LABOR: As It Was in the Beginning . . .

Two weeks before Pearl Harbor, John L. Lewis’ United Mine Workers ended a six-day strike. Its aim: to extend the union shop to the captive mines owned by the big steel companies. But the dispute lingered on until John L. got a settlement to suit him. The date: Dec. 7, 1941.

This week, as the war in Europe ended, 72,000 of John Lewis’ United Mine Workers were on strike in the hard-coal fields. The Government had taken over the mines; the flag fluttered over the mineheads of 363 anthracite companies while John Lewis and the operators haggled over a new contract.