Weekly journal-miner. [volume] (Prescott, Ariz.) 1908-1929, 1912-04-10

lOOh ny 'ht uekotiduOnS Tor the
men This tirc the miners did no,
stop after the compact had expired
but agreed to continue operatioo,
pending the negotiation Of vor..
ing arrangement After conferr;r,
until twenty-nine days after IN.
agreement entered into in 1906 had
expired the Commission award va,
again put into effect for ano,be,
three years with the addition Of
five stipulations adjusting matters
that had come up during the life Of
the award.
The anthracite miners began l.,
prepare for the present trouble Las,
fall, when they held a convention a,
Pottsville. Pa, and formulated these
demands
IA oneyear agreement.
Eight hours day for all classes
Of men.
3--Rccogni,ion OF the union IN
negotiating wage agreements and
the right to provide method Of
collecting revenue for the organila.
ton.
A more convenient and uniform
system of adjusting grievances with
in a reasonable time limit.
s.--A % per cent increase in
wages
GA minimum Of $3.50 day for
all miners and s27s for laborers for
consideration work.
THAT the system whereby
contract miner has more than one
working place in the mine or en-
ploys more than two laborers shall
be abolished
s-That the right Of check weigh
men and check docking bosses shall
be recognized and that they shall
not be interfered with in the per.
Torrance Of their work.
9.-That all coal be mined and
paid for by the ton Of 2,2@0 pounds
wherever practicable.
During the winter efforts were
made to strengthen the union. which
met with considerable success. and
then came the negotiations. The
operators committee. whose person
mel remained about the same as in
all the former negotiations, found
another new man leading the min
crs. John p. White.
Three meetings between the oper-
ators and a committee of the union
miners were held in New York. AT
the first the miners presented their
demands; at the second conference
the demands werer refused and at
the third session the miners made
a reply regretting the action Of the
coal companies. The operators in
refusing the wage increase declared
that the profits would not admit an
advance without an increase in the
price OF coal. They proposed an
other renewal OF the Strike com
mission award for three years, de-
claring that il had worked satisfact-
orily and had brought peace and
prosperity to the region.
One feature about suspension
this year is that il would come for
the second time in a year when
presidential election is to be held.
This may have some influence in a
settlement ii the tic-up should con
tinue Tor any length of time.
The anthracite mine workers in
their strikes have been aided by a
law on the statute books Of Penn
syiVania providing that mine work
ers before they can become miners,
mat is, men who actually cut or
blast coal, must have miners certi-
hcates. In order to obtain these
they must have, under the law, az
least two years experience in an
anthracite mine. The law was en-
acted primarily to safeguard life
and property and in times of strike
u operates against the importation
OF miners from other fields who
nave not worked in hard coal fields
With the exception OF a small
quantity in Colorado and New MeS
co' which yields less than 100000
IONS year, the only deposit Of true
anthracite coal in the United State.
u not IN the world, is in the north
Eastern part Of Pennsylvania. II is
found IN only ten counties and j,
confined within an area OF 4S4
square miles. In the event of all the
miners going on strike il
would be difficult in the face of the
miners certificate law, to find
'uiheient number of men outside the
regions to break the
.st,L.