U.S. COAL STRIKE ENDS

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23494, 24 November 1941, Page 6

U.S. COAL STRIKE ENDS

Miners Return To Work SUBMISSION TO ARBITRATION ; (Received November 23, 11.30 p.m.) (U.P.A.) WASHINGTON, Nov. 22. The policy committee of the United ; Mine Workers’ Assdciation dramatically called off the coal strike and voted unanimously to accept President Roosevelt's suggestion for the arbitration of the closed shop issue in the "captive” mines. The president (Mr John L. Lewis) agreed with this de- . cision and reversed his stand of Wednesday. “We accept in the public interest,” Mr Lewis wrote to President Roosevelt. Mr Lewis tald the newspaper representatives that the United Mine Workers’ Association had accepted the Pre- , sidenfs suggestion fully and without i qualification. 1 The decision of the Arbitration Board which President Roosevelt has ! designated will be binding on both the owners and the miners. The board comprises the president of the United States Steel Corporation (Mr Benjamin Fairlees), Mr Lewis, and the Director of the United States Concili--1 ation Service (Dr. John Steelman). Within minutes after the arbitration agreement had been announced back-to-work telegrams and telephone calls ■ flashed from the United Mine Workers’ | Association headquarters. Within an I hour the pickets had left some mine- ( heads. In Pittsburgh miners started I down into the mines on the night shift, s and virtually full operation appeared probable by Sunday, with complete op- ’ eration assured by Monday. Supply Assured Mr Lewis said: "With tne miners re--1 turning to work and the controversy ; well on the road to a just settlement, the coal supply is assured until April 1 1, 1943, when the present Appalachian 1 contract terminates.” Congressional leaders cheered at the news,. but a number emphasised that > the end of the strike would not stop 1 the enactment of legislative control of labour. Speaking at the convention at Dei troit of the Congress of Industrial Organisations, the president (Mr Philip Murray) alleged that the Federal De--1 fence agencies were virtually infested with corporation executives acting on the. inside of the Government to get fat,, juicy, profitable contracts for their 1 own companies, thus sabotaging national defence efforts. Mr Murray called on President Roosevelt to give Labour a better and more wholesome chance to join him in the conduct of the great defence enterprises. He offered the President the full resources of 5,000,000 members of the Congress of Industrial Organisations in exchange for greater labour participation in the defence programme. The convention earlier urged employers to accept the closed shop in the interests of industrial harmony. It also approved a resolution alleging that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was a potential Gestapo, and protesting against the use of G-men to .“oppress and harass labour elements.” Another resolution called on Mr Roosevelt to direct that training of the military for strike-breaking should be ‘immediately stopped. Such training Tvas contrary to the intent and letter of the Service Act and a Breach of faith with labour. ■ The chairman of . the Defence Mediation Board (Mr C. C, Davis)' has sent A message tofcthe .owpers of the.conjT • mercial soft Ooar mines asking whether \ they are willing to freeze union shop Conditions in their pits for the duration of the emergency. The message was sent at the request of President Roosevelt, who suggested the step to counter the contention of Mr John L. Lewis that commercial operators might seek an open shop contract if he entered into such an agreement with “captive” mine owners. Pickets Wounded ‘. Firing shotguns, pistols, and rifles, hon-stnking coalminers wounded at least 10 out of 100 pickets of the United Mine Workers’ Association, whom they ambushed between slate piles at the entrance to the Endenborn mine, at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, where one striker was shot on Thursday. The new Irvin works of the Carnegie Illinois Steel Corporation, which cost 60,000,000 dollars,, will be closed within 48 hours as a result of a shortage of fuel caused by the coal strike. The plant is one of the largest producers of sheet tinplate and employs 4400 men. Following a plea from President Roosevelt that a strike should be averted, railway executives and union representatives have agreed to resume the negotiations which broke down last night, when the officials declined to consider any proposals except those recommended by the Emergency Board. The belief persists that a settlement will be reached before December 7, the date fixed for a strike of 1,150,000 workers. A message from Pittsburgh states that. 3000 employees of the Columbia Steel Company, working on 5,000,000 dollars defence contracts, are on strike, and are demanding a wage-scale equal to that of San Francisco plants. The Senate Judiciary Committee has begun its hearing on the bill introduced by Senator Tom Connally, empowering the Government to seize, defence industries closed by strikers. The bill would freeze working conditions fpr the duration of the emergency. Giving evidence, the Under-Secre-tary for the Navy (Mr James V. Forrestol) said: “We do not regard this bill as aimed at either capital or labour. The navy approved the measure to ensure vital defence production.”