The Guns of April

Union contracts covering 3,100,000 workers expire in 1967, and already the storm signals are up. "If we get by April without a major crisis," Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Director William E. Simkin said last month, "maybe we will be well on the way." April was only eight days old when the crisis broke.

Last week Trucking Employers, Inc., representing nearly 1,500 trucking firms, announced a nationwide lockout in retaliation against scattered strikes by local Teamsters Union members. The lockout idled a quarter-million Teamsters and stalled trucks that carry 65% of the freight hauled on the nation's highways. If a swift agreement was not reached, the Federal Government appeared ready to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, calling for an 80-day truce, in which work would resume and bar gaining continue.

Helpless to Act. The truckers' lockout coincided with chilly negotiations between craft unions and 138 of the nation's railroads. The union men set this week for a strike that, if it occurs while the truckers are out, could create the worst transportation snarl in the nation's history. The Government has already invoked the Railroad Labor Act's 60-day grace period to prevent a strike and now is helpless to act beyond presidential persuasion or special authority from Congress or the courts. A rail strike could idle up to 630,000 workers, halt commuter service and sidetrack as much as 30% of all military traffic.

At issue:

sbTRUCKING: Fifteen cents divided the Teamsters and the trucking firms. The union (negotiating a major contract for the first time since 1958 without imprisoned Jimmy Hoffa) was demanding an hourly pay increase of 56-c- over the next three years and 21-c- in fringe benefits for the 250,000 members involved. The Teamsters now average between $3.25 and $3.80 an hour. The truckers offered 50-c- wage hikes with added benefits worth 12-c-.

sbRAILROADS: Six shopcraft unions were demanding a 7% pay hike the first year and a 5% increase in the second year for their 137,000 machinists, boilermakers, car men, electricians, firemen and oilers. The workers now average between $2.81 to $3.40 an hour. The railroads offered a 5% salary boost.

Lesser labor disputes flared across the nation. Contracts covering 75,000 rubber workers at Goodyear, Firestone, Goodrich and Uniroyal run out April 20. Although Washington observers were optimistic that a strike would be avoided, an industry leader has already hinted that rubber prices are likely to go up as a result of expected increased labor costs of as much as 6%. More than 12,000 members of the Communications Workers of America have voted strike authorization to their negotiators with Western Electric Co., Inc., where their contract expired March 25. Talks have been held under day-to-day extensions. In strikes already under way in television and radio (see SHOW BUSINESS), at New York's Aqueduct Race Track (see SPORT), and by dairymen of the National Farmers Organization, there seemed little hope of an overnight settlement.

Labor Legislation. Even before the trucking crisis, Congress was apprehensive. Colorado's Republican Senator Peter H. Dominick criticized President Johnson for scheduling a trip to South America this week, when "our fundamental supply lines are about to be threatened by a strike." And two Republican Senators, New York's Jacob Javits and California's Thomas H. Kuchel, proposed a bill that would allow the Government to seek through the courts authority to keep struck industries operating in order "to protect the public health and safety."

If the disputes continue, Congress is likely to hear many more demands for tightened federal control over strikes that threaten the nation's economy and war effort.

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