Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-03-21
Temporary Idleness for Nor,
Than $50, 900 Can Not BE
Avoided.
CONFERENCE WITHOUT RESULl
II Agreement with the Owners L.
Reached. Time for Vote on
Proposition Must Be
Taken.

Cleveland, OHIO, March 3D--Wage dis.
cussious between the operators and repre-
sentatves OF 2p,o1D union miners In tho
bituminous coal fields Of western Penn
sylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, held
in an effort to avert prolonged suspenl-
sion OF business after April I and afro tp
out definite results
The prospect that all the bituminous
coal mines would be closed down aft4-
the first of the month pending the max
ing Of new two-year working ana wage
agreement. was said Co be imminent. 1t
also was said the lack of wage scale IN
the central States would leave the union
Luminous coal miners in other Stat.
without basis upon which 70 work an
they would have to close, enta.ling Idle
ness tor moro han 10000 miners.
After to-days conference adjourned
over until tomorrow. the union Officials
and operators announced only the frat
OF the miners demands had heeu cor
sdered and no vote had been taken. Th's
demand Is that all tine men he paid on
;he run of the mine" basis At present
the pay is based either on q ton screened
or sifted from the smaller Jumps ana dust,
| The "run-of-th mine basis. already IN
| In some States, would provide for
| Hat rate per ton mined regardless OF
| whether it was screened or not
| In the readjustment OF this ba sis tho
! miners demand an increase of 10 cents
a ton over the average price now paid.
| They also want shorter WORKING hours.
OFFSET BY A REDUCTION.
! As an offset to the miners demands.
the operators ask 10 per cent. reduc-
| tion ir the present rate. IT was pornt-
ed out that a continuation Of the pres
ent scale would be in the nature of a
compromise between the opposing de-
mands. but the miners assert they will
not return to work without more pay
and a material shortening of hours.
Asked II he considered to-day's con =
ference indicated an enrly settlement,
John =. White, president of the United
Mine Workers OF America, who, with
eight union officials from each OF the
four States directly concerned Is press
ing the demands. said
| "ro-days conference w9s merely n
skirmlsh. II does not indicate anything
1t is apparent, however. that the bitun =
inous coal mines will close on April J..
because no agreement can be reacheu
before then and even If an agreement ~
rea ched it will have 10 be submitted to
a referendum vote of the union or tho
union viii nave to ne called In cOnN an :
don or course cannot continue work
ing without an agreement. our demand
for the 'rvn-of-the e-inine. basis vttall>-
concerns us Tomorrow we prObablS y
will take UP the demands one by one.
only after We have gone over all o.
,he1n and have started voting can "" de-
,ermine whether there will be an early
settlement
will q strike be called II tie pres
ont conference fails To agree Mr.
W mite was asked.
THAT should be left to the imaHina
ton"
NO DEDUCTIONS CAN BE IIRAWN.
J. q [olsen Of Terre Haute, Ind
who was appointed spokesman for tho
S2 operators here. said no deduction
could he drawn from to-day 3 nleetius
az neither side expressed any opinion
beyond that II was going to adhere Il
it's demands. He said the operators
. regarded suspension as nnavoidablc
Duncan Mcdonald, representing the
72O00 Illinois miners, Informed the
conference that the miners In thai
State who are paid oay rate would
demand an increase OF 20 per sent
and shorter working hours