The labor standard., 1922-02-15
INDIANAPOLIS-The


 agreement must be submitted to a referendum vote to the district affected.
 The committee also declared for ad- justment of unequal differentials' which would result in small increases in various fields.
 Other recommendations we're that all new agreements be based upon an eight-hour. day underground with time and one-half for overtime and for Sundays and holidays; that week ly pay days be instituted; that the Fpractice of lining miners for certain breaches of contracts be eliminated and that the soft coal wage agree ment sbe made for two years extend ing from April 1, next.
 l The committee also recommended that the convention ratify the de- nnands of the anthracite miners for a T 20 per cent. increase in tonnage rate and a one-dollar day increase for day men.
 Report of the Scale Committee
 The report of the scale committee follows:
 eve, your scale committee, to whom has been delegated the duty of draft ing proposed wage scale, herewith submit for your consideration and acceptance the following report:
 "1-We recommend that this fe- port be accepted as a substitute for all wage resolutions that have been presented to the convention.
 's2-We hold that the mine workers employed in and around the coal mines of the American continent are entitled to receive as compensation for labor performed an annual income sufficient to maintain themselves and their families decently, comfortably and in accordance with the American stand ard of living. The dictates of human l ity, public interest and public welfare I demand this be made the preferred claims upon the industry. The pres ent annual earnings of the coal mine workers of America are inadequate; much below decent living wage, con- sequently reduction in mining prices would result in lower living stand ard among all mine workers and pow erty, suffering and degradation in many mining localities throughout the land.
 "We do not believe the public asks that it's fuel needs be supplied at the expense of a degraded citizenship, accompanied by human misery, star vation and want, superinduced by in-, | those who mine coal. The cost in sac rifice and human Wretchedness is too great.
 '.We, therefore, declare, in the most emphatic manner our opposition to any reduction in mining prices and in sist that the present basic wage schedule be maintained. 2- "We recommend that negotiable differentials within and between dis tricts, unfair working conditions and internal differences, wherever exist factory basis and the joint conference in the respective districts be empow cred to make such adjustments.
 For Real 8-Hour Day
 "3-Mining is a hazardous occupa-: ] tion. Men engaged in underground toil work under conditions carrying with it an intense nervous strain, superinduced by the constant and countless injuries and fatalities which occur, and under atmospheric condi- tions which sap their vitality and make them victims of occupational diseases. "The present eight-hour day is merely theoretical, and mine workers are compelled to spend greatly in ex- cess of eight hours in the mines. We hold that eight hours out of twenty four is the maximum of time any mine worker should be required to spend under ground
 "We, therefore, recommend that all new agreements be based upon the eight-hour day under ground.
 "4-Where emergencies require such service, overtime shall be paid for at the rate of time and one-half, with double time for all work done on Sundays and legal holidays. ! "5-We recommend that the mine workers representatives put forth their best efforts to secure clause in the next agreement providing for the weekly pay.
 "6-Because of the abuses to which it has been subjected, we recommend that the automatic penalty clause be eliminated from the wage agreements.
 That this convention go on rec ord as favoring the ratification of the wage demands made by the anthra- cite miners in their tri-district con- vention, which was held in Shamokin, Pa., from January IT to 20, 1922, in- elusive and that we pledge to the an- influence in aiding them to the fulfill ment of their demands.
 r8-We recommend that the next wage scale cover a period of two years, beginning April 1, 1922, and ending March 31, 1924"
 Policy J
 On March 31, 1920, the coal opera i tors of western Pennsylvania, Ohio, 1 Indiana and Illinois which states and districts comprise the central competi- tive field, agreed to the following pro- vision:
 Resolved, that an interstate joint conference be held prior to April 1, l 1922, the time and place of holding such meeting is referred to com mittee of two operators and two mi