U.S.A. WORKERS TO STRIKE

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 September 1934, Page 7

U.S.A. WORKERS TO STRIKE

PEACE NEGOTIATIONS FAIL BITTER STRUGGLE PREDICTED [BY CABLE —PBESS ASSN.—COPYBIGHT.] WASHINGTON, September 1. The last slender hope that a textile strike might be averted passed when the Labour leaders, after listening to hours of argument, pleading and coaxing, emerged from the offices of the National Labour Relations Board with the grim assertion that the strike will go on. The strike became effective at midnight, and has been extended to include two hundred thousand silk textile workers in addition to the cotton textile workers. Practically all of the mills will be closed during the week-end, which extends through Monday’s legal holiday, “Labour Day.” The effectiveness of the strike will, therefore, not be known until next week. The union leaders claim that there will be nearly one hundred ipor cent, compliance with the strike order by a membership totalling about 150,000 in the woollen mills, and 100,000 in the silk industry, ajong with several hundred thousand unemployed. The union leaders claim that about a million will be under the strike order. The mills that the Union hope to close include 1281 cotton mills, 500 woollen mills, and 1000 silk mills. The mill owners’ spokesmen are making no specific claims, but they hope that many of the mills will continue operation, some of them with almost a complete personnel. On the other hand, many will voluntarily close, as they already are suffering from surplus stocks of finished goods. While the Employers’ Association sent out a last-minute protest against the use of Federal relief funds to succour the strikers, the Union leaders countered this with a demand that the State and National Guard troops shall not be allowed to use Federal equipment —meaning rifles, revolvers, machine guns, ammunition, etc. —to sup- , press picketing at the mills. The mills will be closed throughout Mon- , day, and therefore no trouble is ex- ( pected till Tuesday, when some vio- ] lence is likely to result at those mills that are opening.

UNION PREPARATIONS. (Received Sepetember 3, 1 p.m.) WASHINGTON, September 2. Sunday calm existed in the textile strike situation, as the Union headquarters here perfected final plans, and sent out last-minute instructions to various local unions to make the tie up as effective.as possible. It is now estimated that six hundred thousand operatives will quit their pobs. Headquarters said they expect 150,000 velvet, drapery, upholstery and other types of workers to strike during the week. The Union headquarters have been flooded with telegrams from field workers, reporting compliance with the strike order. Some declared that mill operators are recruiting “thugs and scabs” in the effort to break the strike. The (principal intimations of violence come from the Southern States, in several of wliich the militia is prepared to mobilise. Francis Gorman, Chairman of the iStrike Committee, reiterated that the Union’s demands, from which he said they would not retreat, include a thirty hour week, compared with the present forty-hour week, with no reduction in. pay, recognition of the Union for collective bargaining, and the creation of an impartial board under’ the N.R.A. to settle disputes. RIGHTS OF BARGAINING. NEW YORK, September I. Coincidental with the cotton textile strike, the National Labour Relations Board of the N.R.A. has issued an important decision that is likely to have a profound effect on the trend of American industrial warfare. It isi an official interpretation of the so-called Section Seven A of the Recovery Act, defining the rights of the workers to collective bargaining. In a test case, the N.R.A. Board has declared that the wish of the majority of the workers in anv industry regarding who shall' represent them will be binding on all of the workers. . In effect, this means that whore the mdependen American Federation of Labour units gain a majority vote, the company Unions created by the employers wil become illegal. The lar f£ J"*}" 8 ' trials immediately announced that the} would fight this decision through the courts.

DIRECTOR’S RESIGNATION. NEW YORK, September 1. Hyde Park advices state that President Roosevelt announced tlrnt he las accepted the resignation of Mi. Doug las as Director of the Budget and has appointed Mr. Daniel Bell a veteran Treasury employee, as Actin a -Dnec It is learned that for months, MiDouglas has been dissatisfied a the vast expenditures under the New Xi and that he' believed that a balancing of the Budget would better aid a return to prosperity. FEARS OVER DEBT. AUCKLAND, September 3. Rev. Dr. R. Maclntyre, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Sydney, returning from a holiday in Canada, arrived by the Niagara. He expressed the opinion that 1 resident Roosevelt’s stock was going down. Americans were getting alarmed at the enormous debt piling up. It was said that Mr Roosevelt was mortgaging the future to create an illusion of wealth. Nevertheless, he (Dr. Maclntyre) thought Mr Roosevelt would save America from a disastious crash which was threatening.