As idle miners in Appalachia and elsewhere picked over the tentative coal settlement last week, formal deliberations ran into deep trouble in Washington. The bargaining council of the United Mine Workers voted by 38 to 1 to send the pact back to negotiators for moremuch more. Already the settlement calls for wage-and-benefit increases exceeding 50% over three years. But council members sought a bigger pay raise next year than the negotiated 9%, as well as the right to strike over local issues. They also wanted a reinstatement of the traditional two-week vacation...
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