Norwich bulletin., 1920-04-28
Anthracite Miners Reject Counter Offer
Scale Committee is to Report
 Their Action to the Oper- ators Tonight-Ofer Did Not Grant the Closed Shop.

New York, April 27.-The general scale committee of the anthracite mine workers, at a meeting late today, re- jected the counter-offer of the operators covering their wage demands.
 The operators, it was learned, offered wage increases averaging approximately 15 per cent. but did not grant the closed shop or the universal eight hour day.
 The scalemen instructed their repre- sentatives to report their action to the operators at tomorrow nights meeting of the subcommittee appointed to negotiate the new agreement and make further ef- forts to get more favorable proposition.
 The miners committeeman, it was said, were unanimous in rejecting the offer.
 The operators offer of wage in crease averaging around Is per cent gives the miners about half as much as their modified demand relating to wages | asked. In this demands the miners asked an advance equal to the award recently givei the bituminous coal dig 'gers by the presidential coal commits sion, which amounted to approximately a | 30 per centfl increase foA the contract miner, and $1 day for the day workers. 1 The miners demand for a closed shop 1 contract and an ieght-hour day was also denied by the operators, as were a number of others of the seventeen de- l mands presented by the anthracite workers.
 The text of the written reply of the operators was withheld today by the subcommittee in charge of the negotia- | tions. They said that the counter offers could not be made public until after the meeting of the subcommittee sched- uled for ' o'clock tomorrow night.
 After receiving the operators answer at today's conference of the sub-com- mittee, an adjournment was taken and an executive session of the miners scale l committee was called in a downtown ho- | tel. At this time John L. Lewis, inter national president of the mine workers
 read the operators reply and explained i to the scalemen. Other miners repre- sentatives also addressed the men. Int committee then authorized their repre- sentatives to notify the operators tha
 their proposals were rejected.
 Mir Lewis tonight declined to make an! comment on the operators offer with thu
 statement that he was 'non-committal. District officials of the mine worker
 intimated, however, that a statemen
 would probably be issued tomorrow GOV
 ering the situation.
 Miners representatives said tonigh
 that Snould the operators stand on tnel
 counter offers as final, their next nov would be to call a tri-district convention of mine workers. The matter will b
 laid before the miners for final actior
 Upon the convention will rest the re
 sponsibility of whether strike shall b oI He'd.
 One of the proposals for the settlemen of the controversy already under consid eration is to "-->r-l ta President Wiso for the appointment of an arbitratio - commission siin,iar tO the one whic
 finally decided the bituminous worker' demands.
 7 Anthracite operators would make n ? comment tonight on their counter-offe " which was finally agreed upon at mee
 ing here yesterday which lasted through out the afternoon and until early tn . morning.