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Letter to Secretary Wirtz on the Florida East Coast Railway Dispute.

October 14, 1963

Dear Mr. Secretary:

I have reviewed the report of the Federal Inquiry Board on the Florida East Coast Railway dispute. The report reaffirms my concern over the impact of this dispute on our defense and space programs. It is in the public interest that this dispute be promptly resolved.

Accordingly, I am requesting the National Mediation Board to immediately contact the parties with a view to the prompt resumption of negotiations. If these bargaining efforts prove unproductive, I urge the parties to give serious consideration to your recommendation to submit their issues to final and binding arbitration.

In addition, I request that you keep me informed of all subsequent developments with regard to this dispute in the event that additional actions are required.

Sincerely,

JOHN F. KENNEDY

[Honorable W. Willard Wirtz, Secretary of Labor, Washington, D.C.]

Note: The report (21 pp., processed), dated October 10, was transmitted to the President by Secretary Wirtz on the same day. The board of inquiry was established pursuant to the President's Memorandum of September 24 (released with the report), requesting the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Defense, and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration each to designate a representative to serve on the board.

John F. Kennedy, Letter to Secretary Wirtz on the Florida East Coast Railway Dispute. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/236383

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