Evening star., 1948-05-13

.SaysCoaI Miners Are
Labor Arisfocrafs'
By the Associotsd Press

A coal industry SpoKeSmen toQay
called coal miners "the aristocrats
of labor" and said the limit has
been reached in what the public
will stand from unions.
John D. Battle, executive secre-
tary of the National Coal Associa-
ton, said on the eve of contract
negotiations with John L. Lewis:
The coal industry will again be
faced with the possibility of rising
costs at a tine when the cost of
producing coal is already too high. y
Mr.. Battle continued in weekly
bulletin:
There is a limit to what the
American people will stand in the
way of impositions by these unions,
and that limit has been reachcdy
Stocks of coal are low. Full op-
erations of the mines will not per-
nit a satisfactory replenishment OF
those stocks before cold weather,
even if there is no further suspen-
sion of operations"
Talks Begin Next Week.
The soft coal negotiations will
begin Tuesday in Washington. The
contract expires June 30, The an
thracite contract. covering 10000
Pennsylvania hard coal diggers has
no termination date, but Mr.. Lewis
has given the operators so days
notice he wants new pact by
July 10. Negotiations for that will
begin in New York or Philadelphia
next Thursday.
Mr.. Lewis has said nothing about
his new demands He has called his
2OO-man United Mine Workers Pol
icy Committee to Washington Mon
day morning. Preliminary sessions
of district scale committees, how
ever have made the proposed new
demands plenty high.
Some union district groups have
suggested that Mr. Lewis ask for
40 cents a ton royalty instead OF
the present 10 cents. for the health
and welfare fund. They also have
proposed a return to the 35-hour
week without loss in take-home pay.
The present contract is for basic
40-hour week, although that in
ciudes travel and lunch-timo. >xs~
s'' Lewis Strategy Uncertain.
An increase in the 500 vacation
payment also was advocated by
some of the district scale meetings.
One proposed raising it to $3.50.
Whether Mr.. Lewis will present
his demands to the operators at
the Start of negotiations was bit
of strategy he kept to himself. In
the last couple contratc sessions ne
has made only generalized demands,
and left the details for bargaining.
The recent soft coal strike was
over pensions. A compromise was
reached ending that walkout, with
the help of court injunctions and
fines of $1,420,000 for contempt Of
court, but the issue is certain to
arise in the new contract discus
Sions.
Operators have said that to meet
all of Mr.. Lewis pension demands
costs would be increased 40 cents
a ton. That led to the union COM
mittee selection of the figure for
the new welfare demand
Strike Called Illegal.
Mr.. Battle called the pension
strike illegal, unwarranted and un-
justified. He said 1t cost the Ma
ton 50000,000 tons of badly needed
coal.
Bear in mind that the strike was
not brought about because of any
complaint concerning wages or
working conditions" Mr.. Battle said.
Coal miners are already the aris-
tocrats of labor and the highest paid
industrial workers in America today,
and coal miners themselves, just
like the vast majority of railway
employees, do not want these
strikes"
The Bureau of. Labor Statistics
ranks the coal miners at the top
among industrial workers, with
weekly earnings averaging more
than SIS.