Evening star., 1949-06-23
Operators 10 Demand
Easier Soh Coal Pact
To Cut Mining Cost
ey Jones + kevtea

Western Sast esa&l operators tss1As
sought from John l. Lrw4. q rsew
work contract staSh w4A rTska3s
thea 10 cut p-otact.rn costs ard
reduce TIE prize os coal TO eaa-
sIrarFx
George II Love. Spokesman !cg
the htg block os usise ewrers
made II clear the operation will
demand = contract wtaich wtl
help them re-estan1ish The eoss =
pe,ii!fe position coal hAs lost so
other fuels because of high prtces
and the plague of strgke& he sasi
there must he Increased cf-scsrEacy
in mining and under 40 etrSaza- =
stances any further further sa-
vance II labo. costa
He made the statement, pgeSag-
ing q battle with AsF Lewis as
The operators and United Mine
workers get down 20 the business
O! actual negotiation O! . new
wage agreement. The statement
Indicated that the operators not
only intend TO resist firmiy further
concessions Mr.. Lewis 10 certain
10 demand. but VII conc UP with
demands OF their own for easing
the terms Of the present contract,
Beth sides Agree on Speed.
With preliminary work Of or
CANNING the negotiating confer
ence largely out Of the @ay. the
industry representatives went into
closed session 20 feel out each
other. Mr., Love stressed the need
for speed in arriving at . new
agreement and Mr. Lewis echoed
his sentiments
But despite the fact that the
present contract expires June 80,
Mr.. Love said he understands the
Agreement holds until August l+
That date is 90 days later.
Mr.. Lewis served notice on the
Northern and Western groups that
he wanted 10 negotiate with them.
The Taft Hartley Act provides for
a negotiating period Of that
length. When q reporter pointed
out that the contract carries q
termination date Just seven days
of. MIR. Love remarked that you
can't make a contract that super
sedes the law"
Because OF that. the operator
spokesman continued. he did not
expect q strike before mid August,
despite the mine workers no con-
tract. no work" tradition He
added that other coal men shared
his views.
Lewis silent on Plans,
Mr.. Lewis was silent as 10
whether he will allow the opera
tors the legal period OF grace" In
event q new contract Is no,
worked out quickly here. His past
operations have not always been
In accord with what he calls ase
Taft forced labor law"
) Some sources believed that II
would be Mr. LeEh' strategy CHS
time to put the hest for pattern
setting agreement On Southern
producers and coal producing sub
Sidiartes Of the United states stee'
Corp.
The Southern Coal Producers
Association. which has bern neeo-
tiating with the UNIV for four
weeks In nearby Bluefleld. serted
notice on Mr.. Lewis April 23 for
new wage talks. So. legally. Mr..
Lewis Is free to strike the South
ern mines any time after June 30.
In the case of Big Steel" he gave
notice May IL and viii be free to
shut down the corporation mines
after July IL
Harry NJ. Moses, president Of
United States Steel's coal subsidi-
aries. was to meet Mr.. Lewis here
late today In q transfer Of nego-
tiations from Philadelphia. Al
though the other steel companies
were represented in the Northern
and Western conference. there ap-
parently was no plan TO include
United States Steel In the group.
Operators In the main confer
ence here represent more than
half OF the Nations total coal pro-
duetion. Included Is nearly
third of the production in South
ern mines. part OF which broke
of relations with the Southern
Producers Association.
The only indication OF the
length OF the conference came
from Mr.. Lewis who. on checking
into hts t55-per-day suite. told
the manager OF White Suiphur's
swank Greenbrier Hotel that the
negotiations may last "ad infin-
ituna. but hope not ad naases1n. :"
Harvey Cartwright OF Terre
Haute. Ind. was named chairman
OF the joint negotiating confer
ence. with John T. Jones.
Washington Official Of the UNIV.
selected as secretary.
The determination Of the op-
orators 70 sign only q contract
which would reduce costs .recta
head-on the almost certain de-
mand by Mr.. Lewis for M In
crease In the UMW's welfare ard
retirement fund. plus higher r.sy
and reduction in WORKING time.
M PR Pules hnainsi IInion