Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-07-11
Atom Workers
End Strike at
Paducah Plant
President Certified,
Discurds PIcn to
Seek injunction
BY The Assseiassd Pres, !,

A strike threatening produce
ton of atomic and HYDROGEN
bombs was called on yesterday
and a "gratified" President hi.
senhower discarded plans to
seek q Taft Hartley Law injunc-
ton against it.
Go atomic workers voted.
32S-96. to return to work imne-
diately at the atomic energy
project near Paducah, KY, re-
versing q decision Of Friday night
to continue the walkout.
In accepting a back-to-the-
job plan worked out by Secretary
OF Labor Mitchell and CLIO Pres
ident Walter Reuther, the Pa
ducah employees followed the ex-
ample Of strikers at Oak Ridge,
Tenn, who voted shortly after
midnight Friday night to end
their walkout.
Production resumed under nor
NAL conditions at both Oak
Ridge and Paducah.
Problems to BE Reviewed.
The peace plan calls for q
government review of health.
housing and community prob
lens Of all the nations atomic
workers.
In all. 1000 workers--members
OF the CIO Gas, Coke and Chem
ical Workers Union-were in
yolved in the Paducah strike and
$500 at Oak Ridge, although all
did not participate In the ballot
ing.
AFL workers at Oak Ridge had
also voiced demands, but did not
join in the strike.
When word was received at
the White House that the Pa
ducah employees had accepted
the peace plan, the Presidents
press secretary, James c. Hag-
erty, said:
The President has Just been
informed by the Secretary Of
Labor that the work stoppage at
the Paducah atomic energy plant
has been ended and that the
CLIO workers have voted to re-
turn to their jobs.
Tribute to AFL Workers.
| THE President desires to give
special public tribute to those
AFL workers at Oak Ridge and
supervisory personnel at both
locations who recognized the
Importance 0f the national Sc
curity aspects Of their jobs and
who did not leave them.
! He is also gratitied that the
CLIO members returned volun-
tarily to work and that the
plants will soon be restored to
normal operation. The return to
work now makes 1t unnecessary
for the Federal Government to
seek an Injunction under the
terms Of the labor MANAGEMENT
act of the 1947 (Taft-Hartley
Act)."
The final break in the walkout
came as President Eisenhower
stood ready to ask the Justice
Department to go into court and
apply for an 8O-day no-strike
injunction against the CLIO Pa
ducah strikers.
The strike, though a small
one, had hit plants producing
vital materials for the atomic
and hydrogen bombs. But the
facilities had continued to pro-
duce, with supervisory employees
manning them.
Recommendation Reversed.
The Paducah workers Friday
night turned down the back-to-
work proposal by an oyerwhelm.
ing vote. Yesterday, however,
the negotiating COMMITTEES. which
had recommended the previous
rejection, reversed itself and
urged members to approve the
proposal.
The proposal also pledged that
the Atomic Energy Commission
would study labor relation prob
lens with q view to improving
bargaining procedures at atomic
plants.
The dispute centered around
Go and AFL wage-increaSe de-
mands, but officials said there
apparently were deep-rooted un-
DERIVING problems relating to liv-
ing conditions.
Secretary Mitchell promised
the workers no wage increase be-
yond the six-cents-an-hour in
crease proposed several weeks
ago by President Eisenhower'S
atomic labor panel. This was ac-
cepted by the Aces contracting
employer, the Carbide q Carbon
(See ATOMIC, Page A-2.l