Fridoy, August 5S, 1977 THE MiCHI-lGAN QAiLY Page Three Phone workers may strike WASHINGTON ISi( -A phone company union leader said yes- terday that a long nationwide strike by 700,000 workers against the Bell System beginning at midnight Saturday is "almost inevitable." But the company said it expects to reach a settle- ment by then. Glenn Watts, president of the Comnmunications W o r k e r s of Asmerica (CWA), said negotia- tions between his union and the ocmpaay "are in very serious trouble" and "activity at the bargaining table has come to a complete standstill." HOWEVER, a c o m p a ny spokesman took a much more optimistic view and predicted a strike could be avoided. The spokesman, C h a r l e s Dyses, declined to disclose the company's next move, but it ap- peared the Bell System was prepared to improve on its orig- inal offer, a move that could set the stage for a last-minute agreement this weekend. "I'm sure there is going to be movement in the next few days because we all knowe there is not much time left," Dynes said in a interview. "I'n still con- fident 't can come up with an agreemern " TALKS WITH the CWA have been in recess since Tuesday but have continued with two smaller unions. Although tDynes stressed he doesn't expect a strike, he said the company's nearly 200,000 management a n d supervisory personnel w e r e prepared to maintain service that "would he pretty good for quite a while." The last nationwide strike against the Bell System was in 1971 and lasted two weeks.' WHILE THE phone system is highly automated, Watts said a strike would disrupt operator- assisted calls, new installations and repair of existing equip- ment. "The public will be inconven- ienced ad I think it will be a very unnecessary tragedy grow- ing directly out" of the com- pany's attitude toward its em- ployes, he told a news confer- ence. Watts charged that the coin- pany has refused .to match the terms of the recent settlements in the auto and steel industries, despite high profits and strong productivity gains in the tele- phone industry. TlE AMERICAN Telephone & Telegraph to., the parent com- pany of the Bell System and the nation's biggest private employ- er, reported profits of $3.8 bil- lion last year. The telephone unions rejected- the company's offer on July 21 of a new three-year contract with a tea per cent wage i- crease, plus cost-of-living ad- justments in the final two years of the agreement. The company said the propo- sal would have raised the salary of a top-paid craft worke-r earn- ing $333.50 per week by 18.3 per cent over the life of the agree- ment. STEEL. AND auto wurkers re- cently won wage boosts of aout ten per cent a year in new three-year contracts. Watts also accused the com- pany of ignoring the problems caused by the loss of nearly 100,0011 jobs over the last three years due to autonation and recession. The untion has de- manded a shorter work year and other "job security" mea- See TEEIPHIONE, Page 10 Walkout won't halt telephone service By M. EILEEN DALEY Should Ilell Telephone employes decide to strike this weekend, phone services in Ann Arbor should continue "almost rnormally" according to Michigan Bell spokesman Ilarry Kenworthy. "The only thing we'd expect would be cirtailment of (tele- phone) instllation," he said. KENWORTIIY said regular telephone services can conlirue indefinitely regardless of a strike. Persons from remaining staff and management departments woiuld man thse switchbards left by strikers. Although repair services would be operating, customers requesting "nion-esseittial" repairs, such as replacement of a worn cord will have to wait until the strike is ocer, Kenworthy said. JEANNETTE IBiRANT, a telephone reptir stipersvisir said the strike would not interfere with repair services. "It won't really affect us at all," she said. "tf a persia needs their phone repaired, it will be reipaired." Information services and operator assistance would alsi, con- tinue as usual, Kenworthy said. It's a dog' lfS e Cindy (far left) and Elsa (far right) were probably doggone tired after doggedly pursuing the stick thrown by owner David Church (center). C -rrection Incomplete information supplied to us by the Urni- versity Ticket Office made yesterday's explanation of the football ticket lottery a good deal less clear than it might have been. The lottery will work like this: * Last year, students who wanted to be first in line for tickets had to literally be first in life, which meant that some started camping outside the Track and Tennis Building as early as mid-August. This year, any student (or group of students) who wants to lead the pack has only to show up at the Track and Tennis Building at noon on September 1 for the lottery, * Groups of less than 13 will draw lots to deter- mine who is first in line, second in line, and so on. That place in line may be held by one person until 8 a.m on Thursday, September 8, regardless of the number of people in the group. At 8 a.m. Thursday, however, the group must have one person in line for every four tickets to be purchased and must continue to have a one-to-four ratio at every roll call until tickets are purchased. * For each class the priority will be: (1) indi- viduals and groups which drew in the September 1 lottery, in the order they drew; (2) individuals and; groups which did not draw in the lottery, in the order in which they arrived on the site; (3) groups of more than 12, which are classified as "block seat- ing" and thus get the lowest priority in the class. * There will be only one lottery for all four classes. Thus, for example, a junior drawing first position would get only first position in the junior class, while first position in the senior class passed to the senior drawing the highest number. 0 The dates for redeeming football coupons re- main as announced: Friday, September 9 for seniors, who should have SY3AU2E on their ID cards; Mon- day, September 12 for juniors, who should have 3AU2E on their cards; Tuesday, September 13 for sophomores, who should have U2E on their cards; Wednesday, September 14 for freshpersons, who should have E on their cards. The Daily regrets any confusion yesterday's article may have caused. Happenins -.-. . Looks like one of those days-we have ahs{ilutely zero happenings on tap for today. C arl at the bat Congressional Republicans had a bad year at the polls, but they had a good day at the plain this week. California Rep. Pete McCloskey smashed a clutch double and Michigan's own Rep. Carl Pursell rap- ped the game-winning hit to lead the GOP to a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over the Congressional Democrats, as Maine Republican "Wild Bill" Cohen stifled the Democrats on just three hits (six runs, three hits, that is). The Republicans now lead the annual series 133. "This is the fiercest competition we have in the Congress," McCloskey said. "There's one thing about politicians, they can't bear ti lose. Everyone is out there to win, including us in our declining years." Pursell contributed a sparkling defensive play when he cut down a Democratic run- ner at home plate with a perfect throw. "We got him by about the same margin as .I won the last election," said Pursell, whis slid safely into office by 344 votes. Greetings from Antarctica Joining Love, Delaware and Christmas, Michigan in the Cheesy Postmark Sweepstakes is a new entry -the South Pole. The U.S. Antarctic Research Pro- gram announced yesterday that Anarctic postmarks and station cachets for Amundsen-Scott South Pole and McMurdo Station may be obtained by any in- terested philatelist. Just affix first class U.S. pastage, mark "McMurdo Station" or "South Pole Station" in the lower left corner of the envelope and mail before February to: Philatelic Mail Clerk, McMurdo Station, U.S. Naval Support Force (Antarctica), FPO, San Francisco, California 96692. For the South Pole, write Postmaster, New York, N.Y. 1o1. On the outside Remember when, as a kid, you told the raiin to "go away" and "come again sote other day"? Well, it's back. With a vengeance. Today and tomorrow will bring scattered showers and thundershowers, with a high of 84 today and 88 tomorrow. Look for clear- ing and some sun by tomorrow afternoon.