| Show in thirty minutes current labor management disputes in the soft coal industry coupled with johr john L lewis levis periodic statements to the effect that management is trying to grind down the workers in one way or another make it important that the public understand just how the miners fare from the economic standpoint the U S bureau of labor complies elaborate statistical data on major ma i or american industries dus tries its 1918 1948 report shows that the bituminous miners re cleved the highest average hourly wage 1899 paid in any of those industries in the matter of weekly earnings they ran second in the list of industries with a figure which includes absenteeism and part time workers they probably would have been first had it not been for lessening coal production incidentally the miners productive work day is actually only 6 and one half hours though the they arc paid for eight hours abc about an hour is allowed for portal to port al movement plus half an hour for lunch in 1948 average weekly earnings of these miners were up 2275 per cent over the 1935 39 level as against an increase of 1371 per cent for all manufacturing in that period the cost of living according to government figures had risen per cent these are fact sand they should be kept in mind when you read of strikes and walkouts wal kouts and slowdowns slow downs and other disturbances in the coal fields financially the soft coal miner is in a privileged position |
