Evening star., 1922-02-21
HOPES TOPREVENT
BIG COAL STRIKE
President Lewis Asks ,0p-
orators to Meet Union
Heads in Cleveland.
WAGES ISSUE AT STAKE
Miners Head Calls Meeting Essen
tial to Public Welfare and
Interest.
WAGES ISSUE AT STAKE
By the Associated Press.

hy the Associated Press
Z CHICAGO, February 21.-John r,
Lewis, president of the United Mine
Workers of America. today asked coal
operators >of the central competitive.
heid, comprising the states of Illinois.
Indiana, Ohio, and also of western
pennsylvania, to meet with union Of
hcials at Cleveland on March 2 for a
wage conference, which, he said.
might avert the impending strike.
Similar requests have been rejected
oy some operators, who said that they
NlShed TO discontinue collective bar
gaming with the miners.
Mr.. Lewis Message.
Mr. Lewis messages for the CIeye-
.!lu meeting We're sent to all associa-
lions of coal operators in the central
competitive field, and also to oner
atofs who were signatories TO the
present wage agreement made.in New
orh city Two years ago. The Cleye-
AND meeting. if approved by the
operators Mr. Lewis said, would fix
the oates Tor negotiations on the wage
scales. No actual work on a scale
agreement, he said, would be taken
at the Cleveland meeting.
Holds Meeting Important,
In MS messages Mr.. Lewis referred
10 provision of the present contract
providing for the preliminaries of the
wage negotiations this year, and he
sdio: Aside from the obligation to
nnns;in as Sc. ioftn IN the agreement, 1
cohsfder such meeting essential and
necessary from the standpoint of pub-
nc interest and public welfare" The
iiinerS president also said he hoped
the operators would assume their
proper Obligations and arrange for
ing" 'e
Sisnatories to the agreement. to
whom the messages We're sent were
); a. Donaldson of Pittsburgh, w, II.
Henderson of Pittsburgh. c. E. Maur-
srs Cleveland; George NJ Jones, To-
n. {. Perry. St Louis; E. C. Searles,
Chicago: Thomas r Brewster, St.
Louis, and NJ. L. Gould, Indiana. The
messages also We're sent to seven
operators associations.
Miners and Rail Men Confer.
A defensive alliance" was up for
discussion here today by coal mine
ana railway union leaders who as
stmbled on the invitation of John L..
Lewis, president of the United Mine
Workers of America. Fifteen of the
sixteen major railway unions ac-
eepted Lewis invitation to particle
pate in the conference. Just to what
extent the railway union representa-
tlVes VIII enter into the alliance has
not been indicated
Mr.. Lewis of the miners union said
he was confident that the conference
with the railroad labor chiefs would
be fruitful of results" but he did
not indicate what sort of an under
standing was expected to be devel-
oped from the conference, which be-
gan in the afternoon.
The threatened miners strike on
April 1. according to the miners Off
cals, was in no way connected with
the proposed alliance, but the OFF,
Gals said their hope was to create a
working arrangement between the
miners and the rail men so that the
potential strength of 100000 in two
basic industries might be of such
force as to prevent any arbitrary
wage reductions by employers with
out conferences with the workers.