The Arizona copper camp., 1918-06-08


Bisbee Local No. 106, International
Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Work
ers. which is branch of the American
Federation of Labor, which is the
union recognized as the legally consti-
tuted miners union by the miners in
almost every camp in the United
States The !. w WIS in their organ
iza@on worked secretly at first. but
later came out in the open. Pheir
membership grew until in the month
Of May 1917, their membership eX-
ceeded that of the International Mine,
1 Mill and Smelter Workers in that dis
trict. Having obtained majority of
membership. the 1. w. WIS tooK pos
session of the hall occupied by the
! legally constituted miners union and
/ the Warren District Trades assembly.
The Trades assembly was forced to va
cate the hall and took up other quar-
/ ters. The International Union of
Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers was
gradually absorbed by the |. w. w.
through it's branch known as the Metal
Mine Workers.
Unauthorized Strike Called
On June 26, 1917, the l. w. w.
| through it's branch organization made
the following demands of the mining
companies:
First-The abolition of the physical
examination.
Second-Two men 10 work on MAJ
| chimes
Third-Two men to work together in
all raises.
Fourth-To discontinue all blasting
! during the shift.
Fifth-The abolition of all bonus and
! contract work.
| SiXth-To abolish the sliding scale.
| All men underground minimum fiat
rate of $500 per shift. Top men, $3.50
per shift
| Seventh-No discrimination to Oe
shown against members of any organ
ization.
No answer was made by the COM
panieS and a strike was called that
night without a referendum vote being
taken. The first knowledge that the
miners had that strike had been
called was the appearance of pickets
as they were coming off shift. Three
days prior to the calling of the strike,
Charles F. Meyer, president of the In
ternational Mine, Mill and Smelter
Workers union, demanded the sur
render of the local charter on account
of the non-payment of dues. The sec
rotary attempted to sell the furniture
and lease of the miners union and a
committee of which the secretary of
the miners union was a member, in
terviewed the owner of the building to
that end. All of this was made poss1-
bic by the absorption of the member
ship OF the local Mine, Mill and Smell
ter Workers. union by the l. w. W.
branch union. The strike continued
until the morning of July IL. All of
the mines were practically closed and
the production of copper practically
stopped. On July LIST Tom j. White
and c. K. jacobson, both members of
the American Federation Of Labor,
sent to Charles H. Meyer, president of
that organization, the following tele-
gram:
ITO Chas. H. Meyer,
president Western Federation of
Miners, Denver, Colo.
"Will Western Federation or non
union men who continue work in Bis
bee be considered scabs or unfair.
tom ]. WHITE,
&c. X. JACOBSON"
To which Mr.. Meyer sent the follow
ing answer:
"1SO 70 81 10 Extra MI,
Denver, Colo, July 2, 1917
"To Tom w. White, G. X. Jacobson,
philadelphia Hotel, Bisbee, Ariz.:
"Men who continue to work in Bis
bee will not be considered scabs or
unfair by International Union of Mine,
Mill and Smelter Workers or American
Federation of Labor as strike was not
called by international union or any
bona fide organization OF labor
"CHAS. II. MOYER,
pres. Of l. w. of M. M. & I.
"1:06 p. M
Strike Was |. w. w. Affair
On July 18th the |. w. w. issued
circular, which among other things
contained the following:
"They are beaten and are making
their last squawk, trying TO get some
of our members to go back to work by
Friday saying that if anyone goes back
to work before then, he will not have
to. endure the despicable physical ex-
animation. But will not be fooled by
their miserable appeals for help We
will never have TO unoefgo the physi
cal examination again. When we go
back many of our other demands will
x
last song and dance-abOut the only
thing left for him to do will be to go
on vaudeville tour with Happy Hooli-
gan and the cZar of Russia.
Remember Jerome, Miami, Clifton,
Morenci and Butte are with us to a
man Our demands must be granted
at the same time as theirs Received
the following telegram from Miami:
All is we'll; picket line unbroken; not
an ounce of copper has come to surface
since strike was called. Wobblies
called before mediators this morning;
Bisbee boys will be protected. Victory
is in sight Tell the boys to hold fort
(Signed) STANLEY CLARK"
Author Of the above, Stanley j.
Clark, is one of the l. w. w. defend
ants who is nov being prosecuted in
Chicago by the federal government.
In another place in said circular the
following appears:
Remember we have the unlimited
backing of the entire |. w. w. Over
$4,000 harvest workers who have job
control of the great wheat harvest in
the middle west have sent us notice
that they will support us to a man.