After four weeks of false arrests, violence, intimidation, brutality, and threats of relocation, the stalemate finally broke when the company and the union settled on an election sponsored by theN ational Labor Relations Board (NLRB). John L. Lewis, who had been negotiating with Johnson throughout the conflict, reached an agreement with RCA just as both the company and the union appeared to be weakening. Four thousand of the 9,700 employees had crossed the picket line when the strike finally ended, and the UE had dropped all its original demands except for exclusive representation of the workers at RCA. As for the company, its name and reputation had been dragged through the mud as the national press made it clear it was sponsoring a company union and engaging in a variety of violent strikebreaking activities. Moreover, RCA's main competitor, Philco, continued to produce and sell radios under a union contract while RCA battled with its workers. The two parties compromised on two particularly sticky issues: Local 103 won the rehiring of strikers without discrimination as to union affiliation and RCA was allowed to keep the company union on the NLRB ballot.