WORLD IN BRIEF : SOVIET UNION : Coal Miners Form Independent Union

A nationwide congress of coal miners put aside divisions and adopted a plan by radical miners to form the Soviet Union’s first independent trade union. The new Independent Trade Union of Miners has a potential membership of 2 million and could evolve into a potent political and economic force with power over energy supplies. The 900 delegates meeting in the industrial Ukrainian city of Donetsk, at the heart of a major coal region 600 miles southwest of Moscow, vowed to push demands for workers’ rights and better living conditions.