June 29, 1973

Spokesmen for Pres Nixon try again on June 28 to dissociate Pres from any personal involvement in or approval of document submitted by White House to Sen Watergate com June 27 which labeled J W Dean 3d 'principal author of pol and const crisis Watergate now epitomizes' and accuses Dean of master-minding unsuccessful cover-up of Watergate burglary; document was prepared by Pres's special counsel, J F Buzhardt Jr; in related matter, deputy press sec G L Warren says Nixon will not accept invitation or subpoena to appear before Sen com; says 'we feel Pres should not testify' and 'subpoena...would be const inappropriate'

Fed Dist Ct Judge L I Garth on June 28 orders US Labor Dept to release $239-million budgeted for nationwide Neighborhood Youth Corps and orders Office of Mgt and Budget to refrain from taking steps that would allow funds to revert to US Treas Dept

T Gross, former NYC Youth Services Comr, is sentenced to 3 yrs in prison on June 28 for having taken kickbacks on city contracts during his 16 mos in office; Gross, just before sentence is imposed by NYS Sup Ct Justice G P Culkin, tells ct he apologizes to people of NYC and to his close friends who had trust in him; pleaded guilty in April; could have been sentenced to 7 yrs; Asst Dist Atty L R Genge, who prosecuted case, tells ct that Gross had been asked repeatedly to cooperate with Manhattan Dist Atty's office to get information about possible criminal activity within city adm and that Gross had refused; Gross was indicted on 8 counts on Feb 20 for accepting $41,000 in bribes; 2 mos ago he pleaded guilty to taking $2,500 in bribes from Urbanomics Corp, mgt consultant firm; H Borg is Gross's atty; Gross illus

Joint Com on Internal Revenue Taxation of Cong, headed by Repr W D Mills, on June 28 orders investigation of allegations made at Sen Watergate com hearings that Nixon Adm, through IRS, used tax audits to punish its enemies and help its friends

US trucking indus and Teamsters union on June 28 agree to new 33-mo master freight contract providing wage and benefit increases averaging 7% a yr to 400,000 truck drivers; contract continues pattern of moderate wage settlements established by collective bargaining agreements in other major industries in '73; will take effect on July 1 if ratified by Teamsters membership; calls for increases of 35c an hr in 1st yr, 30c more in 2d yr and 30c additional in 3d yr for drivers paid on hrly basis; wages for these drivers now avg $6 an hr; increase will be 3-qrs of a cent in 1st and 2d yrs and half a cent in 3d yr on top of current 12.5c a mi for drivers paid by mi; settlement is close to Govt's econ stabilization program standard that seeks to limit wage increases to around 5.5%; Labor Sec Brennan hails settlement as 'good news for Amer public and for nation's econ,' statement; says agreement will assure that vital means of transportation will continue to operate uninterrupted; Teamsters also win increases in health and welfare pension programs; these fringe benefits add another 40c an hr to package; cos, there are 1,200 of them party to contract, also agree to pay cost of living increase of at least 8c an hr and no more than 11c an hr in 1st and 3d yrs of contract; wage-benefit increases total 7.2% in 1st 2 yrs and 6.6% in 3d yr, with additional holidays, vacation time and funeral leave; contract will expire in 33 mos instead of 3 yrs at insistence of Teamsters pres Fitzsimmons