Strikebound & Unbound

Since rearmament boomed the U.S. aircraft industry's work force to 750,000, the A.F.L.'s International Association of Machinists and the C.I.O.'s United Auto Workers have tried to outdo each other in demands on planemakers. Three months ago, in spite of war and the dangerously lagging aircraft program, the U.A.W. voted to strike North American Aviation, called it off only after it got an average 16-c--an-hour pay boost on recommendation of the Wage Stabilization Board. The rest of the industry assumed that the award established a pattern.

Not so the machinists' union, which has the bargaining rights at Lockheed and Douglas. It served notice on Lockheed that it wanted an average boost of 16-c- an hour, refused to submit its demands to WSB. Lockheed said it could not offer more than the WSB pattern. Last week 25,000 (out of 33,000) employees struck at Lockheed's Burbank plant. Work on $1.2 billion in defense orders stopped.

On the production lines, half-finished Starfire jet fighters, T-33 jet trainers and transports testified to the union's strikes-as-usual attitude. Washington seemed unconcerned. While the union insisted that only the President could stop the strike, Truman said he had no immediate plans to intervene. The union massed pickets at Lockheed to keep out nonstriking employees, until a court enjoined pickets to stand at least 15 feet apart.

With Lockheed closed, the I.A.M. then tried to strike Douglas' plants at Santa Monica and El Segundo, demanding a blanket 9-c--an-hour increase. Douglas offered 5-c-, and 13,000 El Segundo workers walked out. But at the main Santa Monica plant, Douglas' more experienced workers refused to let Local Union President Stan Decker stampede them, met to ballot on a strike. During the day, they had heard the plant loudspeaker repeat a telegram from Defense Secretary Robert

Lovett ("Any stoppage of production . . . would have most serious consequences for our national defense"). When Union Boss Decker tried to hurry the vote, one member cried: "This ain't the night shift, Stan, they're the working boys." Cried another: "What about what Lovett said?" And another: "What about the boys in Korea?" In a secret ballot, the workers accepted Douglas' 5-c- offer, repudiated their union leaders.

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