French Miners Bitter Over Terms Of Government Imposed Settlement

PARIS, April 7--Many French coal miners are deeply dissatisfied with the settlement which ended their 35-day strike Wednesday. Although some striking miners held out through Friday for better terms, they gave up Friday night. In both the Northern mine fields and at Pas-de-Calais almost all miners were back at work underground Saturday.

The miners are unhappy with the settlement because neither of the goals which became the symbols of the strike was achieved. They had demanded an immediate 11 per cent wage increase and a $40 bonus when they returned to work. They received instead a $4 bonus and a 6.5 per cent immediate wage increase.

"Dictated" Terms

The miners are also angry because they feel the terms of the settlement were "dictated" rather than negotiated by the government. Mining is a nationalized industry in France, and the miners, along with much of the French press, feel President Charles de Gaulle used much of the same tactics with the union leaders that he employed against England in the Common Market negotiation: de Gaulle stated his demands and then waited silently for everyone to agree to them.

Several French newspaper commentators felt that de Gaulle had handled the strike badly from every point of view. They pointed out that while the government negotiators had actually made many significant compromises, their treatment of the strikers' representatives left the miners with the sense of an imposed settlement.

Economic Significance

But the strike was not due totally, as some American news magazines have implied, to de Gaulle's belligerence. Coal as a source of energy is on its way out in France, as it is in the United States. While many Frenchmen were stirred by the discipline and courage the miners showed--especially during the last two weeks of the strike, when there was very little for them to eat--there is nevertheless widespread understanding that coal must give way to gas as a source of energy if the French economy is to continue to expand. De Gaulle may say this in the televised address he plans to make this week.