The Operators: Divided

Their homes probably tell as much about the differences among the men who belong to the Bituminous Coal Operators' Association as the bottom lines of their companies' balance sheets. In suburban Pittsburgh, top executives of U.S. Steel, which owns the sixth largest coal company in the country, live in elegant mansions. In Greene County, Pa., the owners of small coal mines may own the biggest houses in town, which are usually simple frame dwellings. In Pikeville, Ky., some owners of mines that suddenly boomed because of the energy crisis have built French provincial-style houses, known locally as Cinderella Castles.

The B.C.O.A.'s 130 members include large firms, among them Peabody Coal Co. In 1976 Peabody mined about 10% of the 671 million tons of coal produced in the U.S. Other big firms are the mining subsidiaries of big steel and oil companies. A big firm, such as Consolidation Coal Co., employs about 21,700 people. Companies of this size are often run by executives with degrees from the country's leading business schools. The rest of the membership comprises medium-size mines owned by utility companies, as well as many small independent operators who employ as few as a dozen miners. Said one such owner in western Pennsylvania: "I drink beer with my men at the tavern. I know them well, and my father knew their fathers, all on a first-name basis."

These differences help explain the bitter quarreling that broke out among B.C.O.A. members after the United Mine Workers voted down their contract offer two weeks ago. The association is dominated by its biggest members, and many of the small owners complain that the B.C.O.A.'S initial hard-line approach to the bargaining was set by large operators who wanted to break the union. Said the owner of a tiny mine in western Pennsylvania: "The big boys ran the B.C.O.A. show, no matter what we thought. They realized that [U.M.W. President] Arnold Miller was weak and a little dumb, and saw their chance to ram a pro-company contract down the union's throat." Added another small operator: "I figure you get a lot further by courting your men instead of cussing them."

At first, the B.C.O.A. negotiating team took tough positions on several issues, including wildcat strikes and health benefits. Said a strip mine operator: "They underestimated the miners because they didn't know them. The company negotiators were mostly bureaucrats." In any event, after the miners rejected the pact, the B.C.O.A's bargaining was turned over to Nicholas Camicia, 61, chairman of the Pittston Co., and Stonie Barker Jr., 51, president of Island Creek Coal Co. Although their firms rank among the nation's five largest coal companies, Camicia and Barker started out as deep-pit miners. Said Camicia: "I've been in the mines all my life, so I understand the people. I'm one of them."

Executives of the large coal companies deny that they mishandled the negotiations, or were trying to damage the union. Said Harry Washburn, senior vice president of Cleveland-based North American Coal Corp.: "The operators do not want to tear the union apart. They want a strong union, one that can deliver a work force every morning." Many executives of the big companies are upset about the latest contract proposal and blame Jimmy Carter for it. Said a steel company official: "There's no doubt we were the losers, dragged into defeat by Government intervention."

Because of the divisions within the B.C.O.A., some operators predict that the industry will eventually adopt a two-tier approach to bargaining: one for issues on which all members agree, the other for issues on which they are split. For instance, the operators are equally concerned with increasing productivity. Said Madison, W. Va., Mine-owner Herbert Kinder: "Give the operators a stable work force, and the miners could have anything they want." But the owners are divided over the proposed contract's requirement that miners pay up to $200 in deductibles for medical care. Said a small Pennsylvania operator: "The deductibles are tiny, but the miners have had free health care for years, and this is a step back to them, no matter how small.

Hell, for my small work force, I'd be willing to pay those deductibles out of my own pocket. It's the big guys like Bethlehem, U.S. Steel and Consolidation who can't afford them because their labor force is so big.

They are the ones that made an issue of the deductibles."

Whatever their disagreements, the Eastern operators face a common threat: that the strike will promote the highly productive, non-U.M.W. strip mines in the West at the expense of the high-cost, mostly U.M.W. mines of the East.

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