The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-02-10
Both Miners and Needle Trades Workers
Are Facing the Same Enemy

the benefits achieved thru organiza-
ton, stand ready to continue the
struggle until the union is freed from
the control Of the bosses.
Altho the circumstances in the
miners struggle are somewhat diff
ferent, the plight in which the work.
ers find themselves at present can be
traced directly to the same source as
that of the needle trade workers.
The Struggle of the Miners.
The United Mine Workers but a
short time ago was one of the most
powerful and militant unions.
The militancy of the rank and file
of the miners did not chime in with
the plans of the Lewises or the
Greens. 1t interfered with their
policies of class collaboration. 1t fos-
tered a spirit of hatred toward the
coal barons. Therefore the Lewis
machine in systematic manner un-
dertook the struggle against the mill
tant workers of the union.
Simultaneous with the struggle
waged against the workers in his
union, Lewis adopted an ever more
compromising policy toward the
bosses. Time and again the Lewis
administration betrayed the workers
in the unorganized fields. After the
latter had responded to strike calls,
Lewis made settlements in the union
fields leaving the workers in the I'M
organized fields to return to the
mines beaten, demoralized and at the
mercy of the bosses.
Officials Responsible.
1t was these treacheries of the
union officials that made possible the
attack of the bosses on the mine
workers. For 10 months thousands
of workers have been on strike, fight
ing most heroically against an or
ganized regime Of terror in the coal
fields in spite of the demoralizing in
fluence of the Lewis machine that
made every attempt to stifle the re-
volt of the workers; fighting injunc-
tons; fighting the coal and iron
police; fighting prosecutions; suffer-
ing evictions from their homes during
the bitter winter months; suffering
cold and hunger.
While the workers are fighting so
heroically against all odds for the
preservation of their union, the
Lewises, the Greens and the Wolls
have not only failed to mobilize the
labor movement in support of the
miners, but have even officially out
lawed relief work fc. the striking
miners for many months, contenting
themselves with sending appeals to
President Coolidge, the representa-
tive of Wall Street, to intervene in
the strike.
Challenge to All Labor.
The strike of the mine workers is
challenge not only to the Miners
| Union, but to the entire trade union
movement of this country. The open
shop interests have chosen the
Miners Union as their first target for
attack because it represented the best
and most militant Of the American
trade unions. They knew that a de-
feat of the miners will pave the way
for an attack on the other unions and
will spell the humiliation of trade
unionism in this country.
| What has the officials of the Amer
lean Federation of Labor, the Greens,
Matthew Wolls, the Lewises, who are
drawing their high salaries all along
while the miners are literally dying
of starvation, done to meet the crisis
now facing the labor movement? ?
What have they done to mobilize the
hundreds Of thousands Of workers to
save their unions from destruction?
While the miners were on strike
facing the most brutal combination of