Evening star., 1935-06-02
COAL MINE STRIKE
|S0RDERED JUNE I
450,0O0 Bituminous Work.
ers Affected by Sweep
ing Command.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
The United Mine Workers Of
America yesterday ordered 100000
soft coal miners to quit work June II
unless otherwise notified.
This sweeping command. possibly
foretelling one of the largest strikes
Of the Nations history, was issued
as Secretary Perkins sought to
restore by interstate compact some
Of the industrial practices stripped Of
Federal enforcement by the Supreme
Courts N. r. A. decision.
Miss Perkins summoned here next
Tuesday representatives OF the north
eastern industrial States to consider
uniform State legislation to maintain
some code industrial standards.
Legislatures Would Ratify.
child labor and night work were
some of the fields the conference will
canvass Compacts adopted by the
conference would be submitted to
State Legislatures for ratification or
rejection. Massachusetts. New Hamp-
shire. Rhode Island. Maine. Vermont.
Connecticut. New York. New Jersey
and PENNSYLVANIA were asked to send
representatives.
The union strike order counseled
the miners to obey the law and keep
peace. But tersely the leaders di-
rected all members except MAIN
tenance men ito refrain from enter
ing the mines"
John L. Lewis, union president, said
enactment Of the Guffey coal
stabilization bill. to create "little
N. r. A." for the industry, would
stop the strike.
With the zero hour only two weeks
away, operators favoring the bill
completed the amendments they say
are necessary. Charles O'Neill.
Central Pennsylvania producer. sub
mitted them today to the union. II
satisfactory to the miners. they will
be introduced in the Senate by
Senator Guffey, Democrat, Of Penn
sylvania.
Would Change Pricing Method.
The operators amendments would
remove the provisions Of the original
bill for Federal purchase OF marginal
coal lands and production ALLEGATION.
They also would revise the me.hod OF
determining coal prices. and-the op-
orators say-make the measure con-
stitutional In the light Of the Supreme
Courts decision viping out N. r. A.
codes.
American Federation of Labor
chieftains, meanwhile, continued to
insist that q new N. r. A. must be
created Immediately, despite reports
that President Roosevelt would not
push through "stop-gap' legislation.
without permitting themselves to
be quoted. several labor leaders ex-
pressed the opinion that . new N r. A.
bill should be enacted, even II 1t even
tually were found az unconstitutional
as the Supreme Court declared the
old law.
Year Seen Taken for Test.
The year consumed In testing the
new law, they sad, might see recovery
sufficiently advanced and labor well
enough organized with the aid cf the
Wagner labor disputes bill to make q
law of doubtful constitutionality well
worth while.
The federation vas taken to task
yesterday by the United Mine Work.
ers' Journal, ofIicial publication Of the
mine union, for not having made
greater organization gains in the last
two years.
The mine workers attribute their
threatened strike to the collapse of
the soft coal codes price provisions
this Spring.
Operators offered one-year contracts
with o IS basic daily wage n the
North and 35-nour week. The union
had demanded q $3.50 day and Q 80
hour week.
Z. L. Greever Of Tazewell, Va, gen.
eral counsel for Appalachian Goals.
Inc. expressed the opinion last night
that the Guffey bill was unconstitu-
tional, in view Of the Supreme Court
ruling in the N. r. A. case.
1T seems clear" he said in q state
ment, that the Guffey biH and the
Wagner bin would be condemned by
the Supreme Court upon the grounds
and for the reasons given In con-
demning the recovery act. and that
those bills under this decision are as
clearly unconstitutional - Is the re-
covery aet."