The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-04-01

It will be recalled by the miners
wood, w. Va, which is across the rive
In this explosion III miners lost their
lives.
This mine had been union mine
but after the 1922 strike it, Ike many
other mines owned by the Wheeling
Steel corporation, refused to sign the
Jacksonville agreement. In spite of
the fact that the Jacksonville agree,
ment took from the men many Of
their rights, they decided that in W.
Va. the time was ripe to take all the
rights away from the miners.
III Paid With Lives.
Soon after the mine opened this
terrible explosion took place taking
the lives of the lit miners who were
foolish enough to work in the scah
mine when they knew that there is
less safety for them in scaD mine
than in a union mine.
II was reported at the time Of the
explosion that one of the IRE boss.
es was Matthew v. HERON, who
worked in the mine under the name
of ]. j. Boyle. This man turned
out to be a department Of justice
agent, who was probably working
in the mine In order to spy on the
workers who were interested IN
having the mine organized.
The company denied this man was
fire boss, saying he was timber
man, altho they did not explain why
a d. of ]. man was working in the
mine.
After the explosion, it was brought
to the attention of the union officials
in Sub-District Five that the company
wanted to use union coal miners for
rescue work. The union officers said
that in view of the fact that such
terrible disaster took place, 1t would
permit the union men to do rescue
work.
ANY one who knows the least BIT
about the manner of organizing work
ers knows that the only way in which
to organize workers is to have men
work with them, and to build up an
organization.
Organizing officials.
The mine owners only believe in
collective bargaining when they can
mot destroy the union. Yet what die
the officials Of the union do? Instead
of sending union organizers to try and
get Jobs in the mine and win the con
lfidence of the men, and thru that mos
effective manner organize the men
they wrote a letter to the officers Of
the Wheeling Steel corporation which
owned the Benwood mine and asked
for a conference to discuss the mat
ter of the Benwood mine again be
coming a union mine. The company
: never replied to this letter. They
could not have been expected to. The
only time they listen to representa-
tives of workers is when the work
+. ers who are represented are wei
enough organized to compel the boss
es to come to terms.
The militants in the miners unioT
do not approve of the correspondence
school method of organizing the Goa
mines. The miners union was MOI
built in that manner when the min
ers' union was first organized. It wai
organized thru organizers who hat
. the courage to face the sluggers ant
gunner of the companies in order t.
reach the men and organize them.
One needs but to go back to the
days when Mother Jones was active
: organizing for the miners union. The
history of the miners union is filled
with glorious struggles of the miners
. to organize themselves. While the
workers in Fayette county, Pennsyl
vania, were living in tents as were
the workers in w. Va. and Other
places, the officials OF the union try
to organize the correspondence.
To-day the bosses are planning
wage cuts against the miners. Ii
every important state where they
have no state police they are cam
paining for them. They are preparing
not only to starve the workers int
, submission, but to shoot them into
accepting the 1917 scale.
The miners are demanding the or
ganization of the unorganized ccS
fields. But the coal fields will only
be organized by militant miners or
ganizers, who will not stay in thu
: best hotels and fraternize with the
bosses, but who will go among the
miners themselves, win their conf
dence, by proving to the miners thai
they too are willing to make sacri
fees for the union.