Evening star., 1941-04-21
Undermining Defense

| fourth week, has reached a point
where choice must be made between
vigorous governmental action to
bring about the reopening of the
mines and acquiescence in a situation
which, without any real justification,
will result in the progressive under
mining of the national defense pro-
gram.
AS matters now stand, an agree
ment has been reached between the
Northern operators and the United
Mine Workers. This agreement covers
about 80 per cent of the mines and
250000 of the 100000 miners on
strike, and if mining operations in
this field could be resumed much of
the threat to the Nations security
would be eliminated. From all avail
able evidence, however, neither the
Northern operators nor the miners
want to reopen any mines until the
Southern operators accept the terms
of the contract, and this stand is
maintained despite direct appeal
from Secretary of Labor Perkins that
operations be resumed under a ten
tative arrangement.
The issue between the Southern
operators and John L. Lewis, presi-
dent of the United Mine Workers,
concerns the maintenance of a wage
rate differential in favor of the
Southern producers. Mr. Lewis says
that the differential, which is based
on a disparity in freight rates, must
go, and that the Southern operators
must pay the straight seven-dollar-
a-day wage that the Northern pro-
ducers have accepted. Until that is
done, he says, no coal will be dug,
for the Northern miners would not
care to work while their Southern
brothers continue to starve" The
wage differential in the past has
amounted to forty cents day, and
the producers in the Southern fields
say they cannot operate at profit
unless it is maintained. This is not
a dispute which should cause serious
trouble, however, for the facts can
be readily ascertained from the
Interstate Commerce Commission,
which has ample facilities for weigh
ing the freight-rate question.
Meanwhile, the strike is having
increasingly serious consequences in
industrial plants engaged on defense
work. The steel mills, key to the
whole defense effort, are expected to
operate this week at less than 95 per
cent of capacity, although they had
been working on virtually 100 per
cent basis. At least fifteen of the
country's 228 blast furnaces are said
to have shut down because Of the
lack of coke, and others are oper-
ating on curtailed schedules. This
will not be static condition, but is
one that will grow progressively
worse as long as the mines stay
closed.
AS of the moment, there seem to
be two main avenues of approach to
the problem. One is to get the North
ern mines open, and 1t Is possible
that the President may issue direct
appeal to both the miners and the
operators to that end. The other Is
to bring about resumption of nego-
tiations between Mr.. Lewis and the
Southern operators. At present they
are at stand-off, the operators in
sisting on resuming discussions in
Washington and Mr.. Lewis refusing
to meet anywhere except in New
York.
If this attitude is persisted in,
there remains the possibility of
referring this phase of the strike to
the National Mediation Board. The
only obstacle to the taking of this
step is Mr.. Lewis open hostility to
the Mediation Board, which he has
called a strike-breaking agency, and
his assertion that the miners would
not tolerate its intervention. The
board has proved it's worth and its
impartiality in other knotty cases,
however, and it is not to be supposed
that Mr.. Lewis, under the circum-
stances. would carry his defiance to
the point of actually refusing to per-
NIT this Federal agency to take a
hand in his own deadlocked negoti-
ationS