The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-03-30
OHIO OPERATOR
CREW MEETS TO
CUT COAL WAGE
Union Fights to Have
Scab Field Organized
Rv ]. SMITH.
Especial to The Daily Worker)


5ELLAIRE, Ohio, March 2s-The
coal operators in this district are call
ing a meeting to attempt to adjust the
1924 wage scale and effect reduction
in wages, claiming that the miners
will be able to compete with the non
union field in West Virginia.
The miners here are in starvation,
they have not been working for many
months, while many around here have
been doing very little for quite a
few years. The miners across the
river in West Virginia, altho working
more are practically as bad off as the
miners in the Ohio side of the valley.
Cut Throat Competition.
The nonunion miners work three and
four days per week, but when pay
day comes they find themselves most
ly in debt to the coal company.
There is no demand for coal, on this
side of the river, and very little on
the West Virginia side. The miners
realize that to accept reduction in
wages would not increase the market
demand.
The attempt to reduce the wages
would only result in the worsening of
the already too low wage rate, and
conditions, in both sides of the river.
Only a certain amount of coal can be
consumed, and the production is
already far over the demands. No
matter If the coal miners were work
ing for fifty per cent less, that would
not increase the market demands, as
nobody buys coal that does not need
it.
Pooling Nobody.
Should the miners accept a reduc-
ton in this field, the nonunion op-
orators would Immediately reduce the
miners wages in the nonunion field,
and campaign of wage cutting COM
mence between the miners themselves
that would practically destroy all
union labor.
At time when there is no market,
the operators are attempting to fool
the miners, by telling them that if
they do not accept a reduction, the
coal business in the Ohio valley will
be ruined and they will have to look
for new homes. An intensive drive is
being made to have the miners join
with operators, to ask Lewis to adjust
the wage scale to save their industry.
They state that should Lewis refuse
to grant a reduction in wages, they
will appeal direct to the men, for the
reduction and attempt to put it in
force.
Fight Against the Plan.
The miners in this valley are de-
termined that no reduction will be &C
cepted. They point out, that the min
ers' officials themselves are much to
blame for the conditions in the field
by not making a strenuous organizing
campaign Of the nonunion men.
The remedy for the situation is or
ganization of the unorganized, but we
do not expect to have Lewis start
any campaign of this character. Lewis
has had the opportunity to do this for
long time but up to the present
time has failed. The miners in West
Virginia want the United Mine Work
ers of American, but even those non
union men themselves laugh, when
you mention Lewis as organizer.
Many of them state that this field will
never be organized under Lewis, as
they state that Lewis is more concern
ed with the company's profit than the
miners welfare.
At many of our local union meet
ings, resolutions have been adopted
demanding an intensive organizing
campaign, but our demands have fall
len on deaf ears.
No aid can come thru wage reduc-
tions so we demand that the union get
busy at once, and organize the min
ers in West Virginia, and save the
United Mine Workers of America.
We also demand that a campaign
for naturalization of the mines, with
workers control start Immediately, in
line with the demands of the miners
at our late conventions.