ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, November 19, 1993                   TAG: 9311220112
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium


IN BUSINESS

Coal-strike issues reportedly settled

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Negotiators for the United Mine Workers and a coal industry group have agreed on the issues that prompted the union's 6-month-old strike, The Charleston Gazette reported Thursday.

Negotiators from the union and the Bituminous Coal Operators Association have reached accord on such issues as job security and health and pension benefits for miners, the Gazette quoted an unidentified source as saying.

Details of those agreements were set over the weekend, the Gazette said. But the two sides have been unable to resolve a dispute over what will happen to UMW members disciplined by companies for alleged picket-line misconduct, the newspaper reported.

Some association companies, including Eastern Associated Coal Corp. of Charleston and Arch Mineral Corp. of St. Louis, have started discharge proceedings for miners accused of picket-line violence.

The UMW has been on strike since May 10 against selected members of the coal association in a dispute over job security and future employment for the union's members. The union says it has 17,500 members on strike in seven states in Appalachia and the Midwest.

-Associated Press

Va. coal production about like last year's

Coal production in Virginia this year through October has been flat compared with the same period last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The Department of Energy agency reported 36.04 million tons of coal were produced in Virginia through October, compared with 36.03 million tons from January through October 1992.

Nationwide, coal production was down 4.8 percent through October. But east of the Mississippi, where a strike by union coal miners has closed many mines, production dropped 7.6 percent.

Only three Virginia mines, all in Buchanan County, have been affected by the strike.

-Staff report

Ford motor homes, Mustangs recalled

Ford Motor Co. has recalled 18, 500 super-duty motor homes in the 1989-'93 model years for a possible brake defect. Brake fluid can overheat when the power trains come under heavy pressure, such as steep climbs or idling for a long time, the automaker said.

No injuries have been attributed to the defect, Ford said.

Ford also recalled 4,100 1993-model Mustangs equipped with 5-liter engines for possible fuel-rail tube fractures. The cars may have been equipped with tubes that were too thin, Ford said.

Should a tube break, a car could lose power or catch fire, the automaker said. It said all cases of failure discovered so far had been in cars still to be shipped.

-Associated Press



 by CNB