The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1919-10-17
MINERS DEMANDS
IS SIMPLE JUSTICE
Declares John |. Lewis, PreSi-
dent United Mine Work.
erS of America

workers have no desire to incon-
venience the public. halt industry
and create a stagnated business con
dition that would paralyze the ma
ton.
What the mine workers desire,
their demands being but an express
sion of their hope, is to secure for
their labor from the sale OF the
basic product of the nation, upon
which the wheels of all industry,
hinges, a sufficient wage to enable
themselves and families to win out
in the game of living decently dur
ing these extraordinary times Of
high prices.
Our demands Of today, drastic as
they may seem to those who have
not kept pace with the times and
progressed with the advanced
thought of the day, are based upon
the same fundamental principle
that first caused men to bind them
selves together in a trade union for
common purpose. And that, to
elevate themselves to a plane Of liv-
ing, embracing the blessings of an
advanced civilization that by every
reason should be theirs.
How is strike to be averted?"
Mr.. Lewis was asked, since the
operators have flatly stated that
the demands formulated will not be
acceded to-"
If the operators are determined
to force a strike" said Lewis,
then of course there will be moth
ing left for the miners to do ex-
cept to use their only economic
weapon. strike"
But" said Lewis, the public
should not condemn the miners for
executing their only alternative and
certainly not in advance of the &C
tual happening"
The public in general is not ia
miliar with mining, as they are
with other industries. The citizen
can pass the factory or workshop.
store or railroad properties and
there see the workers in action.
When an employee of any of these
industries make complaint, the
public has an understanding of
their employment. Not so with the
miner, who is employed hundreds
and thousands of feet underground
in the dark pits of the earth. Few
citizens who tread the surface un-
derstand the hazardous conditions
surrounding his occupation. Mr..
Lewis said:
THE whole situation may be
summed up briefly as follows: The
mners have never been paid an ade-
quate wage for their labor consist
ent with the wages paid in other in
dustries.
Isolated in remote sections,
their living costs have always been
considerably higher than that of the
workers in the thickly populated
cities and towns.
Miners have been prevented
from forcing the issue to secure an
adequate wage by the steady inflow
of immigration and the over-devel-
opment of coal fields, controlled by
the largest combinations of capital
in America in some instances.
During the war, when shipyard
workers, building trades workers,
and other lines of employees were
receiving weekly and monthly in
creases, the miners were held in
check by the Fuel Administration
from striking for increased pay,
thereby FORGETTING their opportunity
to secure an equitable wage such as
fell to the good fortune of other
tradesmen.
THE war is over. The miners
played their patriotic part in win
ming the war by breaking all pro-
duction records with reduced mine
forces. And now since these United
States have successfully passed
through the war period, they pro-
pose to secure the conditions of en-
ployment and wages to which they
are entitled.
But mind you, they will not
attempt to commercialize their war
have a voice in fixing wages and
working conditions. The industrial
autocrat maintains he must be the
sole arbiter of the destinies of those
who work. He fixes the wages TO
be paid and conditions of employ
ment for the workers. They must
accept them or quit.
Many "intellectuals" are regret
ting that the President did not ar
range for the appointment of repre-
sentatives to the conference of un-