Toledo Union Journal

Ohio Labor Groups Hold First Session On Merger

First formal discussions on merging the Ohio State Federation of Labor and the Ohio CIO Council into one state organization were held in Columbus last Friday.

Each state organization was represented at the opening discussion by the two nine-member merger committees selected Feb. 1 by the executive boards of the Ohio AFL and the CIO Council.

The two committees agreed to name subcommittees which will meet at a later date to start work on specific details of the merger of the two state organizations.

Members of the subcommittees and the date of the next meeting will be announced later.

First Session Exploratory

In a joint statement released to the press after the meeting the two merger committees stated:

"Today's session was entirely an exploratory session. No decisions were reached on any of the many details that will have to be agreed to before final merger is reached."

The two committees held a "get acquainted" luncheon here Feb. 1, out of which last week's first formal discussion took place.

Following are the members of the merger committees:

CIO--Ray Ross, Ohio CIO Council President and Director of Region 2-B, United Auto Workers; John R. Rooney, Secretary-Treasurer, Ohio CIO Council; John S. Johns, Director District 44, United Steelworkers; William Green, President Ohio State Federation of Labor; Phil Hannah, Secretary-Treasurer, Ohio State Federation of Labor; William Finnegan, Secretary-Treasurer Cleveland Federation of Labor; John E. Breidenbach, Dayton, President, Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council; Frank Fischer, President, Toledo Central Labor Union; William Goldberg, Secretary, Carpenters Union No. 1750, Cleveland; John W. Thompson, Cincinnati, Operating Engineers Union No. 18; A. J. Frecka, Akron, Plumbers Union No. 219 and Herschel White, Cincinnati Secretary, Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union No. 363.

AFL - Michael Lyden, President, Ohio State Federation of Labor; represented at the opening discussion by the merger committees selected Feb. 1 by the executive boards of the Ohio AFL and the CIO Council; workers, Canton; Richard Gosser, Toledo, International Vice President, United Auto Workers; William Snoots, Dayton, President District 7, Electrical Workers; Leo Dugan, Akron, Executive Secretary, Akron CIO Council; Burl Phares, Columbus, President United Glass and Ceramic Workers; Henry Seibert, Business Representative, Cincinnati Joint Board, Amalgamated Clothing Workers; and Thomas Mitchell, Cleveland, State Director Communications Workers.