Letter to the Attorney General Directing Him To Petition for an Injunction in the Maritime Strike.

Dear Mr. Attorney General:

On October 6, 1959, 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 No. 10842, creating a Board of Inquiry to inquire into the issues involved in labor disputes between employers (or associations by which such employers are represented in collective bargaining conferences) who are (1) steamship companies or who are engaged as operators or agents for ships engaged in service from or to Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports from Searsport, Maine, to Brownsville, Texas, or from or to other ports of the United States or its territories or possessions, (2) contracting stevedores, (3) contracting marine carpenters, or (4) other employers engaged in related or associated pier activities, and certain of their employees represented by the International Longshoremen's Association, Atlantic Coast District, ILA and Atlantic and Gulf District, ILA.

On October 7, 1959, I received the Board's written report in the matter. I understand you have a copy of that report.

In my opinion these unresolved labor disputes have resulted in a strike affecting a substantial part of an industry engaged in trade, commerce, transportation, transmission or communication among the several States and with foreign nations, which strike, if permitted to continue, will imperil the national health and safety and will affect the flow and utilization of necessary perishable products, including food for heavily populated coastal areas.

Therefore, in order to remove a peril to the national health and safety and to secure a resumption of trade, commerce, transportation, transmission or communication among the several States and with foreign nations, I 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 continuance of such strike and for such other relief as may in your judgment be necessary or appropriate.

Very sincerely yours,

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER