The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-12
ROBBING
THE MINERS
By ED FALKOWSKI.

JODS,
SEES were hired to look to the loading
of cars from running chutes, and keep
time records of the workers in their
gangway.
A new" system of checking up on
workers has been installed by the 2.
& r. c. & |. Co. by means of which
it is hoped to keep the miner at his
work for the full 8-hour day. Many
times before similar efforts have
aroused the miners dissatisfaction;
now it is being tried again, and prob
! ably foredoomed to failure as before.
Stealing Miners Gains.
Efforts to hold the miner under
ground for s hours at time when
hard coal begs for markets can be
explained only as another effort to
increase the efficiency of hard coal
production by stealing away from the
miner the handful of privileges he lit
orally tore out of the grasping fists
of stubborn corporation. "Effici-
ency" is only mask under which the
ancient slaveries return to saddle on
the worker the deplorable conditions
against which he fought bitterly dur
ing the entire period Of his organiza-
ton.
Whether the union will cooperate
with this coming slavery, or whether
1t will challenge the mechanization
of its members is to be seen. Anthra-
cite miners have always been stub
born in resisting all forms of slavery,
The union has up to this time chung
to fighting policy, challenging the
companies at every step. Grievance
committees are on the alert to guard
against drastic changes in methods
of work, and rates of pay. But in
spite of these fences efficiency comes
as a new, insidious force threatening
to wreck the conditions gained in the
industry, as well as to squeeze out
thousands who are now employed in
the production of hard coal.
Pay Cut; Time Extended.
Timber men set the legs and col
lars of timber which prop up gang
ways to prevent the roof of rock from
falling, or the sides from pushing in.
Timber forms the miners protection
against falling objects which cause
most of the fatalities in hard coai.
These men are paid a definite rate
for "set" which consists of two legs
and a crosspiece or collar" which is
set on top of the legs, spanning the
width of the gangway.
The rate on timbering is usually
between five and six dollars for a
set. AS three men form a timbering
gang, at least four sets must be put
up if each man is to earn reason
able" shift. 1t had been the custom
for years to collect an extra allow
ance for hauling timber whichever it
was necessary to drag 1t up long man.
ways to the place where it was need
ed. This allowance for hauling tim
Der has In many collieries been taker
off, with the result that the timbe.
must often be dragged three hundred
feet up stepplCched chute, anu
nothing received for it.
Noise Makes Men Deaf.
Stricter rules operate in the break
er which is great hulking mons
frosty of sheet iron and wood filled
with whirling machinery. The coal
IS here ground, and numbers of small
boys and humpbacked men lean over
chutes all day long picking rock out
OF the coal as it slides on its way 10
immense pockets, thence to railroad
IpLyi lott . IL
otonous and one of the lowest paid
jobs in the field. Not only do the
pickers soak in the coal dust which
often saturates the air for hours at
a stretch, but the noise of the ma
chinery makes many of them deaf
Seldom day passes but rope
snaps, or an axle gets hot, or a Jig
gets clogged with slate, causing a
pause in operation. This is the only
rest most slate-pickers get in the
course of days work. Yet some
companies are making efforts to com
pei the breakers to operate without
stopping for lunch if the breaker
'stops for fifteen minutes at any time
during the morning. Since the din
her hour is thirty minutes long, we
see the breakerboys sacrificing fiji
teen minutes to the company.
Unions Must Fight Move.
This is an effort to restore the old
scheme of things which once reigned
here. Once upon Tina if the break
er stopped for any length of time for
|
to make up for time lost and no one
got paid for the extra time. The
union eliminated these practices, and
plainly the time is approaching when
the union must step into the situa-
zion, once again, and demand the
workers right to his lunch, and the
right not to be penalized for acct
dents that occurr to machinery for
which he cannot be held responsible.