The Road to Peace

After having held six sessions at Atlantic City, anthracite miners and operators found that they had reached an agreement on two and perhaps three of the eleven demands of the miners. The conference to draw up a new anthracite labor contract, in place of the present contract expiring on August 31, has as yet had no setbacks.

Samuel D. Warriner, President of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co., and leader of the operators, agreed to the demands of the miners that all members of the industry should have a uniform eight-hour day with the same pay as at present. It was also agreed that all miners' particular grievances in future should be settled within 30 days.

When Mr. Warriner proposed, however, that the miners should agree to a truce and no strike on Sept. 1 if an agreement had not been reached on that date, the miners balked strenuously. Mr. Warriner offered to make any agreement arrived at after that date retroactive, but the miners remained steadfast.

Mr. Warriner declared: " Actually the miners presented 35 demands for changes in wages and working conditions instead of 11 as would at first glance appear. . . . Past experience has demonstrated that an anthracite wage contract cannot be negotiated in a hurry." John L. Lewis, leader of the miners, replied: " We feel it unwarranted to anticipate that this conference cannot function and secure an agreement before Aug. 31." After the operators had twice broached the subject of a truce, the matter was dropped.

In the joint sub-committee composed of four operators and four miners most of the bargaining was done. Samuel D. Warriner led the operators; John L. Lewis the miners. Rinaldo Cappelini, radical President-elect of the United Mine Workers, District 1, was not a member of this body. The chief discussion was over the " checkoff" system whereby the coal companies collect dues for the unions out of miners' pay. The operators did not openly deny the demand of the miners for the checkoff, but asked a great many questions indicating their opposition to the idea.

Finally, with two demands settled, and the others hanging in air, the conference adjourned for a week. The object of the adjournment was to permit the miners to attend the biennial convention of the District 1 union. At this convention the election of Capellini as President of that union is expected to be ratified. In that event, soon after the reassemblage of the conference at Atlantic City, Cappelini, most radical of all the miners' leaders, will automatically take a place on the subcommittee that bargains with the operators--and the conference will fight out the remaining issues.