Letter Directing the Attorney General To Petition for an Injunction in Labor Dispute at the Atomic Energy Commission Facilities at Oak Ridge and Paducah.

Dear Mr. Attorney General:

On July 6, 1954, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 206 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (Public Law 101, 80th Congress), I issued Executive Order 10542 creating a Board of Inquiry to inquire into the issues involved in a labor dispute between the Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation and certain of its employees represented by Locals 288 and 550, United Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers, CIO, at certain facilities of the Atomic Energy Commission.

On July 10, 1954 I received the Board's written report in the matter. A copy of that report is attached hereto.

Although the strike referred to in said report was discontinued following receipt of the report, the labor dispute which led to the strike and which is referred to in Executive Order 10542 has not been resolved and continues to the present time.

I am informed that there is a threat that the strike or strikes will be resumed at the Atomic Energy Commission's gaseous diffusion plants and their associated shops and facilities at Oak Ridge, Tennessee or at Paducah, Kentucky, or both. Said threatened strike or strikes arise out of the same labor dispute referred to in Executive Order 10542.

In my opinion these unresolved labor disputes have resulted in a strike and threatened strike affecting an entire industry or a substantial part thereof engaged in trade, commerce, transportation, transmission or communication among the several States and with foreign nations which strike, if permitted will imperil the national safety.

I therefore direct you, pursuant to the provisions of Section 208 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, to petition in the name of the United States any District Court of the United States having jurisdiction of the parties to enjoin the resumption and continuance of such strike, at certain facilities of the Atomic Energy Commission at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and at Paducah, Kentucky where such action is necessary to remove a peril to the national safety and to secure a resumption of trade, commerce, transportation, transmission or communication among the several States and foreign nations, and for such other relief as may in your judgment be necessary or appropriate to protect the national interest.

Sincerely,

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER