March 26, 1970

at least 932 of 9,000 controllers stay away from jobs in 20 cities, causing widespread travel tie-ups over much of country; cities hardest hit are NY, Boston, Kan City and Pittsburgh; tens of thousands of travelers delayed up to 4 hrs; airlines cancel nearly 400 flights; Fed Ct, Washington, DC, orders PATCO to withdraw all support of slowdown but union spokesmen say order will not bring about return to work; PATCO exec F L Bailey denies controllers are striking; FAA outlines steps taken to keep traffic moving but stresses it is taking no action that would reduce safety; controllers in La Guardia tower and planes backed up at Kennedy illus

Israel repts its jets downed 4 UAR jets in battle over Suez Canal during 1st of 3 extensive Israeli air raids along 70-mi length of canal from Qantara to Port Suez; repts attacking radar, AA and arty sites, other targets up to depth of 15 mi; it is not known if SAM-3 missiles were among targets; Israelis apparently seek to neutralize all mil sites along canal, up to depth of 15 mi; have already cleared canal of mil sites to depth of 5 mi; UAR repts 1 Israeli plane downed and 2d hit in dogfight over canal northern sec; repts its commandos crossed canal, penetrated more than 6 mi E of Bitter Lakes area, blasted Hawk missile site and returned safely to base without meeting any resistance; map

Nixon Adm proposes amending Medicaid and Medicare to provide optional supplemental program of preventive care, to be called Part C, aimed at checking illness before it starts and treating it immediately once it has begun; Part C would be provided by group health ins programs such as Group Health Ins and HIP, now functioning in NY, and Kaiser-Permanente Programs on W Coast; would include periodic med examinations and routine immunization; major question concerning Part C is availability of adequate private, prepaid med ins plans, which currently serve about 5 million people in 12 cities; Adm officials hold if Part C is initiated, incentive to establish more such prepaid programs will be created; Finch outlines Part C goals; Veneman holds Part C could encourage growth of maintenance orgns to serve private consumers in addition to Medicare and Medicaid recipients, int; says cost will be no more than for Medicare Parts A and B; Parts A and B explained; HEW Dept Asst Sec Butler holds if 1/2 hosp day per yr per person is cut, Part C will pay for itself; med economists have estimated that such pre-paid med plans reduce avg person's total annual hospitalization by as much as 1 wk per yr; AMA has taken no stand on proposals but some local med socs have suggested starting their own plans

talks begin, Washington, on proposed postal pay increase bill to be presented to Cong; unions pay and other demands listed; J C Gildea, exec asst to AFL-CIO pres Meany, is chmn of unions negotiating com; unions represented listed; Shultz, Blount and Rademacher at talks; illus

Strike ends; NYC postal workers return to jobs on advice of Johnson of Lr Carrier Branch 36 and Manhattan-Bronx Postal Union leader Biller who recommend return while talks proceed in Washington on a proposed package that, if approved by Cong, will give workers 12% pay increase retroactive to Oct, full payment of health benefits by the Govt, top pay after 8 yrs rather than 21, provision for collective bargaining and binding arbitration in deadlocked disputes and total amnesty for all strikers; Manhattan-Bronx Postal Union members illus voting to end strike; troops withdrawn from postoffices; illus; Blount sees normal service resumption; scenes illus