Still in a Hole with Coal

As idle miners in Appalachia and elsewhere picked over the tentative coal settlement last week, formal deliberations ran into deep trouble in Washington. The bargaining council of the United Mine Workers voted by 38 to 1 to send the pact back to negotiators for more--much more. Already the settlement calls for wage-and-benefit increases exceeding 50% over three years. But council members sought a bigger pay raise next year than the negotiated 9%, as well as the right to strike over local issues. They also wanted a reinstatement of the traditional two-week vacation period, which had been split into single weeks.

Surprised by the council's obstinacy, U.M.W. President Arnold Miller traveled home to the coal fields of West Virginia to drum up support for the agreement. He announced that he will seek no further basic concessions from the Bituminous Coal Operators Association --only revisions in language. Said Miller: "I'm not going back for another bite of the apple. All that's left is the core."

The delay will be another blow to the economy. The settlement must eventually go to the 120,000 U.M.W. members for ratification, which should take eight to ten days. As a result, the strike, now in its third week, will probably drag into a fifth or even sixth. A prolonged strike could cause layoffs in coal-dependent industries to multiply rapidly and could send the unemployment rate later this year above 6.5%--a figure that Administration planners had not expected to be reached until next year. Layoffs related to the coal strike last week totaled nearly 20,000. At U.S. Steel, 18,000 employees were out of work or put on short weeks because of the mine stoppage. Bethlehem Steel will lay off 2,800 workers this week. The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad and Norfolk & Western Railway Co. have laid off a total of 770 employees.

Meanwhile, strike fever seems to be spreading. Some 16,000 members of the Amalgamated Transit Union last week struck Greyhound bus lines. The union seeks an increase of 600 an hour above the current average wage of $5.76. Many of Greyhound's passengers were left stranded by the strike. Countless students and other travelers heading home for Thanksgiving found it hard to find space on crowded trains, planes, and nonstriking bus lines.

The only bright spot was an end to the 85-day walkout by United Parcel Service workers in the New York City area. The settlement means that UPS's 4,500 drivers and inside workers will earn $7.59 an hour after three years, compared with their current pay of $5.92. They also won a cost-of-living escalator and fringes that will lift their wage-and-benefit package by some 30%.

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