The daily worker., 1926-05-08
THE THIRD PRIZE WINNER.
OWNERS VIOLATE
miner CONTRACT
AT VESTA NO. 4
Men Should Demand
a Square Deal
By zERo, Worker cOrrespondent.


DAISYToWN, Pa, May 6. - The
Vesta No. 4 mine is working under
the Jacksonville agreement, but it is
not helping the miners as the bosses
are aggressively violating the agree
ment. Why should they not do this
when they have the union officials to
sustain them in every decision they
hand down to the men who have man.
hood enough to demand that the
agreement be enforced.
The Art Of Weighing Coal.
The coal here is weighed on the So
called beam scale. Beam scales are
very old fashioned and are only good
at mines where coal is dumped slow,
but here it is dumped at the rate of
six wagons going over the scale
minute. The check boss has no time
% adjust the pea on the beam to Sc
cure proper weight Cat times he does
not want to adjust it). While he is
still sliding the pea across the beam
The wagon goes off the scale and it
means loss from two hundred
pounds to half a ton of coal to the
miner.
There are five or six kinds Of wag-
ons here that weigh, empty, from
$500 to 1890 pounds. 1t is impossible
to get the company to weigh them
empty and mark weight on each wa
gon so they are weighed and added up
and averaged.
At this mine we have the average
light weights, one is 3,700 and the 9TH
er is 4,SOO. When digger gets a wa
gon that is light, let us say 1900
pounds, in order to reach the required
average (S,700) he loads 800 pounds
before it will be registered for him.
Usually the wagons are divided in pro-
portion so as to give the digger the
short end Of the stick. When the
miners ask for uniform size wagon
the mine management tells them it is
impossible to get a uniform size. Good
reasons why it is impossible!
Miners Demands Rejected.
The miners at one time demanded
that so-called quick weight attach
ment be installed on the scales to in
sure against dishonest weigh bosses.
But the management refused to con-
slider such proposition altho It would
have only been a matter of $3.50 to
a scale of three hundred, for both
scales. This would bring more har-
mony and eliminate lots of grumbling
by the men, yet the management of
the mine from the highest official to
owest straw boss have enough cheek
to tell the men on every occasion that
'Our company treats it's men better
than any other company in Pennsyl-
vania."
The reason the company gets away
with all this is mainly that the union
officials have betrayed them, and
those who did have spunk enough to
take the case against the company,
were afterwards crucified and discrim-
mated against to such an extent that
they gave it up for fear Of losing their
jobs.
This is a wrong policy and the men
suffer because of 1t. The correct pol
icy is to fight, not to lay down. Go
to your local union and have the mem
bers take up the cases. If the pres
ent officers will not act recall them
and elect men who will tight for you.
Get all the progressive elements
together. Show them that it is their
union and not the local or district
officers union.
In this way we will again renew the
fighting spirit of the men working in
Vesta No. 4. It will bring better work
ing conditions, better the standard OF
living, insure US against the danger of
being fired at a boss whim and then
we will be treated as men who pro-
duce all the wealth derived by the
Vesta Coal company.