ONGSHORE DOCK EQUIPMENT IS MOVED TO WHITTIER
BULLETIN
A. L. Peterson. Federal Me
ation Service, Seattle, ar
ired this afternoon at 1:30
' special train from Anchor
e. Mr. Frank Seiferslon,
srthern Stevedor1ng. is also
town. A special meeting
as called for 3:00 p.m- at the
ickside union hall. No stale*
eni had been issued by press
ne.
.ongshorc equipment such as
ieys and lift, trucks, was re
eed from Seward yesterday
shipment to Whittier, aecord
to reports from Northern
vedoring Company officers
here. The passenger ship Alas
ka which was due in Seward
today, will make port in Whit
tier sometime today.
Checkers and billing clerks
from the Seward office of the
Alaska Railroad were sent to
Whittier to handle the cargo.
Alvin Peterson, federal con
ciliator and Frank Setterston,
Northern Stevedoring Alaska
manager, are expected to arrive
sometime tomorrow to reopen
negotiations with the u :ion.
That the union is willing to
negotiate was clearly indicated
by its officers Saturday.
The acting chairman of the
labor relations committee of
Local 82, one of the si ' • rs 6i
the strike notice against Nor
thern Stevedoring Company,
made a quiet but firm statem.nt
of the reason for striking, Sat
urday. It is in no way a “wildcat
strike” nor an illegal one, ac
cording to him. Every effort has
been made to negotiate with
the company through the com
pany representative, Wm. (Bill)
Hambly. Hambly ceased nego
tiations, creating a deadlock.
Every lettrr of the lav/ has been
filled leading up to the present
action, thus making the strike
•vote perfectly legal and entirely
within the rights of the men to
act. \
The officer stated that Wm.
Gettings, I.L.W.U., Seattle, has
not and never has had any au
thority to sign a contract for
this port, which does not oper
ate under the Alaska agreement
but has always operated under
a local port agreement; that
Gettings and federal conciliat
ors are not familiar with con
ditions in this jiort and that
none of them will be competent
to negotiate until after a visit
and investigation of conditions
in Seward.
The union has made no de
mand for a specific raise in
wages. The major article for
disagreement is that the Pacific
Coast base wage and the cost of
living index for Alaska, being
widely different, should be the
basis for a negotiated differen
tial based upon the cost of liv
ing index prepared and pub
lished by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. This index places
Seward as being 46 per cent
higher than the Pacific Coast.
The 15 per cent cost of living
differential established through
the Alaska agreement is not
sufficient under present living
costs to establish an equitable
rate under the local port agree
ment.
Although the local unions are
affiliated with the I.L.W.U.,
that organization has never had
the right to negotiate a contract
for this port. The strike was
(Turn to Page 4)
EWARD
The Gateway City of Interior Alaska Since 1903.
Seaport
Seward's All-fFeather Port is Alaska's Greatest Asset.
THE ONLY NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD THAT GIVES A HOOT AEOUT SEWARD. ALASKA
I VIII, No. 24
SEWARD. ALASKA MONDAY. AUGUST 27, 1951
Price 10 cents
kEDS ACCUSE UN OF TRYING TO
kREAK UP ARMISTICE TALKS
assengers Safe In Latest Alaska Air Mishap
Lnchorage (AP) — Four air
1 bailed out of a C-47 air
ie where ii went into a spin
ly yesterday. Th:y were
nd safe near Friday Creek
;e to the base of Kmk Gla
'hc men were in mountainous
ntry too rugged for rescue
les to land, officials at El
ldorf Air Force Base report
Food and sleeping bags w.re
pped for them.
land rescue team was to
landed on a sand bar in
lay Creek, some four miles
iy. A note was dropped tell
the fliers to make their
7 to the sand bar if the four
Id walk well enough. If not,
r were told to stay where
r are and a trail crew will
to them. Present plans call
a helicopter to pick up the
i at the sand bar.
he quartet jumped from the
7 when it was about 12,000
in the air at the start
pin, the pilot said afer he
his co-pilot landed the plane
ly at Elmendorf 28 minutes,
r.
he two pilots, Capt. Ermi
Hales and Bert E. Dowc
three passengers chose to
ain with the plane and ride
out. At 6,000 feet, Hales
ight the aircraft out of its
i. Their home towns were
reported. < J
he four who jumped were
itified as crew chief Sgtaj
ry R. Baine, S-Sgt. Courtney
Cruger, both crew member*
Lt. Carl Etburg.r and Cpl„
rard G. Szymborski, both
engers. All four are station-^
it Elmendorf.
ir rescuers said that, cxcepti
one who appeared to have al
ined ankle, the men seemed!
ood condition. The four are!
together. One pair landed!
onsiderable distance from I
other two.
iS PARDONS FOR JAP
■l CRIMINALS
>kyo (AP) — The Japanese
rnment today announced
;hird mass pardon of former
;ary war criminals. It was
oved by the ocrupationrs>u<
ity.
te group slated for freedom
ed 21,130. It included 361
lels and 388 navy captains.
Option Signed For Purchase
Of Seward Water Company
A 60-day option for the pur
chase of the Seward Water Com
pany was signed by the mayor
and Mrs. Jean Thorne, owner
of the company, in a special
meeting held last Friday night.
