Evening star., 1946-05-14
Lewis Insists
Manage
Welfare Fund
Says Demand Must
Be Met Before Any
Contract Is Signed
By jones Y. Newton

join l.. Lewis To-Day insisted
on exclusive union supervision
of a miners health and welfare
fund which he proposed be pro-
vided by the operators through
a 7 per cent tax on payrolls. He
added the demand would have to
be granted before the United
Mine Workers would negotiate
"any contract, now or later"
Mr.. Lewis had the floor all
morning in the negotiating session
with the soft coal operators at the
Labor Department, championing the
demand which the industry says
would net his union s70,OO0,OO0 a
year. When negotiations were
recessed for lunch, he called in
neWsmen and expanded on his well
fare plans.
He described his demands as
tra-conservative" in view of what
other Industries, notably the clothing
industry, is paying for similar pur-
poses, and said receipts from the
7 per cent gross payroll levy would
be used for six general purposes.
These are:
Adequate and modern medical
service; properly standardized hos
pitalization; life and health insur-
ance at reasonable rates; rehabilita-
ton and training of disabled men;
financial aid in case of hardship,
and, if any money is left over, for
cultural and educational work"
among the miners.
No Hope of Meeting Deadline.
Meanwhile. the operators and
some Federal labor officials differed
sharply as to the reasonableness of
the miners welfare demands and
hope vanished for meeting Presi-
dent Truman's deadline of tomorrow
for settlement of coal contract diff
ferences.
In his statement today, Mr.. Lewis
said he rejected the idea of admin
lstration of the fund by joint
board of union, management and
Government representative because
it would simply become another
bureaucratic governmental agency
with the overhead eating up large
part of the revenue, clogged with
red tape, and with its awards de-
layed after the manner of other
governmental agencies
I'VE pointed out that it is no
business of the operators to super
wise this fund" he continued
The coal industry mangles these
people and the UNIV wants the
right to alleviate their agony and
distress"
In the morning negotiating ses-
sion, where Mr.. Lewis said he had
explained his demands so thorough
ly that the operators said they
needed no further elaboration, he
argued that the union should super
wise the fund because only the
miners understand the needs. He
added that if it were left to the
operators, the amount of money put
into the fund would be determined
by the prosperity or lack of it of the
Aiiouoeiy.
The operators, the miners chief
explained, would have the veto pow-
er over continuation of the fund at
the end OF each contract period by
simple refusal to agree to it's in
clusion in new agreement.
Assuring honest administration of
the fund, he said the UNIV would
be constantly on trial before the
councils of industry and the public
lat large as to its handling.
The fund should be charge
against coal production" he sum-
married. 1T should be a payroll
charge in an amount equal to 7 per
cent Of the gross earnings of the
men, and it should be paid by the
operators into fund to be operated
by UNIV. = " ="
"The mineworkers have no inten-
tion Of negotiating any contract
now or later, that does not provide