The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-06-10
Asks Help In
Hdlting Atom
Plunt Strike

cials declared last week that they
will seek help from Congress in
an effort to avoid a strike at the
Oak Ridge Natl Laboratory of the
Carbide & Carbon Chemicals Corp.
Members of the Atomic Trades g.
Labor Council had, earlier in the
week, turned down by I'll to 26 a
10c wage offer from the corpora
ton. The vote was taken in the
first NLRB election of its sort
held under the emergency provi-
sions section of the Taft Hartley
act.
Under the TIL formula, which
was supposed to avoid strife, the
President set up a fact-finding
board and the courts issued an in
junction to prevent the workers
from striking for 80 days. Mean
while, negotiations Went on involv-
ing, at various states, the Federal
Mediation & Cancellation Service,
Atomic Energy Commission, White
House and Joint Congressional
Committee on Atomic Energy. Out
of all this came-nothing.
The workers are free to strike
now on June Z but AFL leadership,
feeling a strong sense of respon-
sibility for the national security,
has deferred strike plans and is
turning to Congress in last-ditch
effort to settle the dispute without
h a walkout.
= Atomic Energy Commissioner
David E. Lilienthal met last week
with AFL President William Green,
James A. Brownlow, secretary of
the AFL Metal Trades Dept, and
president Of the IA craft unions in
the AFL atomic council but no
agreement was arrived at. Green
asked Lilienthal to negotiate direct
ly with the union or force Carbide
to accept arbitration, but the Com
missions position has consistent
ly been to keep hands off the man
agement functions of its contrac-
tors.
The present dispute began last
March when Carbide took over the
laboratory and tried to take away
from the employees the working
conditions they had won previously
under the Monsanto Chemical Co.
The union was demanding a 26c
wage increase at the time the
members voted down the 10c COM
pany offer.
Under the Taft-Hartley Act, Tru-
man is now authorized to ask Con-
gress for whatever action he finds
necessary to deal with the situation.
!. AFL organizer Kenneth l.. Scott
said that eff the government takes
over the plant from Carbide and
operates it under the same condi-
tions it is operating, the union will
not strike"
There have been several sugges-
tions on a labor policy for the
atomic energy industry but none
that are acceptable to all concern
ed. A blanket ban on~-strikes is
strongly opposed by both the unions
and the Commission. CIO has point
ed out that laws against strikes are
ineffective. Both the unions and
the Acc also oppose suggestion
by Carbide that the workers be
made government employees but
continue to work for private con-
tractors.
Arbitration machinery has been
suggested by both AFL and CIO
but is opposed by the Corporation.
FMCS Director Cyrus Ching has
proposed uniform pension, vacation
and sick leave programs for all
these issues from the collective bar
gaining sphere. Carbide and the
atomic plants which would remove
unions are both theoretically in ac-
cord with the idea but the unions
want Acc to take a part in it.
City noise at 5 a. m. makes us
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