Neustadt Urges Machinists To Call Off Airline Strike

Richard E. Neustadt, director of the Kennedy Institute and a member of the three-man Presidential board which tried to avert the strike that has paralyzed five major airlines, called on the machinists, Saturday, to end their walk-out.

Terming the strike "unnecessary and unjustified," Neustadt said in a statement that "the differences between the parties simply do not justify delay. These differences are not so great as to impede settlement were there a will to settle."

Observes have interpreted Neustadt's statement as an attempt by the Administration to pressure the union into giving up the strike. A victory by the machinists, it is feared, would encourage other unions to seek contract settlements in excess of the guidelines set out by the Administration, resulting in an inflationary spiral.

The four-day walkout by 34,400 mechanics and other ground service workers of the International Association Machinists against Eastern, National, Northwest, Trans World, and United Airlines affects more than 150,000 air passengers a day.

Wages and Benefits

The dispute centers on wages and benefits in a three-year contract. The union has demanded 53 cents an hour above the $3.52 an hour top rate for mechanics plus a cost of living escalator. The carriers have offered 48 cents an hour -- in line with recommendations made by the President's board.

Neustadt, who served as an advisor to President Kennedy, issued the statement with David Ginsberg, a Washington lawyer who was also a member of the board. Senator Wayne Morse (D.Ore.), who chaired the investigation, made a similar plea Friday.

There were no indications yesterday that the union planned to halt the walkout. The union's weekly newspaper said Saturday that "we can expect some shortsighted bird-brains" to propose further cooling-off periods.

Neustadt explained in an interview Sunday that the government can invoke no law to stop the strike. Even the advisory board on which no served, Neustadt said, lost all authority after its report was delivered to the union and management June 5.

President Johnson announced the formation of the Emergency Board in late April: following the provision of the Railway Labor Act, the three man board spent a month studying the issues before making recommendations. Then followed a 30-day waiting period, also specified by the law, during which futile attempts were made at a compromise. When that period expired Friday, the union struck.

Little Experience

Until this dispute, Neustadt has had relatively little experience in labor relations. He was a general assistant during one of the large United Mine Workers strikes in 1949-50, but his most famous work is a series of three private reports he prepared for President Kennedy on the problems of starting a new administration. He is also the author of Presidential Power.