Nation: The Coal Miners Decide

And Carter, Congress and country prepare for the worst

After three months of strike, after two detailed contracts had been negotiated, after the White House had intervened and called on both the industry and the union to settle their differences for the national good, the critical decision last week lay in the rough and sturdy hands of the 165,000 United Mine Workers. In scores of begrimed towns throughout Appalachia, in settings as varied as Utah, Missouri and Pennsylvania, they marched to their union headquarters to cast their ballots—or, in some instances, angrily shred and burn their copies of the pact. And though...

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