End of a Battle

John Lewis, greatest labor tactician in U.S. history, captured his own Kiev last week.

In the eight-month battle for higher wages he had campaigned like a Red general, scornful of the cost, his eyes fixed on the final objective. He began with a war of nerves, attacking with a demand for $2 a day more for every miner. He followed up with one strike threat after another--at a time when the U.S. considered a coal strike unthinkable. Three times, by strikes, his forces streamed through the suburbs and stormed the city's gates. Three times he was repulsed.

John L. had two opponents: the U.S. Government and the mine operators. Shrewdly he outflanked the operators, isolated the Illinois divisions, forced them to sign.

Meanwhile he split the Administration forces, holding his. fire from Fuel Boss Harold Ickes, but attacking the War Labor Board head on.

In the final battle last week, Lewis won from Harold Ickes a contract giving the miners an extra $1.50 a day for overtime, plus travel time. This, together with an added 25-c- a day granted by WLB during an earlier delaying action, actually gave John L. more than he had asked for--a point mainly overlooked by the press. He had demanded a weekly wage of $57.50; under the new and complicated contract, a miner working a full week will get a minimum of $58.87. John L. Lewis purred that it was a "satisfactory wage agreement."

John L. won his final victory by cutting the miners' lunch period from 30 to 15 minutes.

Said a Washington gagster: "John Lewis and Harold Ickes signed a contract, and the miners lost their lunch." Cracked Scripps-Howard labor reporter Fred Perkins: "Meanwhile, Mr. Lewis may be found lunching daily in the Carlton Hotel, where it takes 15 minutes to look at the menu."

The Casualties. The big difference about Strike IV was" that this time almost nobody was mad at John Lewis. Press and public, either tired of the whole mess, or more sympathetic to the miners, or disgusted with Administration ineptitude, raised no cry. Most of the press blamed the Administration. WLB, badly beaten and obviously worn down, okayed the new contract by an 11-to-1 vote. The dissenter: embattled, unshakable Public Member Wayne Lyman Morse, a literal man who insisted on holding the line-even after the President was abandoning the hold-the-line policy. Prophesied Wayne Morse: the whole fight to stabilize wages will collapse.

Main casualty was the U.S. coal stockpile, which is now 40,000,000 tons short. As a result many a community will be short of coal this winter. Coal production will gradually be increased as the miners work overtime an hour a day, but no one saw much hope of reaching the winter production goal of 335,000,000 tons. For 60 days, until the mines are again turned over to the operators, there will be peace. The effect on another battle--the battle against inflation (see below)--is incalculable.

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