Special Message to the Congress Reporting the Settlement of the Bituminous Coal Labor Dispute.

To the Congress of the United States:

Pursuant to the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, I am reporting to the Congress concerning a labor dispute which recently existed in the bituminous coal industry.

The significant facts concerning this dispute may be summarized as follows:

The dispute involved the administration of a collective bargaining agreement known as the National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreement of 1947, which was signed by the United Mine Workers of America and certain coal operators and associations. The dispute grew out of the dissatisfaction of the union with the failure of the trustees of the United Mine Workers of America Welfare and Retirement Fund, established by the Agreement, to begin the payment of benefits. In accordance with the terms of the Agreement the union had appointed Mr. John L. Lewis as trustee of the Fund, the operators had appointed Mr. Ezra Van Horn, and these two had selected Mr. Thomas E. Murray as the third trustee. The trustees were unable to agree upon any plan for the amount of benefits to be paid out of the Fund or the eligibility of miners for such benefits. Mr. Murray therefore resigned from his office as trustee. The continued failure to begin payment from the Fund resulted in a work stoppage.

On March 23, 1948, I signed Executive Order 9939, creating a Board of Inquiry pursuant to Section 206 of the Labor Management Relations Act. I requested the Board to report to me on or before April 5, 1948. The Board held public hearings on March 26, 29 and 30, and filed its first report with me on March 31, 1948. That report advised me fully of the facts of the dispute and indicated that the stoppage had "precipitated a crisis in the industry and in the nation as a whole." A copy of that report is attached.

I therefore requested the Attorney General, in accordance with the provisions of Section 208 of the Labor-Management Relations Act, to petition the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for an injunction. An injunction was granted by Justice T. Alan Goldsborough of that Court on April 3, 1948. It restrained the union from continuing the strike which the court then found was in existence, ordered the union to instruct all members to return to their employment, and further ordered the union and the operators to bargain collectively.

Following the issuance of the injunction on April 3, 1948, there was a gradual return of miners to work. Compliance with the provisions of that injunction and substantially normal production in the bituminous coal mines was obtained on or about April 26, 1948.

Soon after the issuance of the injunction of April 3, 1948, the Honorable Styles Bridges was selected by the two remaining trustees as the new third trustee under the Agreement. Mr. Bridges and Mr. Lewis, as trustees, approved a plan for beginning payment of benefits under the Fund. Mr. Van Horn withheld his approval and challenged the legality of the action of the majority of the trustees in a proceeding instituted in the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia. On June 23, 1948, Justice Goldsborough dismissed the complaint filed by Mr. Van Horn and held that the plan of Mr. Bridges and Mr. Lewis for beginning payment of benefits under the Fund was legal.

As a result of the settlement of the dispute over the Fund, the Attorney General, pursuant to Section 209 of the Labor-Management Relations Act, requested the Court to discharge the injunction. The injunction was discharged on June 23, 1948.

The Board of Inquiry was reconvened subsequent to the issuance of the injunction, pursuant to Section 210 of the Labor-Management Relations Act, and submitted its final report to me on June 26, 1948. A copy of the report is attached.

It should be noted that this dispute is distinct from that with respect to which I created a Board of Inquiry on June 19, 1948, by Executive Order 9970, and which made its report to me on June 24, 1948. That Board was created because of the imminent expiration of the 1947 contract between the United Mine Workers of America and the bituminous coal operators, and the consequent threat of a stoppage of work. A new contract covering most of the industry was agreed upon by the parties prior to the expiration of the old contract and no injunction was sought. A new contract for the remainder of the industry was subsequently negotiated. Since the report of the second Board contains a comprehensive summary of the entire chain of events concerning both disputes, a copy of its report is attached to this message for the convenience of the Congress.

HARRY S. TRUMAN