February 23, 1978 – CBS World News Roundup – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
February 23, 1978 – the roller-coaster of striking miners continues. Day 80 with no end in sight. Offers put forth – offers rejected. It was starting to look like the White House was going to step into it as a way of settling the dispute. So far, efforts to end the strike through Collective Bargaining were at a standstill. The Operators said they were ready to resume talks with the United Mine Workers, but they added that, in view of the Union’s bargaining position, further negotiations hardly seemed fruitful. With both sides evidently frozen in place, Labor Secretary Ray Marshall and White House officials were in conference to determine a future course of action.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, the nations largest Utility and among those hardest hit by the Coal Strike indicated they were down to a 24 day supply and were forced to buy 200,000 tons of it through the Kerr-McGee Corporation. The coal was being supplied by Kerr-McGee coal fields in Wyoming who were not affected by the strike.
On Capitol Hill – the Senate Banking Committee decided to hold another public hearing over the nomination of G. William Miller to be Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. It planned to take a deeper look into the $2.9 million payment made to an Iranian company by Bell Helicopter, a subsidiary of Textron Inc., a company which Miller headed. The Committee wanted to determine whether or not it was a proper business expense or a pay-off.
Meanwhile, a 2-month ban was going into effect on this day in the city of London, preventing political groups from staging marches and demonstrations. With the consent of the British Home Office, London’s Police Commissioner took an extraordinary action – imposing a 2-month ban on all outdoor Political demonstrations and marches throughout London. The ban was scheduled to go into effect the following day. The ban was being imposed as a way of guarding against violence between Far Right and Far Left groups; the Far Right Group, National Front and the far left group, The Socialist Workers Party as showdowns in the past had lead to major civil disturbances in London.
And that’s just a sample of what went on, this February 23, 1978 as reported on The CBS World News Roundup.
