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NWLB Southern Coal Procedures Records

 Collection
Identifier: 5313

Scope and Contents

Records of the U.S. National War Labor Board in the matter of the Operators Negotiating Committee, Appalachin Joint Conference, Southern Appalachin Joint Wage Conference and the United Mineworkers of America.

Included are hearing proceedings, reports, and statements of the parties in the dispute.

Dates

  • 1943

Language of Materials

Collection material in English

Conditions Governing Access

Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference archivist for access to these materials.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and Procedures for Document Use.

Biographical / Historical

The Fact Finding Panel was appointed by the National War Labor Board to investigate the dispute which arose when the parties were unable to agree on the terms of a new contract in the spring of 1943. The following were members of the panel: Morris L. Cooke, representing the public, chairman; David B. Robertson, representing labor; and Walter White, representing industry.

Negotiations began on March 10, 1943. The principal demands of the United Mine Workers were: a wage increase of $2 a day, payment for travel time from portal to portal for all underground workers, inclusion of some supervisory personnel, and several minor issues.

No agreement could be reached, and the case was certified to the War Labor Board on April 22, 1943. The panel held its first hearing in Washington D.C. on April 28 at which the Mine Workers refused to appear. The panel was recessed when it learned that the Mine Workers had gone on strike in violation of the no-strike agreement of 1941. On May 1 the Federal Government seized the mines and the miners went back to work. On May 6, the National War Labor Board resumed hearings and issued a report on May 25, which the Mine Workers refused to accept, and struck again. President Roosevelt ordered the miners back to work. On June 7 negotiations for a new contract were resumed and in mid-June the Central Pennsylvania signed an agreement which it later repudiated on pressure from the other operators. On July 21 the Illinois operation signed an agreement which the NWLB refused to approve because it violated the "Little Steel Formula." The mines were returned to the operators on October 1. The miners struck for a third time on November 1, and the mines were again seized by the government, and a contract between the government and the Mine Workers was signed on November 3.

Extent

1 cubic feet

Abstract

Records of the U.S. National War Labor Board in the matter of the Operators Negotiating Committee, Appalachin Joint Conference, Southern Appalachin Joint Wage Conference and the United Mineworkers of America.

Quantity:

1 linear ft.

Forms of Material:

Records (documents).

General

Contact Information:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives Martin P. Catherwood Library 227 Ives Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3183 kheel_center@cornell.edu http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/kheel-center
Compiled by:
Kheel Staff, October 18, 2005
EAD encoding:
Kheel Staff, March 11, 2019
Title
NWLB Southern Coal Procedures Records
Status
Completed
Author
Compiled by Kheel Staff
Date
March 11, 2019
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Revision Statements

  • 02/23/2024: This resource was modified by the ArchivesSpace Preprocessor developed by the Harvard Library (https://github.com/harvard-library/archivesspace-preprocessor)

Repository Details

Part of the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives Repository

Contact:
227 Ives Hall
Ithaca NY 14853