Official Document Text
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)
WHEREAS on December 16, 1950, I proclaimed the existence of a national emergency which requires that the military, naval, air, and civilian defenses of this country be strengthened as speedily as possible to the end that we may be able to repel any and all threats against our national security and to fulfill our responsibilities in the efforts being made throughout the United Nations and otherwise to bring about a lasting peace; and WHEREAS American fighting men and fighting men of other nations of the United Nations are now engaged in deadly combat with the forces of aggression in Korea, and forces of the United States are stationed elsewhere overseas for the purpose of participating in the defense of the Atlantic Community against aggression; and WHEREAS the weapons and other materials needed by our armed forces and by those joined with us in the defense of the free world are produced to a great extent in this country, and steel is an indispensable component of substantially all of such weapons and materials; and WHEREAS steel is likewise indispensable to the carrying out of programs of the Atomic Energy Commission of vital importance to our defense efforts; and WHEREAS a continuing and uninterrupted supply of steel is also indispensable to the maintenance of the economy of the United States, upon which our military strength depends; and WHEREAS a controversy has arisen between certain companies in the United States producing and fabricating steel and the elements thereof and certain of their workers represented by the United Steel Workers of America, CIO, regarding terms and conditions of employment; and WHEREAS the controversy has not been settled through the processes of collective bargaining or through the efforts of the Government, including those of the Wage Stabilization Board, to which the controversy was referred on December 22, 1951, pursuant to Executive Order No. 10233, and a strike has been called for 12:01 A.M., April 9, 1952; and WHEREAS a work stoppage would immediately jeopardize and imperil our national defense and the defense of those joined with us in resisting aggression, and would add to the continuing danger of our soldiers, sailors, and airmen engaged in combat in the field; and WHEREAS in order to assure the continued availability of steel and steel products during the existing emergency, it is necessary that the United States take possession of and operate the plants, facilities, and other property of the said companies as hereinafter provided: NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, and as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. The Secretary of Commerce is hereby authorized and directed to take possession of all or such of the plants, facilities, and other property of the companies named in the list attached hereto, or any part thereof, as he may deem necessary in the interests of national defense; and to operate or to arrange for the operation thereof and to do all things necessary for, or incidental to, such operation. 2. In carrying out this order the Secretary of Commerce may act through or with the aid of such public or private instrumentalities or persons as he may designate; and all Federal agencies shall cooperate with the Secretary of Commerce to the fullest extent possible in carrying out the purposes of this order. 3. The Secretary of Commerce shall determine and prescribe terms and conditions of employment under which the plants, facilities, and other properties possession of which is taken pursuant to this order shall be operated. The Secretary of Commerce shall recognize the rights of workers to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing and to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining, adjustment of grievances, or other mutual aid or protection, provided that such activities do not interfere with the operation of such plants, facilities, and other properties. 4. Except so far as the Secretary of Commerce shall otherwise provide from time to time, the managements of the plants, facilities, and other properties possession of which is taken pursuant to this order shall continue their functions, including the collection and disbursement of funds in the usual and ordinary course of business in the names of their respective companies and by means of any instrumentalities used by such companies. 5. Except so far as the Secretary of Commerce may otherwise direct, existing rights and obligations of such companies shall remain in full force and effect, and there may be made, in due course, payments of dividends on stock, and of principal, interest, sinking funds, and all other distributions upon bonds, debentures, and other obligations, and expenditures may be made for other ordinary corporate or business purposes. 6. Whenever in the judgment of the Secretary of Commerce further possession and operation by him of any plant, facility, or other property is no longer necessary or expedient in the interest of national defense, and the Secretary has reason to believe that effective future operation is assured, he shall return the possession and operation of such plant, facility or other property to the company in possession and control thereof at the time possession was taken under this order. 