Evening star., 1952-10-10
Coal Strike SET
|fWSB Rejects
MinersContract
Nationwide WuIkout
Likely Wednesday if
Wage Rise Is Barred
By james Y. Newton
Stoy Stoff CORRESPONDENT


John L. Lewis today was all set
to call a Nationwide coal strike
next Wednesday unless the Gov
ernment quickly approves his new
wage increase agreement.
That was revealed at the United
Mine Workers convention here.
MIR. Lewis sent his general coun-
sci. Welly K. Hopkins to Wash
ington to appear before the Fed
eral Wage Sterilization Board to-
day.
Mr.. Hopkins, it was understood,
will tell the board they must ap-
prove the new UNIV contract or
face a shutdown Of the mines next
Wednesday. That is the next pay
day of the 100000 soft coal
miners. Under the new agreement,
they would receive a wage in
crease of $1.90 day, bringing
the average daily pay to $l8.25.
In addition, the union won a 10
cents per ton increase in operator
payments to the miners Welfare
Fund. bringing the total royal
ty" to 10 cents a ton.
But before the new contract can
be effective. it must be approved
by the Wage Board. And, &C
cording to most estimates, the
wage and welfare increases are
higher than the ceiling allow
able under Federal wage ceilings.
The WSB has scheduled a con-
ference on the miners pay in
Washington today.
The word at Lewis convention
headquarters was that the WSB
had decided to treat the miners
new contract as routine mat
ter. This attitude, repeatedly,
outraged Mr.. Lewis.
Operators Support Wage.
The coal operators. while they
are supporting approval of the
contract before the WSB, have
taken the position they cannot
legally pay the higher wages until
they have received approval of
the Government to do so.
The snarl over approval of the
miners pay raise had immediate
political repercussions. Mr.. Lewis,
in two political speeches to his
5000 delegates, had leaned heavily
against Gen. Dwight Eisenhower
and in favor of his Democratic
opponent, Gov. Adlai Stevenson.
So far Mr.. Lewis, however, has
not mentioned Gov. Stevenson. He
has been content to blast Senator
Taft, Republican, of Ohio: Sen
ator Nixon of California, the Re-
publican vice presidential candi-
date, and by indirection, Gen.
Eisenhower as the man who wears
"Taft'S collar"
The f1are-up over the wage in
crease lessened the chance of an
outright Endorsement of Gov.
Stevenson by Mr.. Lewis and his
union. Actually, the Stevenson
people have regarded an outright
Endorsement by Mr.. Lewis as
something of a liability. But they
want Mr.. Lewis and his UNIV
working for them quietly in the
campaign.
Unlikely to Attack.
1t was highly unlikely, however,
that Mr.. Lewis would turn his ora
torical guns on Gov. Stevenson be-
cause of the contract snarl. And
the chance that Mr.. Lewis would
come out for Gen. Eisenhower was
held to be almost zero.
Mr.. Lewis tight hold over the
UNIV was assured for another
four years yesterday after a brief
convention fareup in which some
dissidents attacked the UNIV for
undemocratic practices. The issue
was raised by Michael Demchak.
st. Michaels, Pa. Only 8 of 29
UNIV districts have full auton-
omy, that is, the right to elect
their own officers. In all other
districts the officers are either
wholly, or in part. appointed by
the international, which is run by
Mr.. Lewis.
Mr.. Lewis told the delegate!
there was a good reason for tha'
situation. He pointed out severa
situations where the elected dis
tract officers had run the unior
into the "red ink" In one in
stance, district. Mr.. Lewis said
used up 100000 of the UNIV
money. losing membership all tn
while. MIR. Lewis carried the da!
by asking the mine workers i
they weren't getting along al
right wage-wise under his "tyran
(See MINERS, Page A-5)