Evening star., 1949-12-04
Lewis Demand for Raise in Pay
And Royalty Reported Agreed to
By Kentucky Operators Group
Miners Would Get Csc
ADoy Boost, l5c q Ton
More forWeIfure Fund
By jones Y. Newton

py S0VtSS H.. I<SWtVu
John L. Lewis was reported last
night to have reached agreement
with a group of Kentucky soft
coal operators on the terms of
new contract providing a 15-cent-
per-ton increase in the United
Mine Workers welfare fund and a
wage raise of 95 cents day.
The agreement. 1t was under
stood, was worked out yesterday
at a meeting of Samuel Caddy,
UNIV district president, and the
Pike County Truck Coal Opera
tors Association, and the contract
will be signed at Mr.. Lewis Office
here tomorrow. Association MEM
bers mine about 100000 tons Of
coal year.
The report came from well-in-
formed sources. 1t would mark
the first contract signed in the
coal industry this year and the
first fruits of Mr.. Lewis new policy
Of negotiating with any individual
company or operator group which
is willing to talk turkey" with
him. In other years he insisted
on industry-wide negotiations.
First Specific Demands. i
Mr.. Lewis had not previously in
dicated what his specific contract
demands are this year. although
he has negotiated with the oper-
ators, off and on, for many
months. The old soft coal contract
expired June 80. Mr.. Lewis merely
said in general terms that his
demands would cost the operators
from 30 to IS cents per ton OF
coal.
So now the operators know spe-
cifically what it will cost them to
make peace with Mr.. Lewis ard
his miners.
The Is cents increase reported
in the Kentucky agreement would
raise operator contributions to
the Welfare and Retirement Fund
to 35 cents a ton on all coal pro-
duced. When Mr.. Lewis first won
the fund. the contribution was
S cents per ton and it stands
currently at 20 cents.
In the reported Kentucky pact,
Mr.. Lewis also wins a fourth
round wage increase for the min
ers involved, something which
was denied the CIO Steelworkers
in the recent settlement of their
strike against the steel industry.
The 95 cents increase would raise
the pay of the average miner to
SIS a day.
1t was understood that Mr..
Lewis waived his demand for
shorter working hours and the
Kentucky miners will continue to
work eight hours a day and 40
hours a week before overtime rates
begin. ..i
However. the operators are said
to have given in on twofmportant
changes-w witch the larger owner
aserps have Insisted must be
made in a new contract. These
are the provision of the old agree
ment allowing the union to call
unlimited periods "of mourning"
and the part which states that
the miners will work only when
"able and willing" These sections
are retained in the new agree
ment. Mr.. Lewis has used those
provisions to call several work
stoppages. The operators contend
1t gives him control Of their mines.
The Pike County association is
not a member of the Southern
Coal Producers Association. which
represents nearly all OF the big
operators in the rich East Ken
lucky coal fields.
Joseph E. Moody, president of
the Southern association, said sew
eral OF his members in the area
notified him that the UNIV had
made the agreement with the
truckers. He was inclined to mini
mize the importance of the pact.
saying that it indicated to what
lengths Mr.. Lewis would go in
his desperate" efforts to get con-
tracts. Mr.. Moody referred to the
agreement as shotgun we'd
ding" which the comparatively
small truck operators were forced
to make in order to stay in busi-
ness. >.
Mr.. Moody summoned directors
fSee COAL, Page AID