Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-07

The labor union leaders In the anthra
| cite coal district are getting ready TO
another struggle with the operators whel
| the present existing arrangement anc
wage scale fixed by the Roosevelt strik
| commission five years ago expire on thu
last day of March next. The operation
are willing to renew the arrangement a.
1t stands for another year or for a tern
of years. While it does not suit then
entirely, they consider it fair and rea
| sonable and much better than no agree
ment at all. The miners, speaking gen
| orally are contented and willing t.
continue relations as they are. but thu
officials of the United Mine Workers are
determined to revive a series of old de
mands, all of which were made before the
Roosevelt commission, of which Judge
Gray of Delaware was chairman, and re
Elected by it.
Unions Getting Ready.
In the meantime the labor leaders are
Strengthening the unions by recruiting and
the treasury by collecting back dues. More
than one-haf Of the membership of the
unions has fallen out since the agree
ment three years ago. Not more than
&c, 900 of the 10000 employees in the an
thracite mines have kept up their dues,
because, under the present arrangement
there is no need of a union. and those
who stay out get all the benefits en-
joyed by those who stay in without pay
ing their dues, which Is the chief issue
of the approaching fight.
The anthracite coal region is divided
into three districts for organization pur-
poses, district No. 1 having it's headquar-
ters at Scranton, district No. at Hazel
ton and district No. at Shamokin. and
the fight will be conducted by T. L.
president of the United Mine Workers
and T. D. Nichols. district president OF
Scranton, who is a member of Congress
from that district
John Mitchell's Successor.
Mr.. Nichols was practically raised in
coal mine. His father was a miner,
and he began work in the mines when he
was a child. He was educated in the
times, and. became a miner. In 1900. he
was elected district president of No.
/ and handled the strike that followed
in 1902. Then he went into politics, and
was elected to Congress as democrat.
Mr.. Nichols is a radical and has extreme
views as to the rights Of labor and the
benefits Of organization President Lewis
yet declared his attitude concerning the
anthracite situation. The last time he
was in the anthracite region he had a
conference with the district president. and
which are to be made upon the operators.
He made a speech at a convention of
mine workers. in which he urged them
to proceed with elaboration and avoid
criticism.
The operators will be represented in the
CT q hnfOra i
dent of the Reading railroad: Mr.. hues-
dale, president of the Lackawanna rail-
road and Mr.. E. B. Thomas, president
of the Pennsylvania Coal Company.
What Union Leaders Want.
The present agreement expires auto
matically March 81, having been renewed
in 1906 for period of three years by the
Roosevelt strike commission. If the
operators refuse to grant any of the new
demands, or if the union leaders refuse
to continue the present arrangement, the
men can go on working as. at present
and as before the agreement was made.
But both sides would prefer to have a
definite understanding for fixed period
if they can obtain the terms they want.
The union leaders have formulated their
demands. they have been approved by a
convention OF delegates, and are fol
lows:
Il That an agreement shall be ne
gotiated between the representatives of
anthracite region, and all disputes arising
under the contract shall be adjusted as
provided for in such agreement.
90. We demand the complete recognition
of the United Mine Workers of America
as a party to negotiate a wage contrax.
and that the United Mine Workers OF
America shall be recognized in our right
to provide any method we may adopt for
the collection of revenues for the organi-
cation
-. That We demand an eight hour day
with no reduction of wages.
Il. That all coal shall be mined and paid
for by the ton of 1000 pounds.
%. That we demand a definite and more
uniform scale OF wages and prices for all
classes of labor at all collieries In the an
thracite region, and that all employees
paid less than $50 per day shall receive
a 10 per cent advance, and all employees
paid more than $50 and less than $500
day shall receive a per cent advance.
"6. That the system whereby a contract
miner has more than one job. or en-
ploys two or more laborers be abolished
II. That the employers be required to is
sue uniform pay statements designating
the employee. the colliery where employed,
the amount of wages, and the class of
work performed.
"s. That the contract shall be made for
period of one year.
Demands Were Rejected in 1902.
AS / have already said, every one of
these propositions was submitted to arbi-
tration before the anthracite strike COM
mission appointed by President Roosevelt
in 1902 and was rejected for reasons
which are given at length i'm the report of
that commission. The operators insist
that the same reasons which influenced
the judgment of the commission in re-
jecting them exist today, and that it is
useless to repeat the discussions that oc-
Cured in 1902 and again in 1906 But
the union leaders seem to be determined
to win this time They will have nothing
to do with commissions or arbitrations. so
they say, but will assert their demands
and call out every man in the mines If
they are not complied with.
The first demand means that the an
thraclte strike commission plan for COM
puSOry arbitration Is not satisfactory to
the union leaders. and that they prefer
to settle their disputes with the operators
directly rather than submit them to the
Cancellation board which was appointed
three years ago for that purpose The
board has recently published its first re-
port a volume of 335 pages, which shows
that 1873 complaints have been submitted
by the mine workers during the three
years. OF these seventy-siX were mot
sustained" eleven were sustained" eight
were partially sustained and fourteen
were compromised by Cancellation.
Object to Cancellation Board.
This report would indicate that the
board of Cancellation is a success, but
the seventy-six grievances which were not