The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-10-07

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For years Butte's miners were organized.
They were allied with the Western Fed
GRAFTON of Miners. of which Meyer was
the chieftain. Employers hereabouts
were hostile 10 the unions and were not
displeased when in 1914, due to differ
ences with the aforesaid Meyer who was
conducting a strike in another mining
region and extracting several thousands
of dollars a month, in fact assessments
as high as SO a month per man from
Butte pay envelopes, the workers looked
askance at this drain and gradually re
volted.
/. w. w. Worse Than Union.
Naturally there was glee when the
miners union went 10 pieceS-the com
panies quietly encouraged il all. But
] what has happened since 1914? On the
heels of the other leads came something
worse-the L. w. W.'s--and they found
| this a fertile district for their eNploita-
| tons. With the l. w. w. came a Social
| list mayor and for time Butte was in
| the hands of the most radical elements
in America. They proceeded on the
suit their whims. Compared to the J..
| w VS. the old union was tame affair.
But gradually in the last two years the
| /. w. W.'s have been driven out. The
| miners have developed leaders who are
conservative and far-seeing. They have
| conferred with representatives of the
| mining companies and both sides have
| agreed that a state of disorganizatIon
| is fraught with the danger not only 10
/ the employers but more particularly TO
| the miners who become victimized and
| terrorized.
| Even that is not all. The companies
are running their mines at only 60 per
| S475 per day, but can get no response
| from other parts of the country. They
/ have heard. however. that many miners
who drifted away and took their families
with them when the l. w. w. troubles
began would be glad TO come back if
they could be assured of protection
against the radicals.
Must Have Organization.
What they have learned in Butte is
that if you crush all organizations or II
YOU attempt to control a labor organiZa
ton you open field for worse trouble
with the radical agitators. The new
union here is to be called the Butte dis
trict independent miners union. The
leaders say they will not affiliate with
Meyers Western Federation of Miners
because that means outside dictation. II
is true that there are various other crafts
well organized here and affiliated di-
rectly with the American Federation of
Labor, so the opposition is not aimed al
the American Federation of Labor so
much as it is against the Western Fed
era ton of Miners. and il is because of
their experience with the latter that the
miners prefer TO function as an indie
pendent unit. Naturally the operators
are not displeased over this development
! and will do all they can TO encourage it.
The two viewpoints-that of employer
and miner-are best illustrated by the
speeches made by the joint conference
between the committees representing
miners and operatorS
You say you want the operators to
| take you in good faith" said James Hob
/ bins, assistant to the president of the
, Anaconda Copper Co. 1--WE want to do
| that. We, as well as you men, need and
want an honest, clean labor organiza-
| ton. Either YOU must have a union for
honest cooperation or else you will
| have union that makes for trouble
strikes and all its attending ills. The
sooner we know your objects. the sooner
we can arrive at definite understand
| ing"
In reply to this J. T. Martin, spokes-
man of the miners said:
| Most of the men in this new union
| are property owners. We own our own
| homes and one of the reasons for this
organization is that we hope to stabil-
| iZe conditions. We do not want to work
! for Il month and then have gang of
| fioaters call strike and have men yell
| 'Scab' at us.
| Il contend we have the right to orr
| ganize. We have demands to make of
| the companies. but | believe I am vote
ing the sentiments of our members when
| say that we expect to give and take.
We want to get away from conditions
/ where our little home is worth face value
| today and nearly worthless the next day.
| / have been working in the Butte mines
y years and | am striving for an or
| ganiation that will crush wOhblyiSm
| term used here to designate I. w. WIS
| doctrine(, also the high hand methods
/ of the business profiteer.
Preparing Constitution.
The new independent union. which is
! drawing up a constitution and bylaws
| To be submitted to d mass meeting of all
| the miners in a week or two, differs
| materially from the sO-called company
unions III that the members do not
| work for one company but for all the
| companies in this district 1t is really
! a regional union, and independent of any
outside OrganZa ton and free from EN-
ployer control lit satisfies all the ne
cessities of collective bargaining and
gives the workers a direct medium of
communication through which grievances
and disputes may be handled
In their eagerness to get a union or
| ganiZation started to act as Il permanent
bulwark against the |. w. WIS the com
panies here even offered to bear the ex-
penses so as to make it unnecessary to
pay dues. This the new union completely
declined. as they said it might be mis-
construed generally as an obligation.
They wanted to be independents
wanted no strings to embarrass them.
Talking with disinterested persons
here one finds genuine enthusiasm over
what is being done. For it means more
miners and better work done by those
who are already on the job 1t means
the beginning of the end of strikes, acts
of violence and the reign of terror which
has crippled this district for years
The miners have grown tired of being
called out on strike at the within of alb
sentee leaders. They want continuous