The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-04-02
Background of the Coal Miners Struggle

strike relief+ and invigorating propa-
ganda to stimulate the spirit of the
strikers.
(b) Drawing of Illinois, Kansas
and Indiana into the strike on April
LIST. These districts were signed up
separately by the Lewis machine sew
eral months ago. The effect was
simply to betray the Pennsylvania
Ohio strikers and to give the opera
tors in these districts chance to ex-
plot the winter market. With tenn
porary agreements expiring on the
Kst of April, these districts are con-
fronting demands of the operators for
the liquidation of the Jacksonville
scale The Lewis machine pulled these
districts odt of the strike; the left
wing proposes to pull them in again.
The effect of their coming into the
strike afresh will give tremendous
impetus to it and do enormous injury
to the prestige of the Lewis machine.
(c) Drawing in the unorganized
Fundamentally necessary to
winning the strike in Pennsylvania
and Ohio is to draw in the vast ar
mics of unorganized miners of Penn
sylvania and West Virginia. Lewis
makes no effort in this direction. The
have no confidence in the
Lewis machine; the Save the Union
Committee" has the confidence Of
these strikers and is now making
strenuous efforts to mobilize them
for the struggle. Thus, the very
heart of the problem of the union,
the organization of the I'M
is beng Systematically at
tackled.
(d) Drawing in the anthracite min
ers. Reversing the wrong policy of
the Lewis machine in separating the
from the bituminous min
ers, the Save the Union Committee is
now working to join them up with the
miners.
The anthracite miners confronted
with heavy unemployment, speed-up
system, and betrayed by their Off
Gals, face the destruction of their or
ganization unless they, too, join
forces with the bituminous miners.
These four points in brief: (a) I'M
mediate strengthening of the Pitts
burgh- Ohio strike; (b) Drawing in
the signed up districts; (c) Drawing
in the unorganized; (d) Drawing in
miners constitute the main
factors of the strike strategy of the
opposition.
To mobilize the full forces of the
and unorganized miners to
put this general strategy into effect,
the National Save the Union Commit
tee has called an open conference of
miners, official representatives of
their locals, to be held in Pittsburgh
on April LIST, as Labor Unity comes
from the press. This conference has
been preceded by the holding of rank
and file conferences in all the princi-
pal districts of Pennsylvania, Ohio,
West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Kan
sas, etc.
Bituminous Miners.
Especially marked is the upheaval
the bituminous miners. In
the anthracite districts where there
has been no strike and where the
union crisis is not so evident to the
the upheaval is also develop
ing, but the tempo at present is not
quite so fast as in the bituminous
sections. The mass district confer
ences, with the representative delega-
lions of $50 to 300 each, were verita-
Bile outpourings of the rank and file
in revolt against the Lewis machine.
They were held openly notwithstand-
ing threats from the misleaders of the
union. They Indicate, especially in
the bituminous sections, tremendous
lpheaval of the rank and file miners
against the men who have, under the