Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-02-29
JOINT AGREEMENT.
HOW PEACE is MAINTAINED IN THE
SOFT COAL FIELDS
Annual Joint Conference Between
the Operators and the United Mine
WOrkers-Test of n Wage Reduce
ti0n Yet to Come.

ton Yet to Come.
A vast army of more than 5000
men is directly engaged in coal mining
in the United States, producing last
year total Of 3OO,OO0,O0O tons. OF
these workers officials of the United
nearly 100000, producing annually
about 2oo0OO.0O0 tons, or two thirds
of the total coal output of this country,
are organized in that union. More
than ;his, they claim that fully 80 per
cent Of the total number of coal mine
workers are governed by the union 3
scale of wages and work under its con
ditons of employment and that fully
80 per cent Of all mine employees i'll
the United States would go out on
strike II !; national suspension of coal
mining is ever found necessary by the
United Mine Workers. Tie strength
of this oYgaliz#ti,.n of coal mine work
ers is confined Ial.,e!y to the coal pro
ducin% area y.s@} o. tise MISSISSIPPI
river and particularly Is the central
competitive territory, ErIsding OHIO,
Indiana, Illinois ;tnG western Fenisyl
vania. In these lut, liz .d~ about lto,
600 mine workers are papio%ea, pro
ducing annually G0,o#4, net toms OF
bitumiNa;.s caa. ....5z....4 sc inter
state joint conference pi;tn adopted by
the coal miners and Operators of these
districts the wages aid conditions p1
employment of the Miae workers are
agreed upon annually in ioint conftn9
ton
This joint movement, which has
grown to such large proportions and
which seems destined eventually to
include all coal producing area of this
country and perhaps of Canada and
Nova Scotia, had its origin as far back
as 1855. The lack of Il strong organ
iZation among the miners, the rapid
railway development of the central
coal producing states destroying old
and creating new markets for coal, the
competition of the operators for these
markets and the operation of other
well defined forces prevented the
movement from being much of sue
cess, however, down to 1898. In that
year, in consequence of a widely eX-
tended strike Of the bituminous coal
mine workers in 1891 the first Of the
present interstate joint conferences
was held and has been continued each
year since then.
The seventh annual interstate joint
conference was held in Indianapolis
in January, 1904.
This interstate joint agreement or
contract settles many important ques
tions. 1t sets the basing point in each
state for determining prices to be paid
for work about the mines, fixes upon
1000 pounds as Il ton for the entire
central competitive field included in
the agreement, recognizes two general
methods of mining-the screen and
run Of mine systems agrees upon reg
ulation screens where the screen meth
Cd Is in use. establishes a differential
between machine mining, between
thick and thin vein pick mines and
makes eight hours Il days work for
all classes of mine employees. With
these questions agreed upon the mine
employees and the operators in the diff
ferent state and subdistrict conven-
tions are not troubled with these par
tcular problems but are left free to
devote their attention to other veXing
questions which concern in particular
q less number of mine workers in Il
smaller area, the settlement of which
is none the less of vital Importance in
the reaching of some kind of agree
ment
Because the operators and mine
workers in the states included III the
Joint conference enter into agreements
it should not be inferred that both
sides are perfectly satisfied With all
the decisions reached. This would be
expecting the millennium in the indus
trial world Ever since the Joint move
ment was inauguratcd. as far back as
1856, there have been differences of
opinion between the operators and
miners upon many questions of com
mon interest On not Il few of these
questions they are still at opposite
points of view. AS to the adNisability
of uniform scale provisions for all four
states, the miners favor and the opera
tors oppose such propositions. There is
friction over questions growing out of
machine and pick mining, the mine
workers claiming that nearly all the
benefits of machine mining 90 to the
operator. There is always a tontroyer-
sy in the conference over the run of
mine and screen methods of weighing
and paying for the product Of the min
ers' labor, the union insisting that the
miner is the sufferer where the coal is
screened before payment. Even today
there is contention between the two
parties as TO the extent of the unions
control over outside employers the
operators perSiSting in their claim that
such employees are company" men,
The establishing and increasing of the