Statement by the President Endorsing a Plan for Negotiations Between Coal Miners and Operators.

SECRETARY of the Interior Krug delivered to the President of the United Mine Workers, yesterday afternoon, a written proposal containing the details of a plan under which the operators and miners could negotiate their differences and the mines would remain in operation.

I am thoroughly familiar with this proposal and I consider it eminently fair to both mine workers and operators. A copy of the Proposal is attached hereto.

In my statement of November 9 directing immediate abandonment of all control over wages and salaries, and virtually all controls over prices, I stated, "Today's action places squarely upon management and labor the responsibility for working out agreements for the adjustment of their differences without interruption of production."

The abandonment of wage and price controls requires the immediate resumption of normal collective bargaining between management and labor, without Government substitution for either party. Bituminous coal mining is the only important segment of private industry in which the Government, under its emergency responsibilities, now replaces a party to normal collective bargaining.

The Coal Mines Administration of the Department of the Interior is party to a contract with the United Mine Workers of America governing employment conditions in that industry. This contract was negotiated by the Government and the union last spring after a complete breakdown in collective bargaining between the coal operators and the union. Mines were idle more than 50 days and the stock of bituminous coal above ground was rapidly being depleted. Shutdowns in industries dependent on coal spread rapidly and thousands of workers in these industries were laid off.

The Nation has not yet recovered from the long and costly coal strike of last spring. In the intervening five months railroads, public utilities, steel mills and other industries have not been able to purchase and store sufficient coal to carry them for any substantial period. Nor have thousands of household consumers been able to purchase enough fuel to carry them through the winter months.

In the face of these circumstances, on November 1, the United Mine Workers of America requested the Coal Mines Administrator to reopen the May 29 contract. Secretary Krug informs me that he has discussed with representatives of the mine workers their subsequent demands for changes in the employment conditions of their contract. I wish to make it clear that the Government takes no position as to the merit or demerit of these demands, but under this present proposal, such questions are referred to the operators and the miners for settlement by the process of free collective bargaining.

I am advised by the Attorney General that the existing contract is clearly applicable for the full period of Government operation.

He further informs me that it makes no provision for reopening, without mutual consent, to discuss new wages, hours or other employment terms. It was intended to be replaced by a direct employer-union contract.

The Government cannot replace private management as the bargaining agent without interfering with true collective bargaining between management and labor. This principle has been frequently and vigorously endorsed by leading representatives of management and labor groups, including the representatives of mine owners and both the president and the convention of the United Mine Workers.

The proposal made by Secretary Krug has been accepted by the bituminous coal mine operators' negotiating committee.

This morning, however, the President of the United Mine Workers notified Secretary Krug that the proposal was not acceptable to the Mine Workers Negotiating Committee.

The Government proposal is fair and equitable. It considers the rights of the miners, the operators, and the public, and carefully protects the rights of each.

In view of this, it is my hope that a serious reconsideration of the entire situation will convince the United Mine Workers that the adoption of this proposal is for the best interests of all concerned.

Acceptance of the proposal by the mine workers will satisfy the desire of 140,000,000 Americans for industrial peace and continued production in the soft coal mines, and in all our great industries which are so dependent upon coal.