Evening star., 1943-05-04

$:s' $:s'' r.; :; ;s:, T.: ::'s';s ''1:;: e: ~
outmaneuvered the administration
and that he has emerged as the
most aggressive champion of organ
lied labor that the country has
today.
Mr.. Lewis takes all the condem-
nation and abuse calmly, for he
knows that he has outsmarted the
administration. He knows that the
President has bungled his own labor
policy and that most labor leaders
will acknowledge this privately even
II they give lip-service to Mr..
Roosevelt's labor policies publicly.
It is most unfortunate that man
Of Lewis ability and determination
isn't working today for Uncle Sam.
He would make far better Secre-
tary Of Labor than Miss Perkins,
and If he were working for the
United States Government, he would
be as jealous In its behalf as he is
for the United Mine Workers of
America.
Exposes Fallacies.
The reason Lewis wins the bouts
with the administration is that he
has the nerve to expose the fallacies,
the contradictory acts, the messy
attempts to handle labor by coddling
here and there and then by cracking
down In q manner that upsets labor
union contracts and establishes, all
OF q sudden, a formula that is sup
posed to apply rigidly to all situ-
ations irrespective of known in
equalities and ineQuitable circum-
stances.
When the administration issued
its now famous hold line"
order on April it made a colossal
blunder. Tie object, of course, was
to checkmate Lewis. but actually it
inspired him to go to the very edge
Of precipitating a general coal strike
because he knew that other labor
leaders felt the "hold-the- line" order
was wrong and couldn't be sustained.
Mr.. Lewis doesn't want to see coal
mining interrupted. He uses the
cfYiRA U,A i,Ycf 1nrar To
get the demands of his unions ac-
cepted. He knew long ago that a
threat of strike would force the
mines into the hands of the Govern
ment. He knew also that In some
way the little steel formula" had
to be modified or some other con-
cession had to be made to increase
the money In the miners pay
envelope.
New Employer for Miners.
He now faces new set of circum-
stances. Publicly, Mr.. Lewis calls
attention to the fact the miners
have a new employer. This means
negotiations for a new wage con-
tract. Will the President ask his
own fuel administrator, Secretary of
Interior Ickes, to appear before the
War Labor Board-one govern
mental agency submitting its case
to another-when the Presidents
order gives the same fuel admins
traitor complete power over coal
mines?
Presumably there will be direct
negotiations between the Govern
ment ana both the operators and
the miners unions. 1t matters little
how the agreement finally is made
there appears to be a certainty Of
some kind of new wage agreement.
Presumably also the new agree
ment will be filed as matter Of
face saving" with the War Labor
Board, which will doubtless approve
It coincident with the receipt of in
structions to modify the "hold-the-
line" order. For the War Labor
Board itself is on record with a re-
quest sent to the President for au-
thority to go back to the status of
affairs prior to the "hold-the-line"
order, when certain inequalities"
used to be adjusted.
New Terms Retroactive.
It will be noted that the President
opened the way for this course Of
events by his statement in Sunday
nights radio talk, that If q wage
agreement were reached, either
through the War Labor Board or If
the board approved an agreement
reached between the miners and the
operators. the pay would be retro
active. This could mean that Mr..
Lewis may be granted his point in
refusing to deal with the War Labor
Board except as tribunal that rati-
fles an agreement already reached
directly between operators and
miners.
The one inexplicable factor in the
situation is the so-called "15-day
truce" Mr.. Lewis didn't call 1t
a truce" at all Many Of the press
dispatches did. The fact is Mr..
Lewis merely announced that the
miners would 60 back to work. that
they had q new employer and that
the return to work would be for =
15-day period, that is, till other
conditions or agreements superseded.
There Is nothing to prevent an ex-
tension beyond that time, as surely
something will be done by the fuel
administrator in the meantime to
bring about wage settlement.
II, when It's all over, the miners
ret more pAy-and It appears they