Strike Won't Cripple Boston Phone Service Despite Wide Walkout

Telephone service is not expected to be interrupted today, despite yesterday's strike of 67,000 workers in the rest of the nation.

Only 300 workers at a Western Electric distributing house in Watertown left their jobs in this state, but operators and clerks are reportedly ready to honor Western Electric picket lines if they are set up at phone exchanges. No picketing has been in evidence here so far, but indications are that it may start Wednesday.

Over 16,000 workers in 43 states walked out yesterday morning on the Western Electric Company, a telephone subsidiary. Some 51,000 clerks and operators in Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, Northern California, and Nevada also left their jobs, and phone service to these areas slowed somewhat. However, supecrisory employees took up some of the slack.