Evening star., 1949-08-31
500 Truck Drivers Set
To5hikeH Here Tonight;
Conci|iator Calls Talk

About 500 drivers and helpers
for feeder truck lines here will
go on strike at 1901 o'clock to-
night unless an agreement is
reached with 81 companies before
the deadline, it appeared today.
Federal Conciliator Richard w.
Goodrich planned to meet with
union representatives today in
an effort to avert the walkout.
The drivers. who are members
of Local $50, AFL Teamsters'
Union. are seeking an area wage
agreement covering Washington,
Baltimore. Cumberland. Hagers-
town and Winchester. The exist
ing contracts expire at one min
ute after midnight.
The negotiations are being con-
Quoted between Charles Bell. rep
resenting the teamsters. and At
torney Joseph C. McGarraghy for
the District Trucking Association
Mr.. McGarraghy said there would
be meeting in his Office this
afternoon in an effort to effect a
settlement.
S1.45 Wage Scale Sought.
The association represents Ia
trucking firms and generally sets
the pattern for an equal number
of non-association truckers in
Washington. The agreement COW
ers a total of about 5.100 truck
drivers in the five cities.
The union asks a contract pro-
viding equal wages and working
conditions for freight drivers in
the five cities and an area wage
rate of $1.45.
The drivers, who work for COM
panies transhipping freight from
railroad terminals. now get $1.15
per hour for a 48-hour week. The
union seeks a 40-hour work week.
The drivers carry the bulk of the
freight hauled in this area by
truck. but the dispute does not
involve the Railway Express Co..
which has a contract with another
union.
Radio WalkOut Averted.
Meanwhile. another impending
strike was averted last night when
tentative agreement was reached
after an all-day meeting by labor
officials and the management of
Radio Station WTOP.
The 80 union members of the
Radio Broadcasting Engineers,
Local 1915. AFL, we're scheduled
to walk out at midnight tonight
Their contract expired May "a
and they are freed from a no
strike agreement at midnight.
No final agreement was reached
yesterday. it was reported, but
both sides said considerable prog
ress was made. The engineers
ask across the board wage in
creases and three weeks vacation
They now get from s62.50 to S125
per week and two weeks vacation
Two Other Disputes Unchanged.
Final agreement may be reached
late today, according to spokes-
men at WTOP. If the engineers
had struck. the management had
planned to operate the station
with supervisory personnel.
Two other labor disputes, which
already have entered the strike
stage. continued without change
today. A Federal conciliator was
scheduled to meet today with
management and union officials in
an effort to end the 13-day strike
of the AFL PlastererS Union. Five
hundred plasterers walked out
nearly two weeks ago after their
demand for a 2 per cent health
and disqualification fund was de-
MED.
There were no new develop
ments in the two-day strike of ITS
employees of the Smoot Sand and
Gravel Co. Members of two AFL
unions. Local n of the Interna-
tional Union of Operating Engin-
eers, and Local 639 of the Team
sters, struck Monday after Is
per cent wage increase demand
u,oe raiorfod