Evening star., 1945-04-24
Coal Pay Raise
Effect on Price
|0f Fuel Studied
Davis Must Puss'
On Bituminous Pact
Approved byWLB
By JAMES Y. NEWTON.

BY JAMES Y. NEWTON.
The Office of Price Administra.
ton today studied the effect on
fuel prices Of the new soft coal
wage agreement following a War
Labor Board ruling that the con-
tract, which would bring a siz-
able pay increase to John L.
Lewis miners, was in accord with
wage policy.
Both the mine operators and
United Mine Workers have said a
coal price increase will be necessary
to meet the higher wages and there
seemed little doubt but that OPA
would agree. In this case, however,
the approval of Economic Stabiliza-
ton Director Davis would be nee.
essary before the contract could be.
come effective.
The operators, it was understood,
have asked OPA for an increase
that would add about 20 cents a ton
to the cost of coal. Officials prob
ably would grant price increases by
coal districts, so that the rise would
be greater for some types than for
others.
Taylor Halls Prudent Agreement
WLB Chairman George w. Taylor
described the mine contract as a
prudent agreement" which In his
opinion mo Government agency has
a right to upset. . ."
Mr.. Taylor estimated the average
daily wage increase to all mine
workers at $1.01 or $102. Operators
had placed the increase for inside
men paid on a daily basis at ap-
proximately ,$1.20 per day. The
average, however, Is brought down
considerably when miners paid on q
tonnage basis are considered. Ton
mage workers would get only about
81 week additional.
Chief wage concessions under the
agreement result from full portal
to-portal pay including full travel
time and pay for a 15-minute lunch
period for which the miners are
now "docked." Then, the workers
would receive time-and-a-half pay
after seven hours a day and IS
hours a week. Currently, miners
receive overtime pay only after 40
hours of work per week.
Mr.. Taylor said both miners and
operators agreed that more produc-
ton would result from the paid
lunch period. He added that they
told him the period would be stag
gered so that it would not be neces-
sary to shut down any mine for
lunch. Mr.. Taylor said it would
be up to the parties to prove that
point.
Some Miners Still Out.
Miners and operators signed the
agreement April II after six weeks
of negotiations. The old contract
expired March 81, but was extended
until April 80 by mutual consent.
There followed a series of unau-
thorized strikes resulting in Fed
eral seizures of 235 mines. Some Of
the mines, particularly In Alabama,
still have not returned to work.
WLB found that other pay fea.
lures of the contract were within
wage stabilization policy such as SIS
annual vacation payment, dif1eren-
tials of and 6 cents for second and
third shifts, and reclassification to
higher pay of less than per cent
of the miners.
Mr.. Taylor said the decision ex.
pected soon from the Supreme
Court on the portal-to-portal issue
would not affect the contract now.
He cited a Circuit Court of Appeals
decision to the effect that travel
time must be paid for as work time.
That decision was appealed to the
high court by the operators.
Meantime, negotiations for an
anthracite agreement, involving To-
600 Northeastern Pennsylvania hard
coal miners, are under way in New
York. A strike vote under the
Smith Connally War Labor Disputes
Act Is scheduled for Thursday.