New-York tribune., 1922-11-03
Miners Urge
k]nionizatiorl to
IPrevent Strikes
suggestions of Committee,
Filed With u. s. Board,
! Lay Many Walk-Onts to
/ Arrogance of Officials
Condemn Thug System
Inquiry by Reporters ON
Daily Press Recommend.
ed in Exhaustive Report


WASHINGTON, Nov. 2.---Complete
tfnionszation OF the coal mining indus
try Is urged as solution for the coal
problem in communication from the
United Mine Workers Of America to
the United States Coal Commission,
made public tonight, The communi-
qstion is. aligned by Ellis Searles, editor
u @"The United Mine Workers Jour-
1aal"; John Moore, of Columbus, Ohio,
and Thomas Kennedy, OF Hazleton, Pa,
rHcmbers of a committee representing
tsie miners union, and is in response
70 the request of the Coal Commission
Tor suggestions as to the causes OF
strikes and how they may be avoided
7The committee says: Arrogance
9nd unfairness on the part of mine
bosses and other petty officials of ceal
companies are responsible for more
lpcal strikes than any other single
cause" The last two general strikes,
the committee says, were brought about
hy the refusal of coal operators to
enter into negotiations with the miners
for new wage and working agreements.
1t is suggested in the communication
that the coal commission employ q
number OF trained and competent news
paper reporters as investigators in
order to get the real facts in regard
TO the causes Of strikes and in regard
to conditions under which mine work
ers are employed.
Right to Strike Cherished
IN discussing strikes the communica-
tion urges the Federal commission to
seek to make strikes unnecessary but
not impossible" The miners, IL says,
do not propose that their right to
strike shall be abridged or taken from
them, for they know that with the right
10 strike abolished they would then be
entirely at the mercy of that class of
employers that look not at the human
side of the industry but have an eye
single to the dividends and profits that
their employees produce.
we believe more strikes In and
around coal mines are caused by the
conduct of mine superintendents, mine
bosses and other petty officials of min-.
ing companies than by any one other
thing. AS rule these smaller officials
are employed to get results, and they
undertake to get these results regard
less of methods or consequences.
Miners will tell you, we are sure, that
there would be practically no strikes in
the coal industry if they could but re-
celve talr tTeatmenI At tns nanuS Oh
these petty officials.
AIN the unionized fields of the coun-
try the mines work under the terms
and provisions Of wage agreement
between the coal companies and the
United Mine Workers of America. That
these agreements are fair in their
terms cannot be questioned, because
both parties signed them, and it would
not be consistent to say that either
side would sign an onerous or unfair
contract. No sooner is contract
signed than mine superintendents and
mine bosses begin making and apply
ing their interpretations of it. They
begin trying TO find where they can
compel the mine workers to do some
thing for nothing, and this arouses op-
position on the part of the men.
Petty Officials Called Arrogant
"It is unnecessary for US to go into
ell of the details of the troubles that
may be laid at the door of these ar
roeant petty officials Of coal companies,
but we are confident that when this
commission looks into the subject it
will find there one Of the most pro-
life causes of local and sporadic
strikes.
"Violations of contractual relations
between employer aud employee are
the cause OF many strikes in the coal
industry. We do not mean to say that
the miners always are blameless in this
regard.
"The two general strikes in the coal
industry that stand out in the mind
of the public, those of 1919 and 1922,
were directly due to the refusal of
the coal operators to negotiate new
wage agreements with theif employees.
When the wage contract between oper-
ators and the United Mine Workers of
America expired on November /, 1919,
no new agreement was made to take
it's place. Therefore the miners re-
fused longer to work unless they knew
what they were to receive for their
labor.
"A similar condition existed on
March 81, 1922. The operators re-
fused to meet with the United Mine
Workers of America, and as result
there was no new agreement, and
again the miners laid down their tools,
rather than continue to work without
any definite knowledge of what their
wages were TO be. However, we do
not anticipate that the operators will
ever again pursue this disastrous
policy. We expect that they will
meet with the miners in due time and
negotiate an agreement to take the
place of the recent contract, which
expires on March 81, 1928. Of course,
we cannot guarantee that they will do