor no i'll will The
action came after a friendly settle
ment broke down recently because
of circumstances beyond the con-
troll of both parties"
The workers said they believed
the company's failure to pay the
overtime was due to an unaware
ness of the condition of the Federal
wage law and not to any bad faith.
The company also operates plants in
Illinois, Ohio and New York"