Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-03-30

mission visited many mines and exam
ined SIS witnesses between October,
1902, and Feb. 1903. It awarded 10
per cent increase in wages to miners
and reduced the hours of men who
were paid by the day from 10 to
day, and made numerous recommends
lions tending to better the working
conditions of the men 1t also created
the board of Cancellation, to which has
been referred most of the grievances
that have arisen since the commits
sion's awards were made.
The commission estimated the loss
es occasioned by that strike as fol-
lows:
Decrease in coal production, 24,6o4,-
4s2 tons.
Decrease in receipts of coal COM
panies, $46,100,0O0.
Wages lost by men, $4,000, 900.
Miners relief fund. s1,s0e,000.
Decrease is coal freight rates, $685.
OOO, 900.
These figures show a loss of more
than s100,O00,OO0. Besides this there
were losses sustained by the railroad
workers and employees in other in
dustries and there was a general paral-
ysis in business in a prosperous sec
ton of the state.
The award of the strike commission
remained in force for three years until
1906, when 1t was renewed for another
period of three years after the miners
had suspended work for about six
weeks. When this agreement expired
on March 81, 1909, new president of
the miners union, T. j.. Lewis, took
up the negotiations for the men. This
time the miners did not stop after the
compact had expired, but agreed to
continue operations pending the nego-
tiation of a working arrangement. Aft
er comforting until 90 days after the
agreement entered into in 1906 had
expired the commission award was
again put into effect for another three
: years with the addition of five stipula-
tions adjusting matters that had come
up during the life of the award.
The anthracite miners began t.
. prepare for the present trouble las
fall, when they --'f a convention a
3 Pottsville, Pa, and formulated these
demands:
IA one-year agreement. '-..
5 Eight hours a day for all class
4 es of men.
5 3-Recognition of the union in ne
3 gotiating wage agreements and tn,
G right to provide a method of collect
0 ing revenue for the organization.
6 A more convenient and uniform
9 system OF adjusting grievances with
5 in a reasonable time limit.
l 5-A 20 per cent increase il
I wages.
; ga minimum of $3.50 day 70
4 al! miners and s2.75 for laborers 70
I consideration work.
: THAT the system whereby con
2 tract miner has more than one work
. ing place in the mine or employ
q more than two laborers shall be abo
: ished.
. S-That the right of check weigh
4 men and check docking bosses sha
A be recognized ard that they shall nc
. be interfered with in the performanc
! of their work.
9-That all coal be mined and pal
. for by the ton of 2,240 pounds whel
- ever practicable.
During the winter efforts WEI
N made to strengthen the union, whic
met with considerable success an
- then came the negotiations. The o.
u orators committee, whose personn
i remained about the same as in all q
c former negotiations, found anotht
n rev man leading the miners, John
d White
Three meetings between the ope
a. ators and a committee of the unic
'r miners were held in New York.
al the first the miners presented the
re demands; at the second conferen,
the demands we're refused and at Il
lie third session the miners made a rep
ID regretting the action of the coal col
ne panies. The operators in refusiI
le the wage increase declared that Il
le profits would not admit an advan
se without an increase in the price
m coal. They proposed another rene
ID al of the strike commission award f
q. three years, declaring that it hi
he worked satisfactorily and hi
Nv brought peace and prosperity to 4
ne region.
of One feature about a suspension tn
re year is that it would come for 4
n second time in year when Pre-
IA Dental election is to be held. Tt
sr. may have some influence in a sett
an ment if the tieup should continue
any length of time.
N. The anthracite mine workers
er their strikes have been aided by
Of law on the statute books of Penns.
an vania providing that mine worke
before they can become miners, tn
. is, men who actually cut or blast Co
must have miners certificates.
81 order to obtain these they must haI
" under the law, at least two years {
q perience in an anthracite mine. T
p law was enacted primarily to sat
, guard life and property and in tim
. OF strikes it operates against the il
y rortation of miners from other fiel
who have not worked in the ha
A coal fields.
" With the exception of a SIN
~ quantity in Colorado and New Ne