Evening star., 1941-09-15
Strike Of $1,000 Men
In Captive Mines
Is Ordered Today
WoIkout May Close
Steel Mills Working
On Defense Contracts
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 15.-De-
manoing a union shop. district
leaders of the c. I. o. United Mine
Workers ordered a strike beginning
today of approximately $1,000 soft
coal miners at captive" mines OF
seven steel corporations operating at
capacity in the defense emergency.
The corporations included the
Nations three largest steel pro-
ducers-United States Steel, Bethle-
hem and Republic. The others were
Weirton, Wheeling, Crucible and
Youngstown Sheet & Tube.
The strike order went to 10000
miners in Western Pennsylvania,
10000 in West Virginia, 1000 in Ken
lucky, 1000 in Illinois and an un-
specified number in Tennessee.
Union Shop Sole Issue.
Patrick T. Pagan, Pittsburgh dis
trict U. M. w. president. said 5000
Alabama miners were also ordered
out, but union leaders there de-
MED it.
They'll be in the picture" Mr..
Fagan declared.
The union shop proviso, which
would make union membership a
condition of employment, was the
sole issue at stake. Mr.. Pagan said
all commercial mines, whose output
goes into the ordinary channels of
trade, have signed union shop con-
tracts since 1899.
The basic difference between a
closed shop and a union shop is
that under a closed shop arrange
ment, an employe must be union
member at the time he is hired,
usually from a list provided by the
union. Under union shop, a non
union employe may be hired but
he must become a union member
within limited time, normally upon
receiving his first pay. Both agree
ments provide for checkoff of
union dues, Mr.. Fagan said.
U. S. Steel Mines Closed.
Workers who do not now belong
to the union, Mr.. Fagan said, would
be required to become members
within a reasonable time" if a
union shop agreement is signed.
Mr.. Pagan reported that all cap
tive mine workers in his district,
No. 5, were 100 per cent unionized
but in district 4, centering around
UniontoWn, Pa, union organizers
appeared at the pits today to sign
up non-union workers at United
States Steel Corp. mining subsidi-
aries. United States Steel reported
all of its mines in the Pennsylvania,
West Virginia and Kentucky area,
with the exception of two at Gary,
w. Va, had suspended operations.
The two at Gary employ members
of an independent union.
The only captive" mines in the
Pittsburgh area not involved were
those Of the Jones & Laughlin Steel
Corp, which has granted a union
shop. Captive" mines are those
whose coal is used entirely by the
parent corporation.
Long Negotiations.
Negotiations had gone on for three
months. with the "captives" oper-
ating under a verbal agreement.
They had accepted other provisions
of the Appalachian pact, including
wages and working conditions.
A prolonged strike would curtail
production of defense-vital steel
Mr.. Pagan said the companies
usually have three to four weeks
supply of coal on hand and beyond
that they could buy some coal now
going to commercial markets.
But they can't stand very long
unless they close the blast furnaces"
he said.
Union leaders here expected the
Defense Mediation Board would step
into the dispute, but board spokes-
man at Washington said it had no
plans to confer with U. M. w. Presi-
dent, John L. Lewis, who so far
declined comment m tho ctrike