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whey mae actin cee ag a6 ee ome a GAD he Ene BNtRaase LR on, eet tearedime et, epee een + AVRIL 14, 1947 coal miners are still th. or fostth- class economic citizens. The si_~-oal’ miner's average daily wage is $11.85 for nine hours. That is for a five-day week; the sixth day, if worked, calls for time- and-a-half. Since miners want to pile up cash and the operators coal, most pits have been working a six-day week. The avérage stcelworket’s pay for nine hours figures $12.44. Auto workers get $13.01. Sudden death Ww comparisons tell only # part of the story. Working conditions in the mines—floating coal dust, water often knee deep—are dismal enough. In addition, the miner faces startling dan- gers. Big mine disasters get headlines, but scattered fatalities escape notice out- side the mining camps. Consequently, when Old John thundered during war- time that coal digging was more danger- ous than armed service, most people thought he was only beating his gums again. He was not. In the years 1942-45 in- clusive, 5,295 men were killed in the mines and 259,408 more were injured. That averages a little more than one dead or injured for every two miners. ee ge vpmned forces battle casualties © over dep tr - wrwwn, eem eee in e \ I ! 4 cee ee eee wale eng “roughly the same period were a little less than one per Li men. By entering the service a young miner thus greatly reduced his chances of getting hurt. Auto workers suffer cnly about onc- fifth as many accidents as miners, and severity figured in man hours lost is roughly one-fifteenth as great. The miner is also a-majot sufferer from occu- pational diseases. His working days are . made miserable and his life shortened by lung afflictions (he calls them all asthma) and by cramps and rheumatism resulting from floor water and damp air. A medical sutvey of conditions in mine towns was part of the welfare pro- gram negotiated by Lewis last year in his famous “agreement” with Interior Secretary Krug. The Navy sent medical _ officers, engineers and social workers throughout the mine fields. Advance re- -ports indicate that conditions have im- proved little since 1923, when the last survey was made. -— The demand for a welfare program was something new for Lewis. The only Such program he ever had was a large THE COMPANY STORE OFFERS cash box which he kept near him. If someone turned up with a hard-luck story, of a moving letter from a widow ‘came in, he reached munificently into the box and hauled out a $10 bill. The survey dcubtless will pay divi- dends, but cash is something Lewis un- derstands better, and he insisted on get- ting some placed at once in a welfare fund. It is still there, most of it lying in a New York bank. Operators are required to contribute five cents for each ton cf coal mined. The welfare fund will reccive roughly $30 million a year if production holds up. Considering the thousands of dis- abled and decrepit miners in the fields and the high accident rate, that amount will not go far. Miners hailed the agreement (which included a vacation clause worth $100 a year), but, with the cost of living shooting up, they were none too happy. Besides, they had begun to worry over Fe cape came Be, acreage ‘shaw oe: ard Sete oe a A PLACE TU MEET AFTER WORK ~ J the future of the coal industry. Layot- SBF % in the hard-coal ‘fields were commen : ing and they wondered if only tt J threat of strike held up employment ~ the bituminous mines. The early thirtic” when two working days made a goc- weck, are fresh in memory. There is, too, the fear of increas: mechanization. Strip-mining, which e1 ploys great earth-moving machines as: requires comparatively few men, 2% counted in 1945 for 19 percent of bit’ minous production compared with ¢: percent in 1935, The portion of ‘unde : $ ground output cut by machines rath ~ than with hand picks rose from 8° percent in £935 to 90.8 percent in 19.47 The increase in mechanical coal loade was greater—from 13.5 to 56.1 percer All together, net production per m: per day went up from 4.5 to 5.78 to. in the 10-year period. Increased use of coal substitutes cau: § additional worry. In 1935 coal suppli. 4 ,