Show Inside Labor ewis l Strike Hits All Foes At 1 Swo Swoop p By Victor There's Theres al a always s 's a a. Count of oC Monte Cristo touch to John L. L Lewis when he moves into the spotlight Look at this coal strike It is so maneuvered that it slugs all his enemies at once Not the least of those whom the Old Grudge Gatherer hates are his fellow labor chiefs So this c stoppage was called just at the moment when they're on the political hook hoo in Washington Lewis could have sent his men on a holiday next month to mourn the miners smashed to death in a Centralia pit back in 1947 Or he could have wishing the I pickaxes a few months ago to commemorate the death of one of his vice presidents But he decides to prove his power when the other labor leaders are taking n R political shellacking in congress In effect ef effect el- el John Lewis Is saying they should hould have made him labors labor's political boss when he wanted the job in 1947 Split-Second Split Move Apparently Mr Lewis did some split-second split timing liming when he shut down doom the country's mines in defiance of the Taft- Taft Hartley law On the second morning of the strike some of ot labors labor's expert V Washington hinton lobbyists lobbyists lobbyists lob lob- spent hours trying to contact contact contact con con- tact just one key man to tell them how to get President Truman's Truman's Truman's Tru Tru- mans man's ear immediately Yet even if they got to the president then in Key hey West Vest how could Brother Truman help his union friends while the nations nation's basic industry had been shut by the mere flicker of a notorious eyebrow But Old Old Grizzly Lewis has another grudge He hates C CIO I 0 president Phil Murray leader too of the nations nation's steelwork- steelwork ers And that fitted right In with John Ls L.'s s strategy strategy-a t r a t e g y-a y a good part of which depends on shutting or slowing down the country's steel mills and thus spreading creeping paralysis through Americas America's industries What the public isn't aware of is that the big steel companies companies companies com com- have enormous coal re re- re serves Their own pits the so- so called captive mines have been working six days a week and paying payin overtime while the regular regular regular reg reg- ular commercial mines have been on a three-day three schedule Pile Up Reserves The steel companies pressured by d demands mands from every industry industry indus indus- try have therefore piled up the largest coal reserve in their history so they wouldn't be caught short That's i r I r i ita t a t e d Old John So part of his strategy is to cripple steel This in turn would cause wide unemployment in the mills and auto plants as well This doesn't b bot bother o t h her e r Brother Lewis Lewis Lewis-It it would hit the big companies Phil Murray and Walter Valter Reuther whom he despises all at once And the final Count of Monte MonteCristo MonteCristo MonteCristo Cristo touch to the grandstand play is that it will eventually force President Truman to do business with the United Mine MineWorkers MineWorkers' MineWorkers MineWorkers' Workers Workers' president Heres Here's how Word Vord has gone out from the White House that no long coal strike will be tolerated this sum sum- mer Any real stoppage would cause wide joblessness a recession recession recession reces reces- sion the crippling of Atlantic pact arms production production and and loss of Mr Truman's prestige After all Mr Truman is on record in his labor bill as saying he doesn't need any more power to keep labor peace Two Alternatives So Mr Truman e either i t the h e r will have to yield and agree with congress to toughen the labor law or pressure the operators to yield to Mr Lewis and prevent a strike Or Mr Truman will have to accept a new labor law lawgiving lawgiving lawgiving giving him power to seize and operate the mines in the event of a dangerous strike Which is what Old John wants Hed He'd rather do business with the government than the operators In any event he figures figures figures fig fig- ures he cant can't lose He will wm have shown his p power o w e r by forcing Harry Truman to act for him him him- while the other labor chiefs were sort soft of waiting in the anteroom And all the time hes he's working under a mustache handle-bar-mustache psychology He loves to play the villain The more hes he's hissed the more mole he loves it He knows its it's him against the country That's what Lewis lives on i |