Evening star., 1950-04-25
Telephones
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members had not yet concentrated
on "jamming" tactics
Mrs. Eleanor Jane Palmer, pres
ident of the Washington operators
Division so, said she encouraged
plenty of telephone calls by union
members and sympathizers "as the
only way we can fight back against
the use of supervisors in our jobs"
But she said the membership
would not formally be asked to
overwork the phones. Glenn E.
Watts, president of Division 36'S
craft and commercial workers
here, said the union would do
nothing to help the company's
cause, but made it clear his group
was not espousing tanning" at
this time.
Prosecution Threatened,
Engineers recognize the fact
that a flood of telephone calls to
one exchange will tie up service.
and that a deluge of calls to the
long distance operators will slow
up that service@ T. III
In Chicago the Cook County
States q attorney threatened :vt to
prosecute1 any one caught! at
tempting to jam telephones.
While union officials called JAM
ming legal, company officials hit
at the policy. ria
Apparently the union does not
realize that loss of life and prop
erty can result from these ire
sponsible attempts to jam phone
systems" a Bell System spokes-
man said.
In Washington, United States
Attorney George Morris Fay said
there was no statute directly ap-
plying to such tactics as phone
tanning"
However. if there is any evi-
dence of concerted action or a
conspiracy to overwork the tele-
phones, we will look into the as
poets of whether or not there is a
violation of any Interstate Com
merce or Federal Communications
Commission laws or regulations"
Mr.. Fay added.
Proof Would Be Difficult.
Mr.. Fay said it would be difficult
to prove that any individual was
making a telephone call for the
purpose of crippling the system.
While the WE installers walked
out early because of a grievance
involving a job in South Bend,
Ind, the underlying dispute is over
wages.
Some CWA divisions have been
bargaining with Bell System units
since last November. In Wash
ington, the divisions representing
$500 operators and $500 craft
and commercial employees have
held more than 80 talks with c.
& P. since February.
Before President Truman re-
quested the 60-day delay in strike
plans February 26, the union re-
vealed it's demands for a 15-cent
package wage increase. Both sides
agreed that the shorter hours,
faster advancement, pension and
other benefits demanded would
amount to 81 cents hourly for
each worker.
Arbitration Offer Made.
Since then the union has Of
fered to arbitrate and has pointed
out that a settlement of $3.50 a
week granted in a New Jersey
arbitration procedure might serve
as basis for settlement of the
entire dispute. The companies,
bargaining with "a divisions, have
maintained that wage increases
are not justified, and have offered
only to extend terms of present
contracts.
The strike status of Divisions So
and so was not entirely crystal
lied here today. Both were in the
process of counting strike votes
taken by mail, with the expecta-
ton that the final tally will be
known by the strike deadline.
Whether the enumerating is
complete or not, members of these
divisions will be expected to OBJ
serve picket lines which the 300
striking WE installers will throw
up around all telephone installa-
tionS at am. tomorrow.
Two other CWA divisions, No.
18. made up of WE salesmen, and
No. 10, composed of long-lines op-
orators, also are expected by the
parent union to observe picket
lines. They number about 800
workers here.
/ The prospect of a break in local
negotiations appeared remote. I'VE
won't make move unless the
company does" said Mr.. Watts.
I'VE have made it clear that IS
cents is not our final demand,
that we will bargain on that figure
> if the company makes us an offer"