Evening star., 1946-05-26
Continued From First Page

ported by 7 percent payroll tax on
the industry.
He was offered, it was furthee
understood. a plan for unionization
of mine supervisory personnel along
lines of recent National Labor Re-
lations Board decision which held
the UNIV foremen's union to be
an appropriate unit for collective
bargaining.
On the hotly contested issue Of
mine safety, he was given plan Of
the Federal Bureau of Mines which
sets up minimum mine safety stand
ards which, under the Governments
proposal, would be adhered to by
management.
Far Apart on Wages.
While the issue of wages was not
fully discussed, it was indicated that
Mr.. Lewis demand was far above
the increase the Government con-
tends it can give under national
wage price policy.
Mr.. Krug has been negotia ting
with Mr.. Lewis on terms of
contract for Federal operation OF
the mines since last Wednesday
when the Government seized the
pits after breakdown of contract
negotiat tions between the union and
the mine operators.
He has held numerous conferences
with the miners and operators since
that time. On Friday he outlined
his idea of the provisions of a new
contract in general terms to the
operators 1t was said that the op-
orators objected to some Of the
terms.
Lewis Called Suddenly.
Mr.. Lewis called the 15-day truce
suddenly on May 10 when the Nation
was being slowly paralyzed by the
mine strike which had begun April !.
After that, conferences between
the mine workers and operators
rocked along with no progress.
When the talks begged down COM
pletely, Mr.. Truman summoned both
sides to the White House for talks
which were equally fruitless.
1t was believed that Mr.. Krus 80
far has found Mr.. Lewis as unyield-
ing as the operators did.
The truce did not at any time
bring a full resumption of mining
operations. The Government re-
ported that in the week ending May
18, the first of the truce, more than
100000 tons Of soft coal was pro-
duced. about two-thirds the normal
output. A large percentage of Penn
sylvania's soft coal miners did not
return to work, circumstance
which was blamed on an oficial's
misinterpretation of the unemploy-
ment compensation law.
More Mines Closed.
Additional mines closed after the
Government took over the industry
and yesterday operations at most Of
the working pits was halted by
shortage of coal cars resulting from
the rail strike.
Meanwhile, still another mine
strike faced the Government. In
New York yesterday, Mr.. Lewis
union served notice on the Nations
anthracite operators that it would
terminate its contract at midnight,
May 80.
If agreement on a new contract is
not reached in the meantime or
Government action invoked, this
means that $4,000 hard coal miners,
most of whom are in Pennsylvania.
will walk off the job next Friday.
The miners have a traditional no
contract, no work" policy
Negotiations between the anthra-
cite operators and the UNIV have
been conducted in New York the
past two weeks. In serving notice
of contract cancellation, Mr.. Lewis
followed ne same procedure he
used in the soft coal dispute. A
spokesman for the hard coal oper-
ators pointed out that the action did
not mean necessarily that a strike
would take place and expressed hope
that agreement could be reached be.
fore the deadline.