Red Lodge picket. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1889-1907, 1900-03-16
A COMPLETE LOCKOUT
Red Lodge Miners Union Decline to Ac-
cept New Schedule and All
Hands Strike.
WORKS CLOSED DOWN
Introduction Of Machines and Change from
Day to Tonnage Pay the Cause
Of the Trouble.
WORKS CLOSED DOWN

4 complete lockout or strike was
Yesterday inaugurated in the Rocky
Fork coal mine Of this city as the re-
suit Of new schedule Of prices put
into effect by the. Rocky Fork Coal
company, and thus far all efforts to
bring about a settlement Of the ques-
tion have signally failed. The trouble
resulting in the strike was occasioned
by the action of the company in post
ing notice, taking effect last Thurs
day, informing all employees interested
that new schedule of prices would
obtain in the future. This schedule
changed the system from day wages
to tonnage pay and was adopted be-
cause of the installation by the COM
pany OF electric mining machines.
For the past month or so the COM
pany have been paying 1926 per day
Tor mining cool; the new schedule
puts this work on the contract system
at AZ cents per ton. Before the in
PRODUCTION of the machines the men
were receiving rs cents per ton. The
contention Of the company is that a
miner, assisted by the machines, can
make as much or more at AZ cents per
ton as he could without tho machines
ut rs cents a ton, while the miners
claim that the machines are of no
benefit to them; that they can mine
more coal without the machines than
with them As to the merits of the
respectivecontentions, this newspaper
is not prepared at this time to put it.
self on record. A reporter this morn
ing called upon DR.. j. M. Fox, man
ager OF the company, for Il statement
OF his side Of the case, but all the
doctor would say was that he was
convinced that the mon, with the as
sistance OF the machine, could make
as good or better than S33.25 per day
ut he new schedule of AZ cents per
ton. AS to the union side of the
question, The Picket prints the fol-
lowing communication handed it this
morning by Alex. Fairgrieve, presi=
cent OF the Miners union:
To WHOM ri MAY Concern.
We, the Red Lodge Miners Union,
think it but just to enighten the
public at large as to the position we
have taken in regard to the present
demand OF the Rocky Fork Coal Com
pany for u reduction of wages in
their mines, The old system Of min
ing the coal consisted OF blasting
from the solid, loading the coal and
tlmbering, the miners purchasing
their own supplies of powder aud
fuse, etc, for which we were paid rs
cents per ton for mine No. 1. The
present system of mining the coal by
machinery consists of tho machine
shearing one side Of the room, still
leaving the coal to be blasted from
the solid, with the result that the
miner cannot use his own plan of
blasting the coal to his own advan-
tage and causing him to use more
powder than formerly, and with
added labor, for which the company
offer only ~ cents per ton. The coal
must be drilled, blasted, loaded, the
place timbercd, the cars pushed 275
'eet and the coal screened over a one
inch diamond bar screen five feet
wide and sixteen feet long. The
shearing of the coal is OF no material
advantage to the miner above the old
system, as the above will show, and
we have requested the company to re
turn TO the old system Of mining at
70 cents per ton, OF continue under
the new system at their present rate
Of s3.25 per day.
In explanation OF our rejection Of
the offer to the machine men OF co.
cents per cnt Of machine, will say
that the highest number Of cuts made
by the machines has been twelve cuts
for one day, and it took from seven to
nine men to handle the machine to
obtain this number oil cuts.
Signed: RED LODGE MINERS Union
No. 20, Western Federation OF
Miners.
The notice posted by the company,
to which the union takes exception,
reads as follows:
To the employees Of the Rocky Fork
Coal Company Of Montana: In view
of the installation and operation of
electric mining and shearing machines
and electric drills, and the change in
the system Of mining coal in our
notice is hereby given that,
on Thursday, the 18th of
March, A. D. 1900, and thereafter un=
til further notice, the following sched-
ule of prices will be paid by the com
pany for coal cut by the machines,