The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-05-11


At the same time, don't be sur
priSed If there Is no real settle
ment Of the coal wage dispute In
the form Of " new contract be-
tween Lewis and the operators.
This may sound like a paradox,
for the mine labor boss has stated
repeatedly that members Of his
union won't "trcsspaSS' on the
property OF the operators unless
they have a contract. However,
the insiders Tho have been close
TO the coal crisis from the be-
ginning. the answer Is obvious:
Lewis IL willing for Interior
Secretary Harold Ickes to con
tinuc ~ czar Of the nations
coal mines after the 15-day
truce expires, In which case the
mines still would be the property
Of the government.
When Ickes, IN his capacity rs
Solid Fuels Administrator, am
nounced last Tuesday, two days
after long conference with Lewis,
that he was retaining control UNI
TIL the "cOal business Is a going
concern" he meant until he was
assured Of continued production
or for the duration, II necessary.
While 1ckes didn't say so, he
assumed that Lewis might not sign
q new contract with the operators
while the War Labor Board had
Jurisdiction OF the case. This
has been borne out by develop
ments since.
DOESN'T LIKE WLB
The mine labor boss not only
has refused to negotiate with the
War Labor Board, which he sus-
poets OF being prejudiced against
the miners, but he and his adj
visers have decided privately to
sign no contract with the opera
tors as long as the WLB has juris-
diction.
Lewis would rather take his
chances with Ickes, who has
shown no great love for the
mine operators in the past and
who already has made two con-
cessiOns to the miners since
taking over - q guaranteed six
day work week and q promise 10
clean UP profiteering by opera
t0r-0wned c0mmissary stores.
Also, Lewis would like nothing
better than to hold the WLB up
to public ridicule for failing to
settle the coal strike. This, APP
parently, is part Of his strategy,
since he knows that Ickes will
be compelled TO retain control OF
the mines, whether the Interior
Secretary likes IL or not, If there
is no settlement.
At the end OF the 15-day truce
period, the mine labor leader can
tell Ickes in effect:
I'VE will not continue work If
you turn the mines back 10 the
operators, since the United Mine
Workers additionally do not
work unless they have a con-
tract. However, we cannot
strike against the government"
MAY KEEP CONTROL
So Ickes will have no other re-
course than to retain control OF
the mines u he wants to keep
them in production.
Just how much more Lewis can
expect to get from Ickes, in addi-
ton to the concessions he has re-
ceived, is problematical. The In
terror Secretary already is waver-
ing little under heavy pressure
from White House advisers James
ByrneS and Harry Hopkins anC
WLB Chairman William H. Davis.
Davis was blazing mad about
news stories that the WLB had
been "by-passed" and that Ickes
himself would endeavor to achieve
a compromise settlement. There
will be denials, but these stories
hit very close to the mark. While
Ickes made no definite commit
ments to Lewis, he indicated that
he would play an active role in
esfectine an agreement satisfac-
tory to the miners, the operators,
and, most important OF all, to the
| nation.
However, rather than provoke an
open fight with the War Labor
Board, Ickes subsequently agreed
with Davis to step completely out
of the picture and later an
nounced to press conference that
he would not intervene personally
to get the miners and operators
to resume collective bargaining
talks.
On the other hand. he will
not relinquish the mines II
against atheism. supplemented Will
modern weapons and streamlineC
Il L Il