The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-08-22
MINERS STRIKE IS
THING OF THE PAST
Officially Called off Yesterday
by Vote of Locals
FACTS ABOUT THE STRIKE
Has Been In Progress for the Past
Two Years-cost the Miners over
100000 and Operators
About $45o,ooo.
ABOUT THE STRIKE

in District No. 20 is at an end.
AT meeting of the executive commit
tee of the district yesterday the vote
of the various locals on the matter was
counted and majority favored discon-
tinulng the strike.
The action goes into effect at once and
all the miners in Alabama are at liberty
to go to work today in the open shop
mines.
A circular will be issued this afternoon
to all the locals of the district giving
the result of the vote on the proposition
to call off the strike. Until that is is
sued President Flynn declines to state
what the vote was, or what percentage of
the men voted in favor of calling off the
strike.
Many Miners Affected.
The action, it is said. effects about 5000
miners. The union has been feeding about
$500 miners, according to the last report,
and it is estimated that there are about
1000 more who are working on the rail-
roads, in the furnaces or around other
places who will go back to the mines
now This brings the total up to nearly
5000, according to the figures of President
! Flynn.
Prior to the strike the organization in
the district had a membership of over
1900. The Alabama Consolidated Coal and
Iron company of which Col. T. G. Bush
is president, and all the commercial coal
companies, signed the union scale and
have worked only union miners. These
concerns have given employment to sew
eral thousand men.
The strike was declared on July %,
1904, and has therefore, been In force
a little more than two years. 1t has cost
the United Mine Workers over $1000,O0O
during that time. They have fed between
5000 and 5000 people during the two years.
When compared with number of other
strikes throughout the country, the strike
of the miners here was accompanied by
comparatively little 1awlessness.
From the day the strike commenced
President Flynn and National Committee
man Farley have urged the men not to
resort to any violence and they succeeded
in keeping the situation well In hand.
The action yesterday was the result OF
two sessions of the executive commit
| tee, the first held in the morning and
the other in the afternoon The auditor S
report on the vote to discontinue the
strike was heard at the first meeting,
and afterwards a committee was APP
to the various locals.
Mitchell Wanted to Confer.
few weeks ago John Mitchell, presi-
dent of the national organization of the
United Mine Workers, wrote to President
! j. C. Maben of the Sloss-Sheffield COM
pany and the executive head of other
'open shop" companies, asking for con-
ference with a view of adjusting the
breach between the furnace operators and
the union miners. The invitation was de-
cined.
Mr. Maben said he wrote Mr.. Mitchell
friendly but firm letter, in which he
recited the facts leading up to the strike.
He did not want to break with the United
Mine Workers but when the strike was
declared he decided, along with the Ten
nessee, the Republic and other companies,
to operate Independently in the future,
no matter what it might cost
Cost Operators.
| 1t is estimated in open shop circles
that the strike cost the companies some
thing like total of s45O,OoO. This money
was paid out for various purposes-some
to deputies to guard the mines and the
non union miners and some to purchase
transportation for miners and their fami-
lies brought here from other states. One
of the larger companies, which kept an
exact account of money thus used, spent
a little over $4,000.
| An official of one of the furnace COM
panies said yesterday that the discor-
] tinuance of the strike would have an
apprecable effect on the labor situation
as many of the union miners who had
left the district, would return.