Bisbee daily review., 1907-06-07
MINERS ASKING FOR STRIKE
 FACTS
New Arrival, MiSlead by So- ciaIiSt Stories, Asks Review for Truth to Send to His Friends in Michigan,

Editor Bisbee Review:
 On my arrival in Bisbee few days ago I was informed that a strike yas
 on here. The union men also told me
 the reason of the strike was to have
 the companies abolish the ,diserimina- tion against union men. When I left Republic, Michigan, I was told to get the correct facts and send the same
 back. I would therefore like for you to publish through the columns of your paper whether there has been any dis crimination against union men, and
 also state if there will be any in the future, so I can send a few copies to l the Republic. I am not a union man
 myself, but am always in sympathy
 when just cause is right
 Yours truly,
 PATRICK CALHOUN.
 For the information of Mir. Patrick Calhoun and others who may be in-
 terested, the Review again takes occa- sion to recite the incidents of the so-
 called strike in Bisbee.
 For more than twenty years Bisbee
 has been known as an open mining camp-that is, union and nonunion
 miners found employment here. Sey- eral attempts had been made to union
 ize Bisbee in the past, but in each
 Instance, met with failure. Working
 men here were receiving the same
 hours and wages as received else where in union camps. There was no discrimination against union men. The question of union or nonunion was
 ever raised. Four or five moths ago,
 Messrs. Capnon, Rawling and Moore appeared on the scene and announced
 that they would unioize Bisbee, and that the Western Federation was here to stay. To this plan of the organiz- CTS to change conditions which in the past had worked satisfactorily to all
 concerned, the employing companies objected, and those employees who in- terested themselves in behalf of the
 organizers. in favor of closed union camp as against the open camp policy,
 were dropped from the pay rolls. Still many union men remained at work | These workingmen recognized that conditions here did not warrant a 1 fight between the companies and the
 men, as there was no just grievance | to make a fight on. When 1t became
 known that those active in the at tempt to make Bisbee a closed West ! r | charged the organizers called a strike i Of all Western Federation miners in the district, and as a result anprnxi- Imately twelve hundred men were forced to obey the strike order and seek positions elsewhere, in a num- | Der of instances at less wages and longer hours than was the rule in Bis l bee. Two-thirds of the worlfHgmef ] in Bisbce refused to obey the strike 1 order. These men have remained at
 work all through the sO-called strike and are still here, and the vacancies l caused by the withdrawal of the | twelve hundred men have practically 1 been refilled by new men who have l come into the district. As near as the 1 Review can understand the policy of | the Warren district mining compa- nies, it is to pay the highest wages and | ask the shortest hours of work: to in | sist on the right to employ union or ] nonunion wOrkingmen without i'm paFtiality; and to insist that Bisbee l shall remain an "oDen2 camp for all ! time At the time the strike was call
 ed here on April 9th, the managers of | the companies issued a statement that 1 before they would submit to domina- | tion and control by the Western Fed eration organization they would close | down the mines. This still the policy | of these companies and after two | months of effort to unioniZe Bisbee for | the benefit of the Western Federation and Industrial Workers of the World, ! the organZers have met with decisive | defeat.
 For the benefit of Mir. Calhoun, and | others interested, it may be stated that there is no feeling of resentment,
 or sense of unfair treatment, among the three thousand American working
 ment at present employed in the dis | trict, and the least wages paid is four
 dollars per day for eight hours work. I The discrimination cry was raised be- cause the compaHies Of this district | insisted that Bisbee should remain an "open' camp and. the efforts of the organizers was for closed" union camp, under their dominition and con
 trel That has been the issue in Bis bee, and the indications are at present that so long as copper Is mined in the l Warren district the present conditions
 will continue.
 An incident of the strike that might ! prove of interest to union men else
 where, is the fact that the strike was called at meeting of 6S men, and
 the remaining 95 per cent of the union
 miners in the district were given no
 opportunity to vote on the question.