The agreement reached spe
ckled tho total payment of
$80,000 for the entire facility
on a monthly payment basis
India Refuses To
Attend Japanese
Peace Conference
New Delhi, India (AP) —
Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru told Parliament today
India will sign a separate peace
«- tWKi’.y with Japan rather than
nd the Japanese Peace Con
nce at San Francisco next
th.
e said the Indian-Japanese
tJreaty would be signed as soon
as;Japan has achieved indepen
dent status. The prime minister
did not explain whether he
ght “independent status”
d have been gained after
Signing of a treaty in San
cisco between Japan and
of the countries she fought
orld War II or whether
a status could not be, in
Hpinion, achieved until after
withdrawal of American
fliament broke into cheers
Nehru, wearing a bright
)se on his tunic, said one
India would not attend
Conference was because the
>onsored treaty does not
ie return of Formosa to
miist China.
attaches “the greatest
ince to the treaty pro
that the island of For
\ should be returned to
he said, but added that
\e and manner of such a
“might be the subject
irate negotiations.”
without interest. Payment of
$725 or more per month was
asked, and agreed upon, in
order io satisfy existing debts
against the company, and to
give the city sole possession
of the system for the purpose
of financing future rehabilita
tion.
A special election is call d
Religious frfike
Loses Strike
Isiachatta, Fia. (AP) — A four
foot black snake slowly wriggled
down the aisle of the Baptist
Church during the sermon at
a recent service.
As it reached the foot of the
pulpit, th. Rev. Fletcher Weston
threw a hymn book but didn't
stop the snake.
Several women raised their
feet off the floor. One left. But
she came back with a good sized
rock and handed it to the min
ister. Ke killed the snake and
resumed thr sermon.
USS TILLAMOOK TO VISIT
HERE FOR
LEGION CONVENTION
The USS Tillamook, a U.S.
Navy sea-air rescue tug, sister
ship of the USS Mahopac. will
arrive in Seward August 31 and
remain until Sept. 3. The Tilla
mook is a distinguished visitor
from the U.S. Naval Base, Ko
diak for the American Legion
Department Convention being
held here during the Labor Day
week end.
The announcement was made
by the Seward port commander,
Captain Carr. He does not know
whether any of Seward’s old
friends from the Kodiak Naval
Base will be aboard.
for September 17 for ratifica
tion of the purchase by a vote
of the people.
A complete inventory of the
property is promised for some
time this w:ek. This will in
clude all pipe, both under
ground and in storage, valves
and fittings, pumps and equip
ment excepting vehicles.
Truman Asked To
Take Over As Copper
Workers Strike
By the Associated Press
America's strategic copp. r in
dustry ground to a halt today.
Union leaders asked President
Truman to take it over when
last-minute negotiations failed
to avert a strike.
As a 7 a.m. (local time) dead
line moved across the nation,
members of the dependent Inter
national Union of Mine, Mill
and Smelter Workers went off
the job.
Hit first were the smelters
on the east coast, then those in
he midwest. Picket lines were
set up: no violence was report
ed. Union members at the Big
Barber, N.J. American Smelting
and Refining Plant said local
negotiations also were off, at
least for the time being.
Officers of the independent
union telegraphed their seizure
request to President Truman
early today.
There was no immediate indi
cation of Mr. Truman’s attitude
toward the request.
The strike was called over
differences on union requests
for wage increases and contract
changes, principally increased
pension provisions. The mine,
mill and smelter workers union
said it asked for a general wage
increase of 20 cents an hour.
Package provisions — mainly
pensions — would up that by
around another 10 cents an
hour.
Tokyo Tuesday (AP) — The
Communist high command today
bitterly rejected the Allied reply
on an alleged Kaesong neutral
ity violation but at the same
time left the door open to a
possible resumption of the Kore
an armistice talks.
The Reds broke off the stale
mate talks Aug. 23, alleging that
an Allied plane had attempted
to “murder” the Communist
delegation at the Kaesong con
ference site.
Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway,
supreme United Nations com
mander, told them Saturday
their charges were “malicious
li:s” but that he was willing to
resume the armistice effort.
In a reply broadcast early
today by the Peiping radio
North Korean Premier Kim II
Sung and Chinese Red Gen.
Peng Teh-Huai said Ridgway's
statement was “entirely unsatis
factory.”
They accused him of manufac
turing incidents to break up the
truce talks and of “slandering”
the Communists.
Following a wordy complaint
they reiterated all the old Red
charges then stated:
“We hereby once more pro
pose to you that this grave ac
tion of provocation should be
dealt with by your side with
an attitude of serious responsi
bility then the continuation of
the negotiations for a just and
reasonable armistice agreement
can be guaranteed.
“At the same time we demand
that your liaison officers pro
ceed to Kaesong to carry out a
re-investigation jointly with our
liaison officers of the incident
that occurred on Aug. 22, when
your military aircraft bombed
and strafed the vicinity of the
residence of our delegation in
order once again to prove the
full validity of our protest.”
The Reds after a long week
end of vitriolic propaganda
against the United States and
the United Nations, thus passed
the buck back to General Ridg
way.
On the basis of previous ex
changes, it appeared unlikely
that he would consider their
response satisfactory.
However the Red invitation to
renew the investigation at Kae
song and to seek a settlement
indicated clearly they were not
yet prepared to cancel the dead
locked truce talks once and for
all.