Evening star., 1946-04-02
Miners Settling Down
For Long Wa|kout as
Coal Par|eys Fail
BY the Associated Pres,

The Nations soft coal miners
who have invoked their no con-
tract, no work" principle, ap-
parently settled down today to a
period of waiting until the lead
ers of the industry and the AFL-
United Mine Workers can agree
on collective bargaining terms.
Nobody could say how long it
would take
The unions contract expired at
midnight Sunday. and the work
stoppage by nearly 100000 began
yesterday in holiday mood, the oc-
casion being the miners traditional
annual celebration in honor of one
time President John Mitchell and
their present president, John l..
Lewis. The miners paraded and
heard speeches in some communi-
ties.
Negotiations Continue.
Negotiations looking toward the
new contract continued here. The
chief stumbling block was the dis
pute over Mr. Lewis demand for a
health and welfare fund to be paid
for IN tonnage royalties by the op-
orators and to be administered by
the union.
The Government special medi-
ator. Paul Fuller of Akron, sat in on
the conferences between miner and
operator representatives yesterday.
Charles O'Neill, spokesman for
the operators, said there was no
progress of any kind. We are eX-
actly where we have been for
weeks"
Mr.. Lewis commented:
We found the operators in their
usual mood, declining to do any,
thing. I think We passed a motion
to reconvene at $50 am. When we
inquired why, they were a little
vague about it."
Mr.. Fuller is former miner and
one-time international representa-
tive Of the UNIV.
Shock to Operators.
His background came as some
thing of a shock to some soft coal
operators when the Labor Depart
ment put out biographical release
on him shortly before he undertook
efforts to get the two sides together
Others. however, were more familiar
with his career. and recalled that he
has been in industry management.
too--in steel mills and machine
manufacture.
Mr.. Fuller recently has been Spe-
cial mediator for the rubber in
dustry
There we've no reports from the
coal fields Of any picketing. Appar-
emily the miners took Mr.. Lewis
at his word when he told them just
to go home and rest.
Mine supervisory workers, men,
bers of the United Clerical. Tech
nlcal and Supervisory Workers, an
affiliate of UNIV. District so, con-
tlnued to report for duty. carrying
out instructions from their presi-
dent. John McAlpine of Pittsburgh.
who notified them they were to
carry on until further notice"
Effects of the stoppage were felt
first in the steel industry, just re-
covering from 26-day walkout of
USW steelworkers in January.
The United States Steel Corp. an
nounced banking or 2.8O0 beehive
coke ovens in the Fayette County,
Pa, area. Today, spokesman said,
United States Steel begins banking
20 of the 80 blast furnaces in the
Pittsburgh district, cutting steel
output there to Al per cent. Sched-
uled output for production had been
80 per cent of capacity, highest
since January, 1914
Other steel firms In the Pitts
burgh area said they had enough
coal on hand to make immediate
curtallment unnecessary.
l. N. Bayless. president of the
Union Pacific Railroad. said the
carrier, which uses 80 per cent of
the output of the Union Pacific
mines in Wyoming, was preparing
to install oil burners in locomotives
II the strike is PROLONGED