Us Miners Defy Ant-union Law

Scan page 1

The entire trade union movement in the United States faces a crucial test this week as President Carter brings the full weight of US strikebreaking legislation to bear in a bid to break the back of the United Mine Workers Union.

UMW officials representing the 160,000 coal miners have now been served with court orders issued under the union-busting Taft-Hartley legislation.

Carter hopes this will force an end to their 96-day strike that has caused an energy crisis in 11 states.

The orders tell officials to instruct their members back to work for a "cooling off period" of 80 days for renewed negotiations.

Miller If they fail to comply, they face fines in the courts, and strikers who stay out will cease to receive the Federal food stamps that have helped sustain them in their struggle.

It is certain that the vast majority of strikers will foilow the UMW tradition of ignoring such legal ultimatums.

On three previous occasions injunctions under Taft-Hartley have failed to force the miners' union back to work.

Threat

But this does not detract from the threat such action poses to the whole US labour movement.

Carter and the coal bosses recognise that the miners struggle is a test of the ability of US employers to force through an all-round attack on living standards, working conditions and trade union rights throughout industry in order to "solve" the acute He did so leading US crats-tied to Democratic endorse his act Carter's labour mediator Wayne Horvitz made this clear when in January, he pointed out that:

"The employers believe that for many years they have given away more than they should across the table to the unions, and that perhaps this is a good time to get some of it back".

The coal bosses are, acting this spirit.

Fines on strikers

The employers original demands included a $20 a day fine on unofficial strikers, provision for sacking strike leaders, the scrapping of the miners' hard-won 30-year old free health care benefits, and a savage attack on retirement benefits, as well as the introduction of Sunday working.

These demands were integrated into a proposed contract that won the endorsement of UMW President Arnold Miller but aroused only fuming hostility from rank and file miners, hundreds of whom invaded the union's Washington Headquarters and forced the 39 man bargaining council to reject it 33-3.

Then in a much publicised "climbdown" the bosses withdrew their insistence on the $20 a day fines and on Sunday working. All the other attacks remained unchanged.

Press campaign

The UMW bargaining council, scared at the prospect of a major confrontation with the Carter government, endorsed the "new" proposals and submitted them to a ballot vote of the membership, backed up by a $40,000 public relations exercise, with press, TV and radio adverts plugging the deal.

The result was a devastating 2-1 rejection of the deal by miners determined not to surrender their rights.

Carter, confronting a major energy crisis, the prospect of premature shipwreck for his much vaunted "cheap coal" energy plan to cut US oil consumption, as well as the growing instability of the dollar, was pressed into action, invoking the TaftHartley laws.

Tied to Democrats

knowing that union bureauthe capitalist Party-would ion.

PRIVA DRIVE ORE CONTRAC Miners march in Pittsburgh васт UMWA CONTRA PANY S WOE

US 5YEEL

SUNVOLVED TLING = Tr Militant/Nancy Cc

----- pull-quotes -----

UMWA SUP PO UMW APORT