Nixon Warns Strikers To End Mail Walkout

The Post Office strike continues today in most large northern cities despite President Nixon, demand that strikers return to work.

Nixon has said that there will be no negotiations until the strikers return to work and that he will "see to it that the mails go through." Nixon has not said whether he will order troops to aid the stricken postal service.

Intimidating Climate

"There are legitimate grievances that have been brought to fore in the current postal crisis. But these grievances cannot justify illegal remedies, and those grievances cannot and will not be negotiated in a climate of intimidation," Nixon said last Saturday.

The strike centers on the AFL-CIO National Letter Carriers Union's demand that the present annual wage for postal carriers be raised from a range of $7176 to $8442 to one of $8500 to $11,700.

Although some smaller local unions have voted to return to work, postal unions in the big cities are ignoring President Nixon's statements.

In New York, the 26,000-member Postal Clerk Union has voted to join the striking New York Letter Carriers who began the strike last Wednesday with a walkout.

Union locals continue to strike in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Akron, and throughout Connecticut and New Jersey, In Boston and San Francisco there have been only partial shut downs.

Court Injunctions

Federal court injunctions have been issued in most cities to stop the strike, but local unions have been ignoring both the injunctions and the pleas of the postal union's national leadership to return to work.

James H. Rademacher, chief of the Association of Letter Carriers, has charged that "subversive elements" within the union brought about the strike. Rademacher cited SDS in particular.

"I knew that last year SDS members got in the union," he said. "They, working with others, were able to get a strike vote. I have asked the Post Office Inspection Service to investigate the situation, and we might at a later date ask for a congressional investigation."