Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-06-02
PROBLEMS OF COAL UNIONS
TOLD OF BY HASKIN
Daily Letter by Frederic j. Haskin

! BILE ever TO reach fair wage and
working agreements with the union
Some of these operators would hke
TO break away from any and all re-
lations witn the union, while others
! are willing to go ahead under con-
ditions that involve recognition OF
the union, although they do not
want TO see the n%on-union mines
brought into the union fold.
Non-union miners, being morgan
lied, have no spokesman. and 1t is
accordingly impossible to report
their views on the question. How
ever those of them who continued
at work when the strike was called
may be assumed to be glad TO have
a chance to work on the terms es-
| tablished by the independent oper-
ators, although it does not necessa-
rily follow that they are opposed to
the union.
With these divergent claims and
ideas emanating from the individuals
and interests directly and seltishly
involved in the coal controversy, the
attitude of the general public may
be said to be n of inquiry. First
of all, the public is concerned to
know what the ascertainable facts
in the problem may be, and then, 1t
would naturally follow, the public
will consider arguments and opin-
ions and arrive at it's own conclu-
sions.
What the Facts Are
At the outset it should be under
stood that the question Of u%nioniza-
ton affects essentially only the BIZ
luminous end of the coal industry.
All anthracite miners do not belong
to the union, but the union agree
ments and conditions prevail
throughout the anthracite field, as
was shown by the fact that there
was a complete cessation of anthra-
cite production when the strike or
der became effective on the first of
the month.
In the bituminous fields, however.
there are large independent areas in
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ken
lucky and Alabama. Prior to the
strike. union officials claimed that
the bituminous industry was so per
cent u%nionized, and those figures
are generally accepted by economists
and by government officials. Since
the strike, union organizers report
substantial progress in extending the
union in Pennsylvania independent
mines, but the a~nti-union operators
in West Virginia have gone into
court and secured ~injunctions re-
straining the union from taking any
and all steps toward establishing
locals there. Government experts es-
timated that the total production
of the independents in the strike
emergency might approximate 40
per cent OF the country's coal re-
quirements. or at least 1000 900 tons
a week.
1t is undoubtedly true that the
country could worry along on that
amount of coal. experimenting the
eserv stocks on hand April 1, for
quite a period, especially in the
spring and summer when fuel needs
are lightest. This is the basis of
the claim of the Independents that
they + able to come to the res
cue of the public because they have
persisted in fighting the union. .
AS against this the union officials
contend that the independents will
make the public pay dearly for this
coal, that the strike will be unduly
and unnecessarily prolonged by rea
son of the fact that all the mines
in the country cannot be closed
down and the issue between the OPP
orators and miners brought to an
immediate decision, and that while
independent mines may be a guar
antee to the public against an abso-
lutte coal famine they : also the
one big obstacle in the road to per-
manent peace in the coal industry.
Questions of Rights and Ethics
No one denies the right of miners
to join a union. AS President Hard
ing said in his message to congress
on December 6 last. THE right of
labor to organize is just as funda-
mental and necessary as is the right
OF capital to organize" Indepen-
dent local operators, however, and
some employers in other lines, insist
| that while the workers have a right
to join their unions. employers have
an equal right to refuse to hire
union members and to insist upon
the individual contract in which
each man agrees not to join the
union or do anything that might in
any way encourage or assist in the
| formation Of a union so long as he
continues In the eompany's employ
Union miners call these contracts