Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1974. január-június (28. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1974-05-30 / 22. szám
THURSDAY MAY 30. 1974 .AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZO Steel workers strike at Midland By William Allan MIDLAND, Mich. Since March 18, 5,300 members of Local 12075, United Steelworkers of America (AFL-CIO), have been on strike at Dow Chemical Company's Midland plant. The huge multinational conglomerate refused to lift the cap on the cost of living (COL) clause in any new contract. Yet the company reported a 44% increase in profits — $83.6 million after taxes — for the first quarter of 1974 compared with $57.9 million for the same period last year, and that was an all-time high! USW negotiators say that the company and the union are far apart on pension benefits: the union wants the same provisions the auto workers demanded — 30 and out, which would give them $650 a month pension after 30 years on the job. Dow is offering $285 a month. But it is on the COL allowance that Dow won't budge. The workers seek an unlimited COL allowance because of the rate at which living costs are soaring: 27% in 1973, 9% since January 1, 1974. And Dow refuses to sign a no-cap COL provision. The current strike, the first by the Steelworkers at Midland since 1948, has been marked by violence, denial of mass picketing rights, and arrests. At Dow's request, local judges have granted injunctions limiting the number of pickets to 30, and local police are on hand to harass, incite and beat the strikers. Twenty-five steelworkers have already been hospitalized. USW local union president William Willbrodt estimates that the strike could last six months and he is convinced that the company will continue to use violence against union members. USW chief steward, Kenneth L. Spann, was one of 42 unionists and their wives who were arrested early in April for violating a court order against mass picketing. Spann is also afraid that assaults will continue. "We just hope nobody gets killed," he said. No rice paddy politicking for . tough-talking U.S. envoy When he first came to Saigon nine months ago, Graham A. Martin kept so much to himself that some Vietnamese began referring to him as the “invisible ambassador.’’ Ellsworth Bunker, Mr. Martin’s ; predecessor as the U.S. envoy in i Saigon, enjoyed diplomatic parj ties, dinners with small groups of | newsmen, and trips to the Vietj namese countryside with South j Vietnam’s President Nguyen Van \ Thieu. Mr. Martin, a North Carolina- Í bom career diplomat who often stays up until 2 a.m. going I through official reports, prefers f reading to socializing. He works with a smaller circle of close associates than Mr. Bunker did ; and avoids many of the public functions which some diplomats P consider obligatory. As one of Mr. jj Martin’s assistants put it, “The I ambassador believes that he c doesn’t have to go out and get his j: picture in a rice paddy to be j. effective.” But in recent weeks, the silver- f haired Mr. Martin went public. In early March, he sent off to Washington a 23-page critique of a New York Times article which suggested that the high level of U.S. support for the Thieu government violated the terms of the Paris peace agreement. Mr. Martin let it be known that he would not UPI photo Graham Martin object to the release of this critique to the press, and seemed pleased when it was made public. Mr. Martin then angered Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts by advising the State Department not to give “an honest and detailed answ 3r” to a letter from Mr. Kennedy inquiring about American policies in Indo-China. The ambassador argued that the matter did not fall within the scope of Senator Kennedy's subcommittee on refugees. He advised that the administration present its full position instead before the “appropriate congressional committees.” Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger ignored Mr. Martin’s advice and gave Mr. Kennedy a detailed reply. Ambassador Martin is to leave Saigon soon for consultations in Washington. He is said to feel that the Nixon administration, preoccupied with Watergate and other problems, has not been fighting hard enough to defend its ; Indo-China policies. Mr. Martin has not always agreed with policies laid down in Washington. He has often stated that he opposed the use of American combat troops in Indo-China and was subsequently sacked as ambassador to Thailand in 1967 because of that opposition. Mr. Martin, whose own adopted son was killed in Vietnam, said he did not want the Saigon post but accepted because he considered it a “patriotic duty.” Although the 61-year-old ambassador is eager to retire to a farm in Tuscany, some people who know him say, only half jokingly, that he might enlist for another year’s tour in Vietnam just to spite his critics. — Daniel Southerland Saigon MISSION TO CHILE William N. Ward (left) member of the International Longshoremen & Warehousemen Union’s International Executive Board and Ron Ronne, president of Local 8, were on hand to wish J.P. Morray (right) Oregon attorney, “success to mission” when he left recently for Santiago to help defend Chilean political prisoners. ___5 The Dow-Midlond picket line * Michigan State Police march on Local 12075 strikers ■*__^___________________ ____!____'________