7. The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to prescribe and issue such regulations and orders not inconsistent herewith as he may deem necessary or desirable for carrying out the purposes of this order; and he may delegate and authorize subdelegation of such of his functions under this order as he may deem desirable. LIST American Bridge Company 525 William Penn Place Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania American Steel & Wire Company of New Jersey Rockefeller Building Cleveland, Ohio Columbia Steel Company Russ Building San Francisco, California Consolidated Western Steel Corporation Los Angeles, California Geneva Steel Company Salt Lake City, Utah Gerrard Steel Strapping Company 2915 West 47th Street Chicago 32, Illinois National Tube Company 525 William Penn Place Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Oil Well Supply Company 2001 North Lamar Street Dallas, Texas Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company Fairfield, Alabama United States Steel Company 525 William Penn Place Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania United States Steel Corporation 71 Broadway New York 6, New York United States Steel Products Company 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, New York United States Steel Supply Company 208 South La Salle Street Chicago, Illinois Virginia Bridge Company Roanoke, Virginia Alan Wood Steel Company and Subsidiaries Conshohocken, Pennsylvania American Chain and Cable Company, Incorporated 929 Connecticut Avenue Bridgeport 2, Connecticut American Chain and Cable Company Monessen, Pennsylvania Armco Steel Corporation 703 Curtis Street Middletown, Ohio Armco Drainage & Metal Products, Incorporated 703 Curtis Street Middletown, Ohio Atlantic Steel Company P. O. Box 1714 Atlanta, Georgia Babcock and Wilcox Tube Company Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Borg-Warner Corporation 310 S. Michigan Avenue Chicago 4, Illinois Continental Copper and Steel Industries, Incorporated Braeburn, Pennsylvania Continental Steel Corporation West Markland Avenue Kokomo, Indiana Copperweld Steel Company Glassport, Pennsylvania Detroit Steel Corporation 1025 South Oakwood Avenue Detroit 9, Michigan Eastern Stainless Steel Corporation Baltimore 3, Maryland Firth Sterling Steel and Carbide Corporation Demmler Road McKeesport, Pennsylvania Follansbee Steel Corporation 3rd and Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh 22, Pennsylvania Granite City Steel Company 20th Street and Madison Avenue Granite City, Illinois Great Lakes Steel Corporation Tecumseh Road Ecorse, Detroit 18, Michigan Hanna Furnace Corporation Ecorse, Detroit 18, Michigan Harrisburg Steel Corporation 10th and Herr Streets Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Boiardi Steel Company Milton, Pennsylvania Heppenstall Company 4620 Hatfield Street Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Inland Steel Company 38 S. Dearborn Street Chicago 3, Illinois Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Incorporated 2558 W. 16th street Chicago 80, Illinois Interlake Iron Corporation 1900 Union Commerce Building Cleveland 14, Ohio Pacific States Steel Corporation Lathan Square Building Oakland 12, California Pittsburgh Coke & Chemical Company 1905 Grant Building Pittsburgh 19, Pennsylvania H. I. Porter Company, Incorporated 1932 Oliver Building Pittsburgh 22, Pennsylvania Buffalo Steel Division H. K. Porter Company, Incorporated Fillmore Avenue Tonawanda, New York Joslyn Manufacturing & Supply Company 20 N. Wacker Drive Chicago 6, Illinois Joslyn Pacific Company 5100 District Boulevard Los Angeles 11, California Latrobe Electric Steel Company Latrobe, Pennsylvania E. J. Lavino & Company 1528 Walnut Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lukens Steel Company S. First Avenue Coatesville Pennsylvania McLouth Steel Corporation 300 S. Livernois Detroit 17, Michigan Newport Steel Corporation Ninth and Lowell Streets Newport, Kentucky Northwest Steel Rolling Mills, Incorporated 4315 9th Street N.W. Seattle, Washington Northwestern Steel & Wire Company Sterling, Illinois Reeves Steel Manufacturing Company 137 Iron Avenue Dover, Ohio John A. Roebling's Sons Company 640 South Broad Street Trenton, New Jersey Rotary Electric Steel Company Box 90 Detroit 20, Michigan Sheffield Steel Corporation Sheffield Station Kansas City 3, Missouri Shenango-Penn Mold Company 812 Oliver Building Pittsburgh 30, Pennsylvania Shenango Furnace Company 812 Oliver Building Pittsburgh 30, Pennsylvania Stanley Works 195 Lake Street New Britain Connecticut Universal Cyclops Steel Corporation Station Street Bridgeville, Pennsylvania Vanadium-Alloys Steel Company Latrobe, Pennsylvania Vulcan Crucible Steel Company 1 Main Street Aliquippa, Pennsylvania Wheeling Steel Corporation 1134 Market Street Wheeling, West Virginia Woodward Iron Company Woodward, Alabama Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation Oliver Building Pittsburgh 22, Pennsylvania Bethlehem Steel Company 701 East 3rd Street Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation 20th & Illinois Streets San Francisco, California Bethlehem Supply Company of California Los Angeles, California Bethlehem Supply Company Tulsa, Oklahoma Buffalo Tank Corporation Lackawanna, New York Charlotte, North Carolina Dunellen, New Jersey Dundalk Company Sparrows Point, Maryland A. M. Byers Company 717 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh 30, Pennsylvania Colorado Fuel & Iron Corporation 575 Madison Avenue New York 22, New York Claymont Steel Corporation Claymont, Delaware Crucible Steel Company Oliver Building Pittsburgh 22 Pennsylvania Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation Third Avenue and Ross Street Pittsburgh 30, Pennsylvania J. & L. Steel Barrel Company 3711 Sepviva Street Philadelphia 37, Pennsylvania National Supply Company 1400 Grant Building Pittsburgh 30, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Steel Company 1600 Grant Building Pittsburgh 19, Pennsylvania Johnson Steel & Wire Company, Incorporated 53 Wiser Avenue Worcester 1, Massachusetts Republic Steel Corporation Republic Building Cleveland 1, Ohio Truscon Steel Company 1315 Albert Street Youngstown, Ohio Rheem Manufacturing Company Russ Building San Francisco 4, California Sharon Steel Corporation S. Irvine Avenue Sharon, Pennsylvania Valley Mould & Iron Corporation Hubbard, Ohio Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company 44 Central Square Youngstown 1, Ohio Emsco Derrick & Equipment Company 6811 S. Alameda Street Los Angeles 1, California HARRY S. TRUMAN THE WHITE HOUSE, April 8, 1952