The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-07-21
Close the Breach Made by
Lewis Treason!

the scab coal operators with their superinten-
dents and chief strike-breakers are pouring
through the breach in the fighting line of the
coal miners made by the REASONABLE action of
John L. Lewis and the policy committee of the
United Mine Workers Union last Wednesday,
The treacherous, crawling turnkey of the coal
operators who tries to sell himself to the oper-
ators at price based upon his continuing to
be president of the United Mine Workers." at
last openly called upon the mine workers to
make no further protest against the flooding
of scabs into the mines, thus accepting the open
shop; to make no further struggle for the
Jacksonville SCALE accepting any scab wages
the operators would give; to give up all idea of
a national agreement or any kind of national
solidarity, and hereafter to make only an empty
gesture toward agreements on separate district
bases "to permit any coal company or any mine
to employ all the men it may require" ETC.,
thus accepting the open-shop to make the sur
render complete.
This craven declaration of policy was, of
course, addressed as much to the coal operators
as to the mine workers. It was last bid to
the operators to take the whole situation into
their own hands, coupled with a slavish plea
that John L. Lewis and his bureaucracy be
allowed to function as administrators Of labor
discipline for the operators. In other words,
4ewis and his national bureaucracy aim
Through conspiracies with the operators in
each district to retain a sufficient hold to en-
able them to continue to draw salaries under
the benevolent liberation of the mine owners.
In relation to the mine workers, of course
this was merely the final admission of Lewis
and the bureaucratic shell of the United Mine
Workers Union that they had been strike
breaking throughout the entire struggle and
that all pretense of anything else was now dis
carded.
To operators, it was plea for permission to
be allowed to continue as their strike-breaker
Lewis theory of class collaboration all along
has been to the effect that union officials" are
he best strike-breakers; that coal capitalists
ian screw the mine workers down to greater
degree of exploitation with scab union headed
by such as Lewis, than without one. Lewis
calls it Cooperation between capital and labor"
meaning labor leaders
This was the nature of the policy commit
tees invitation to the operators.
But the operators answer is horse laugh
What the operators intend to do about it is
already shown by the statement of the Ohio
Coal Operators Associations
"The Ohio operators are not interested in the
action reported from indianapolis and will have no
further dealings with the United Mine Workers of
America Only last week the association, by
unanimous decision, reaffairmed the open-shop
policy.
Here we have the final outcome of the ALI
ance between Lewis, the American capitalist
class in general, and the coal capitalists as a
section. Their objective is plainly, as we have
always said, the Open-shOp. The open-shop
bosses can accept intermediate stages to the
open-shop, but as a whole they aim straight
for the absolute scab system Not even COM
pany unionism is acceptable to the coal opera
tors, except as a make-shift in particular in
stances Lewis, blinded by the petty views of
an improving bureaucracy, has offered his
brand of prostitution to the operators.
But the coal barons can now reject even
Lewis brand of semi-company-un But
they are not by any means entirely through
with using Lewis and the shell that is called the
United Mine Workers Union. The mine work
ers still have some big fighting to do against
this gang Of traitors, which is trying to claim
the field so as to prevent the organization of
the new Mine Workers Union.
She honest and militant coal miners must
/ leave an hour unused to reach the mine
lrkers who still remain within Lewis organi-
hon, to convince the local unions and sub
Etricts and districts to discard che corpse of
Jews organization and to join in the new Min
IRIS Union which is building.
Miners The breach made in your line by
evils treachery must be filled by organizing
he nsw Mine Workers Union.