Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-03-06
Coal Operators Agree
To Lewis Request for
New Pay Conference
By jones Y. Newton

Soft coal operators agreed to-
day to consider higher basic pay
for John L. Lewis United Mine
Workers if the Nations require
ments for coal justify a shorter
work week.
The operators gathered here to
formulate plans for the new btu
minous wage conference which will
open next Tuesday. They agreed to
Mr.. Lewis request for the converting
OF the conference and issued a pre-
liminary statement expressing their
views of new mine contract.
New demands of the miners will
not be known until after the UNIV
Policy Committee meets next Mon
day. AS result of Mr.. Lewis petit
ton reopening the agreement, the
present contract will expire April /.
Federal labor officials fear the task
OF drafting new contract will be a
long and arduous one.
Murray Assails Steel Statement.
Meanwhile, CLIO President Philip
Murray declared that President
Humans statement that his recon-
mendation for a wage increase of
1872 cents an hour for steel workers
applied only to basic steel operations
and not to fabricators 'can only be
regarded as a serious disservice to
industrial peace"
In telegram to all district direc-
tors of the United Steel Workers,
Mr.. Murray said the Presidents
statement may prolong the present
(fabricators) strike to the detriment
of workers and the Nation" An
estimated TOO fabricating plants
still are closed by continued strike
of some 100000 workers.
ut remains the policy of our
union that workers in fabricating
plants are entitled to the 181a-cent
increase" he said. with the same
solidarity and f1rmness as has char
acterized our strike up to the present
time, these workers will receive the
1872 cent increase to which they are
entitled"
Operators Seek to Avert Strike.
Mr.. Lewis, in reopening the soft
coal contract, also served notice to
the Government under the Smith
Connally Act that the miners would
strike If necessary to get their un-
stated new demands.
The mine leader emphasized that
he would call for showdown on the
issue of the recognition of his union
OF mine supervisory employees. That
issue, long in dispute, caused the
shutdown for month of several
hundred mines last fall.
The operators appealed to the
miners to negotiate new contract
without strike. They pointed out
that a price increase would follow
any wage boost to the miners and
that it would penalize the industry
in competition with other fuels. They
pointed out that Mr.. Lewis had as
much at stake in that respect as
the mine owners.
Charles ONeill and Edward r
Burke, representing the Northern
Appalachian operators and the
Southern Coal Producers, respect
lively, said labor costs represent 65
per cent of the average cost of al
ton of coal at the mines, which now
amounts to $293.
In letter to Mr.. Lewis, the oper-
ators suggested that if the foreman's
issue was to be reopened, he should
return to the open shop status pre-
vailing in the industry until 1889.
They said they agreed to give the
miners union shop that year in
return for his pledge to exempt
supervisory personnel from eligibil- |
ity for union membership.
Some Federal officials have indi-
Gated privately that they believe the
miners are entitled to a boost in
basic wage rates of about 10 per
cent under new wage-price policy.
The present rate for the average
miner is 81 an hour. 1t has pre-
vailed since 1941. The take-home
pay of miners, however, has been
raised substantially since that time
through the granting of paid travel
time, lunch period and other in
creaSeS,