Evening star., 1950-01-14
Disconnected Miners
May Ignore Lewis,
Continue WaIkout
By james Y. Newton


today whether John L. Lewis Co.
900 striking soft coal miners would
return to work Monday. There
was even some fear that the walk
out might spread.
Mr.. Lewis sent out the sugges-
tion to the United Mine Workers
district officials that the men
should return to the three-day
work week which he imposed on
the coal industry December l. But
Mr.. Lewis himself has warned
there is grave unrest" in the coal
fields, and the miners, under such
conditions, do not always follow
their leaders suggestions.
There were rumblings of discon-
tent in some mining areas of West
Virginia and Pennsylvania. Most
of the local unions involved in the
strike will decide at weekend
meetings whether to return to
work or remain off the job.
Situation Sort of Cloudy.
UNIV field officers said they
weresunable to predict what the
men would decide to do.
THE situation is sort of cloudy"
commented John Busarello, union
district president at Pittsburgh.
1T is strictly up to the locals
whether they follow Lewis sug-
gestion."
In the spring of 1948, after
Judge T. Alan Goldsborough had
found Mr.. Lewis in contempt of
court for disobeying a pension
strike injunction, the union chief
tain ordered the miners back to
work. But it was several weeks
before full production was restored
at the mines.
The Morgantown, w. Va, Post
said "a revolt against John l..
Lewis" is developing in several
Northern West Virginia coal
counties.
Strike Talk Revived.
They tthe miners) want a
contract" the newspaper COM
mented: And they are getting
tired of this 'on-again, off-again'
business Mr.. Lewis is engaging
in. They want five days a week
or no days at all"
About 800 local UNIV officers,
meeting at Grant Town, w. Va,
have revived strike talk and they
scheduled another meeting for to-
morrow. One local of a Weirton
Steel Co. mine in Pennsylvania
has voted to stay on strike.
Meanwhile, the Senate Labor
Committee voted to hold a hear
ing on a Republican resolution
urging President Truman to in
woke the emergency Injunction
powers of the Taft-Hartley Act
against Mr.. Lewis three day week.
Mr.. Truman said again Thursday
that the coal supply situation had
not reached the national emer-
gency stage. But the pressure on
him to act was mounting.
Brewster Stresses Shortage.
Senator Brewster, Republican,
OF Maine said the fuel shortage in
New England is becoming increas-
ingly serious.
Il don't think we've got to have
4S States freezing before there is
a national emergency" he said.
The Federal Bureau of Mines,
in carefully worded statement,
reported that some individual
cases of hardship" may result
from an uneven distribution of
coal supplies coupled with con-
sumer demands for particular
types of coal. The agency said
that coal STOCKS in dealers hands
January l averaged four days
supply, one day less than the
average on December /.
At Harrisburg. PENNSYLVANIA
Secretary of Mines Richard Maize
says the three-day work week in
Pennsylvania's hard coal regions
has resulted in an extreme
emergency"
Hospital Dimouts Ordered.
In Illinois, where soft coal is
used, dimouts were ordered at
mental hospitals and other well
fare institutions because of dwin-
ding reserves.
There still is a chance the Ma
tional Labor Relations Board may
try to end the shortened work
week without White House action.
Major operators have filed
charges of unfair labor practices
against Mr.. Lewis and the UNIV.
They have asked tthe NLRB to
get a court injunction to force the
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