Evening star., 1950-02-12
Report to the President
/. EstabIishment of the r

LABOR dispute in the bituminou!
coal industry. Executive ordel
10106, issued that day, directed
the board to present It's report or
or before February 10, 1850.
The critical Importance of ths
bituminous coal industry in oul
national economy is widely under.
stood and needs no elaboration
here. Labor relations in this in.
dustry have attracted wide public
attention in recent years. Two
boards Of inquiry, one in March
and the other In June, 1948, have
highlighted for the public certain
important aspects Of these rela.
tionships.
The operators are organized fol
collective bargaining purpose.
into three main groups. The first
OF these includes northern anc
western commercial operators 10
Gated largely in the States north
of the Ohio River, or west of the
Mississippi. These operators are
represented by the National BIZ
luminous Coal Wage Conference
Their production is approximately
IS per cent of the national total
The second group. also COM
mercial operators, in the States
south Of the Ohio, particularly ir
West Virginia, Kentucky and Ten
nessee. are represented by the
Southern Coal Producers Asso-
citation. These operators account
for quarter of the national pro-
duction. The last group, the So
called Captive mines," are ownee
or managed by companies which
consume their production, mainly
In the steel industry.
Collective Bargaining Agent.
United Mine Workers of Amer.
ica is the collective bargaining
agent for the employees in al
three groups. This union has had
agreements with these operators
for many years.
Negotiations for a new national
agreement have been in progress
internationally for more than eight
months. They have received con-
siderable publicity. 1t was the
most recent breakdown of these
negotiations, followed by q wide
spread stoppage Of work in the
mines, which led to the creation of
this Board of Inquiry.
The Presidents order Of Febru-
ary conferred on the board the
powers and duties set forth In
Title II of the Labor Management
Relations Act. 1947. Under the
terms of this act, it Is the boards
duty Ito ascertain the facts with
respect to the causes and eircum.
stances of the dispute" and to re.
port these facts, including leach
party's statement of it's position.
The act expressly states that tn,
report shall not contain any rec
concentrations"
III. Background of the Dispute.
The national bituminous Goa
wage agreement of 1948, nego
tiated during the tenure of /,
board of inquiry. carried forward
and modified the 1947 agreement
On April 81, 1949, the Southern
Coal Producers Association CAV,
the union notice of termination
effective at the expiration OF tn,
agreement on June 80, 1949. Or
May 10, 1949. the union CAV.
notice Of termination GOVERNS
coal mines operated by United
States Steel Corp. and its sub.
sidiaries. and on June IA, 1949
similar notices were served on al
other signatory companies.
Following these notices OF ter.
mination of the 1948 agreement
q series OF bargaining conference.
were begun between the repre-.
sentatives of the United Mine
Workers and the three principa
groups Ct operators. The South.
ern Wage Conference, held a
Bluef1eld, w. Va, commenced or
May 25. 1919; the Captive" con.
ference was begun on June is
1949. at Philadelphia; the north
ern conference convened at White
Sulphur Springs, w. Va. on JUNE
%. 1949.
The Southern Wage Conference
met for a total of A days ano
was terminated by the operator,
on November 2, 1949. The South.
ern Coal Producers Association
nonetheless dispatched telegram
dated November Is, 1949, Offering
to resume negotiations with the
union. The union did not reply.
IL Negotiation Meetings.
Negotiations between the union
and representatives of certain
captive mines were conducted al
II meetings between June and the
end of September, 1949. There
after informal conversations were
held number of times. These
discussions were allowed to lapse
with the understanding that
either side might call the other
by telephone to arrange further
meetings.
The Northern Conference mel
q total of 81 days of sessions prior
to October 81. 1949. when these
negotiations were terminated by
the operators. They were resumed
in February, 1850.
AS the result of the failure To
reach agreement at these various
conferences, the National Btu
minous Wage Agreements of 1915
was terminated. The wages and
conditions of employment sci
forth in the expired contract con-
tinued in a general way to gov
ern the relations between the
parties.
The Federal Mediation and Con-
ezliation Service, which had been