Evening star., 1951-06-04
Showdown Is Possible
Today in Walkout Of
Detroit Transit Union
BY the Assoeiatsd Press

n pOSS1UlC SllOWuOWll 1UOlIlCu W"
day In Detroit's 45-day transit
walkout with AFL strikers limiting
they might be ready to fight it
out in the street" if necessary.
The threat came from Walter
Stanley. business manager of the
AFL Streetcar and Bus Operators
Union, after Mayor Albert E. Cobo
asked six CIO maintenance super
visors to 60 into the strike bound
streetcar and bus terminals and
check on the condition of the We
hicles. They have been out of
operation since $3.50 drivers struck
April 81.
Meanwhile, a surprise strike of
nearly 800 workers tied up public
transportation at Chattanooga,
Tenn, and New York was threat
|ened with July l transit walkout
that a CIO official said would
make "the Detroit strike look like
"a Sunday picnic in comparison. .
Mayor Orders Special Session.
Gus Faber. national vice presi-
dent of the CIO Transport
Workers Union. made the predlc-
ton in a Chicago speech yesterday
before CIO United Railroad
Workers conference.
New York Mayor Vincent r.
Impellitteri has called his city's
Board of Transportation to a spe-
Icial session tomorrow, repeatedly
to outline plan to avert a strike
in a dispute over wages and 40
hour work week. The board also
has a meeting scheduled today.
At Detroit. Mayor Cobo and
other city officials said they were
worried about the tires and bat
teries of some of the buses and
wanted the equipment in order in
case a settlement is reached.
But Mr.. Stanley branded the
action a "strike-breaking" move.
The city has filed court petition
asking that the strikers be re-
strained from interfering with any
resumption of service. A decision
still is pending.
CIO Officials Silent.
Referring to the Mayors new
directive, Mr.. Stanley said:
II Cobo wants to fight it out
on the street, all right"
Oficials of the CIO Mainte-
nance Workers Local 312 de-
clined to say whether the super
visors would cross operators
picket lines! They commented
only that it was a CIO policy to
respect picket lines Of other unions
and said the problem would be
met when it arose.
Inc supervisors were asked to
go in and draw up a program for
another IS workmen. They would
pump up tires and recharge bat
teries.
The strikers are seeking an 8l5-
cent hourly wage boost from their
present base rate of $l.671a. The
city has offered cents on condi-
tlon that an equivalent amount in
fringe benefits be surrendered.
4O-Hour Week Sought.
negotiations in the New York
dispute, which have a July / dead
line set by the union, concern the
TWU's demand for a 4o-hour
week instead of the present a to
IL hours, and a general wage in
crease Of 10 per cent.
Present hourly rates range
from SIPS for porters to s1.7I for.
motormen on subways.
The AFL drivers at chatta-
nooga walked out yesterday, day
after the Southern Coach Lines
announced that Driver Walter
Crownover had been relieved of
all duties" Mr.. Crownover was
charged with murder last week
in the fatal shooting of Walter B.
Sims, a colored passenger with
whom he argued in the Dispatch
ler'S Office.
r. E. Burroughs, president of
the AFL Coach Employees of
America local involved, said the
strike was unauthorized" and
added that he knew nothing about
it until three hours after it was
called.