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Session:         Page of 592

and was on television, etc. So we wanted to have Powell lead his church, the Abyssinian Baptist, after the prayers, the service, to take his church to the Mt. Sinai picket line. And that was agreed. We worked it out. Joe Overton of Local 338, later went to jail for stealing, he heads a union of guards now, he was very important.

Q:

A union of guards?

Foner:

Hospital guards.

Q:

That's good for someone who steals.

Foner:

He could not be an officer of his old union, see Anyway, so he was the middle man and he came from our International. He knew Powell, and so he set it up. I remember we went to Joe on a Saturday. Davis and I went to see Joe Overton at the Red Rooster, the Saturday afternoon before Sunday. Davis had in his pocket $1,000 in cash because he was told that you had to bring money to Powell. He came and he gave Overton the money. The next day he called and said that he needs more money. We, who had the press already, we said, “Screw it. We're going to blow the whole thing out of the water if he doesn't show up.” And he came with his delegation and did the TV and everything. We had big pictures. I remember on Mother's Day we had a Mother of the Year thing with the media. We pulled every thing. We had strike bulletins coming out every day. Bernie Stephens, who was then with the International, came over to work with me on strike bulletins. We kept workers informed about what was happening on that strike. They knew what was going on.

But the ending came, and that was the tragedy, in a sense, although historically it was not. Van Arsdale reached a point where he came -- I remember he came to Davis. I was with Davis at the hotel. He said, “I think we've gone about as far as we can go. I don't think we can keep going too much longer and I don't think there's much that we can get.” He said, “The hospitals are drafting a statement statement of policy that's not going to be what we want.” And he told us what it was. “It's going to set up a permanent administrative committee.” The emphasis was on “permanent administrative committee,” made up of representatives from the hospitals and the public to look at things in the hospitals, make an annual recommendation. “It's going to set up a $40 a week minimum, a dollar an hour, with paid overtime,” which is what they offered before the strike. And it's going to talk in general terms. It's not going to permit union recognition in any shape or form; it's going to have the permanent administrative committee certain steps in arbitration that lead to arbitration, but the union will not be represented. The union will not be able to appear until the final





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