Evening star., 1949-10-29
Steel Firms Blamed
BY Morse for Failing
TO Settle Strike
BY the kssoeioted Press

BY the Assoeioted Press
-" Senator Morse, Republican. Of
-Oregon today blamed the big
steel companies for failure to set
tile, the industry -strangling steeI
strike.
With negotiations deadlocked ir
both the steel walkout and the
equally important coal strickland
the Nations industry showing the
effects-Senator Morse called or
steel producers to grant the 10
cent welfare package proposed BY
President Truman's fact-findina
board.
The major steel companies have
expressed willingness to put 9
pension insurance plan into ef-
feet, but only if the workers con-
tribute to it.
Cyrus Ching, Federal mediation
chief. calling three more steel
-frms into peace talks starting in
Washington tomorrow or Monday
reported no tangible evidence" of
progress toward ending the strike.
Coal Talks Put Off.
Similar reports came from coal
talks, as negotiators put off fur
.ther discussions until Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Government reports
showed output shrinking and lay
offs rising in the industries which
feed on coal and steel.
: In New York conferences droned
on between Mr.. Ching and the
parties to the 29-day steel tieup
He talked to United States steel
leaders for six hours yesterday.
Then he got CIO President Philip
Murray on the telephone twice,
and finally invited three more
firms to take part in the parleys.
Mr.. Ching said he felt it was
necessary to bring Republic Steel,
Jones & Laughlin, and Youngs-
town Sheet and Tube companies
into the talks for two days here.
but didn't say why he felt 50.
He gave no evidence that this
maneuver might mean a pending
break in the deadlock. On the
contrary, he told a news confer
ence there was no visible sign of
retreat by either the industry or
the CIO United Steelworkers.
Mr.. Murray chalked up two
minor strike gains yesterday,
when
/. Pittsburgh Screw g. Bolt Co.
announced a strike settlement
On the unions terms-for its five
plants in Pennsylvania and Indi-
ana. Its 1900 employees will go
back to work next week.
2. CIO Textile Workers con-
tributed s25o,000 to the steel
unions war chest. CIO Auto
Workers already had provided
100000. CIO Textile Workers
were reported about to pass the
hat for another $25o,000.
Capital Is Gloomy.
Washington's mood was gloomy,
although hope persisted that pri-
vate settlement efforts would be
speeded up by Mr.. Truman's
statement on Thursday that the
White House does not plan to in
tervene.
The President said the steel and
coal strikes do not yet add up to
a national emergency. Nonethe-
less sheaf of Federal reports
yesterday showed that the shut
downs are beginning to pinch
hard.
The Federal Reserve Board es-
timated that industrial production
has sagged 111a per cent this
month, because of the strikes, to
the lowest level since the spring
of 1916. That was when industry
was making its turn -around from
war to peacetime output amid
"drst-round" labor troubles.
Freight car loadings last week
were down SO per cent from a year
ago, the boards report showed.
Department store sales were 13
per cent below a year ago for the
first three weeks of October.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported that strikes cost the
country 6.35o.0oo man-days of
production in September. That
included the coal miners walkout,
which started September 10, but
not the steel tieup. which began
October !. The total was greater
than for any month since the
spring of 1948.