Evening star., 1943-05-05
Six-Duy Mining

S~~SAS AAS$o 6SO4A q VCA4NCllSy w 1OOh
upon any order from the Federal
Government requiring six-day oper-
alton OF the coal mines as some sort
OF victory" for John L. Lewis, but it
IS difficult to see how any such in
depreciation can be squeezed out of
the language used yesterday by Sec
retary 1ckes in placing the mines on
the heightened work week.
On the face of the matter, it ap-
pears that Mr.. Ickes has taken a
sensible step toward securing maxi
mum coal production. Some time
ago the OPA approved an increase in
the price of coal to cover six-day
operation. Certainly, if the operators
are going to receive the benefit of the
higher price, they should satisfy this
condition upon which it was granted.
This is a matter concerning which
there has been wealth of confusion.
Mr.. Lewis has charged that some OF
the operators, by resort to various
devices, had refused to work the
miners six days a week. The oper-
ators deny that this is true, claiming
that in many instances the miners
have been unwilling to work the
sixth day. With respect to this, it
is important to note that Mr.. Ickes'
order does not arbitrarily direct the
operators to place their mines on a
six-day operation. Instead, it directs
them to afford miners an oppor-
tunity" to work six days a week,
which seemingly relieves the oper-
ators OF any liability to pay, at time
and one-half, for sixth day of work
unless the miner has already worked
flve days in a given week and ac-
tually works sixth day. This is a
far cry from the fifty guar
antee which Mr.. Lewis has been de-
manding, and apparently has no
other effect than to require the
operators to live up to the condition
under which they were permitted to
increase their prices.
There are two other aspects of the
order worthy of notice. First, an
exemption may be secured if for any
"justifiable physical or operating
reason" six-day week basis is not
feasible. Second, the only penalty pro-
posed for failure to comply with the
six-day order is cancellation of the
price increase as to the offending
mine. With these limitations, the
order strikes the layman as being
both desirable and reasonable, and
the favorable response from the op-
orators is the best evidence that this
is the case.
1t may be that some will criticize
the order because it puts the Gov
ernment's stamp Of approval on
overtime pay rates after thirty-five
instead of the customary forty hours
OF work. But this is attributable to
the fact that the thirty-f1ve hour
basic work week has become we'll
established in the coal industry, and
any attempt to disturb that arrange
ment might well have been produc-
tive of serious trouble.
On the whole this is an arrange
ment which should appeal to the in
dividual miners, since it gives them an
opportunity to secure substantial
increase in their actual weekly earn
ings, as distinguished from basic pay
rates. Whether it also will suit Mr..
Lewis is another question, but Mr..
1ckes has made it quite plain that
the union head will have to proceed
through the War Labor Board II he
wants to press his demand for higher
daily wage rates or "portal-to-portal"
pay. If this Is victory" for Mr..
Lewis, 1t is not likely that he will do
much Growing about it.