Evening star., 1950-01-07
Truman Studies
Lucas Plea 10
Act on Mines
Illinois Senator Asks
SteeImun to Submit
All Facts in Coal Crisis
By jones Y. Newton

President Truman today was
considering an appeal from Senats
Majority Leader Lucas to step into
the long coal dispute and restore
full production at the mines. :.
Senator Lucas said he had re-
ceived complaints from his con-
stituents in Illinois that John L.
Lewis three-day work-week in
the mines already has caused a.,
serious coal supply crisis. He said
that unless Mr.. Lewis and the g..
operators soon reached some Fl
agreement he would take the floor
of the Senate land protest as
vigorously as I know how the con-
tinuation of these conditions"
He made the appeal to John r.
Steelman, assistant to the Pres.
ident, asking him ito lose no time
in laying all the facts at his COM
mand before the President" Mr..
Steelman promised he would re-
view the coal situation with Mr..
Truman today. =
Action Not Specified.
Senator Lucas did not ask
specifically that the President in--
woke national emergency pro-.
visions of the Taft Hartley Act
against the limited mine produc-~
ton. So far Mr.. Truman has
taken the position that the partial !,
strike has not created an emer-'a
gency which would warrant use
of Taft Hartley powers. That
law empowers him to seek an
80-day court Injunction where he
finds strike endangers the Ma
tions health or safety.
Although the President. a critic
of Taft-Hartley, again this week
asked Congress to repeal the law,
he has said he would not hesitate
to use the act in the coal indus
try when he feels an emergency
situation exists.
Several Republicans in Congress
assailed the administration for not.
doing something to restore full.
production of coal. They held.
that the public is suffering from
depleted fuel supplies because MIR.
Truman has refused to act against
Mr.. Lewis. .4s
NLRB Action Seen Possible.
Senator Lucas noted that the
general counsel of the National
Labor Relations Board may be able
to seek a court order to force the
union leader to put the miners
back on full week. Senator Lucas
indicated this would serve the
same purpose as presidential inter-
The NLRB counsel, Robert N.
Denham. is presently considering
seeking a court Injunction on the
basis of unfair labor practices filed
against the union by the coal op-
orators.
Mr.. Denham yesterday asked the
United States Court OF Appeals
here to enforce a year-old NLRB !
order prohibiting Mr.. Lewis from
seeking an illegal union-shop con-
tract.
The mine owners new charges
before Mr.. Denham say that Mr..
Lewis still is trying to obtain con- I
tracts with Illegal union-shop
clauses.
Ohio Operators Sue,
Such clauses, which require all
miners to be union members, are
legal under the labor law-pro-
vided the workers have sanctioned
them by an NLRB election. There
has been no such election among
the miners.
Meanwhile, nine Ohio coal OPP
orators entered suit in Columbus
for s8.872 900 damages against Mr..
Lewis and his top United Mine
Workers officials. They also
asked an injunction against the
three-day week, proclaimed by the
UNIV December /.
The UNIV announced here that
they now have signed about 5 per
cent of the soft coal industry
to their new contract calling for
a 95-cent a day wage increase
and an increase in the 2o-cent
welfare fund OF Is cents per ton
on all coal produced. The union
said that more operators had
signed the contract. bringing total
production now under the new
agreement to 22,121, 900 tons.