Presidential Order Averts Strike, Saves Students Planning Air Trips

It took a presidential order, but Harvard and Radcliffe, students will be able to fly home for Christmas.

Late yesterday President Johnson issued a 60 day injunction under the Railway Labor Act stopping is strike against United Airlines scheduled for next Wednesday by the AFL-CIO International Association of Machinists.

At the same time the President issued an order blocking a strike on Friday by the IAM against six other airlines and established an emergency board o investigate these wage and work rule disputes. The airlines threatened were Eastern, National, Northwest, Trans World Airlines and Continental.

These airlines comprise most of the air traffic in the country. In addition, United was supplying planes for the HSA charter fights to Los Angeles San Francisco, Chicago, and Portland, Seattle .

Charles Everill '65, manager of the HSA charter flights, refused to comment last night on what action if any the HSA had been considering in the event of a strike.

The strike on United has been expected since Nov. 18, when the recommendations of an emergency board established by President Kennedy were rejected by the IAM. Under the Railway Labor Act the union was free to strike for 3 days after the board submitted its report unless the president declared a national emergency and ordered a 60 day injunction halting the strike.

Since United handles only one quarter o the nation's air traffic, the company did not expect the President outlined in the act United was still optimistic that a settlement would be reached before Doe is but negotiations in Washington with the National Mediation Board had not yet reached a solution agreeable to the union.