Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-20
MEN AND MONEY
BY NJ. S. Rukeyser.
(Copyright. 1927

John A. Lewis, head OF the United
Mine Workers of America, will face In
the next few weeks the most dif1cuit
crisis in his career as an aggressive
labor leader
The famous Jacksonville agreement,
by which wages for bituminous miners
were nominally fixed for three years,
expires at the end of March. The
question of a renewal of the agree
ment will come up at a conference on
January 25, but there seems to be lit
tie prospect of an amicable settlement.
Mr.. Lewis has already set up the slo-
gan, NO backward step" and the
operators seem determined to resist
wage scale which, they assert, has
proved uneconomic
Some of the largest soft coal oper-
ators, after trying out the arrange
ment for n year, openly began to VIC
late 1t, evidently not caring much for
the SanCtity of contract. They de-
Tended their position by asserting that
their own workingmen assented to
reduction in wages (preferring that
to a shutdown, but the United Mine
Workers. who made the contract,
never consented to a revision.
Drift to Non. Union Mines.
tempted TO stick to the letter of the
agreement, many found it necessary
to close down, being unable to COM
pete with the non-union mines, which
were paying lower wage scale. The
Jacksonville agreement provided for
minimum wage of $3.50 a day.
In recent years there has been
significant drift of business from the
union of the nonunion mines. At the
close of the war, according to Sydney
A. Hale, associate editor of Coal Age,
more than 10 per cent OF the bitumi-
nous tonnage mined in the United
States was produced by union labor
and under contractual relations be-
tween the United Mine Workers of
America and the operators. In 1925.
Mr.. Hale asserts. less than "a per cent
of the tonnage came from union
mines.
If these figures are correct, strike
in the soft coal union mines, which is
not unlikely to occur on April /. would
not prove as paralyzing as such an
event would have been before the
signing of the Jacksonville agreement.
Coal operators, moreover, assert that
the railroads and some of the large
industrial concerns have accumulated
soft coal in anticipation of the pos
sibility of a strike.
Excess Supply Of Labor.
Serious controversial questions have
arisen in the bituminous coal field,
where the new and better relations
preva ling between enlightened cor
porations and their employees do not
exist The industry seems to he SUI
fering from excessive capacity. and
seemingly from an excess supply OF
abor The growth in demand for coal
i'm connection with the expansion of
the country has ameliorated the sltua-
ton partially, but new economies in
burning fuel have made the increased
demand dispropOrtiante TO the growth
of general business. The competition
of oil as fuel has also been a factor.
Unless some miracle of compromise
is effected, the country is likely to
witness another clash in the coal in
dustry, which has become the pro-
verbal center of conflict here and
abroad.
Following the British coal strike,
there is likely to be an attempt on
the part of the British operators TO
adopt American machinery and inn
prove the efficiency of their mines,
bringing them into more direct com
petition with the American industry.
Before the strike, British mining
methods were antiquated and rela-
lively inefficient.
Even the bitter adversaries of Mr..
Lewis in the looming labor struggle
ascribe tremendous energy and coiir-
age to. the indianapolis leader. He
possesses great fighting qualities, which
are directed by a keen mind. Whether
right or wrong on particular issues,
he ,,sualt1 disnlayS greater determine
ton and steadfastness of purpose than
the operators. who have in some IN
stances been vacillating and opportu'
nistic.
The threatened bituminous strike
would he of greater business signih-
canoe than the anthracite struggle OF
1925, for soft coal, not hard coal, Is
the fuel generally used by industry.
Anthracite is employed chiefly for
household purposes.