The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-06-22

burgh district who are fighting the
miners. That first point of Lewis
was capitalist in character.
Lewis has a second point in his pro-
gram, equally capitalistic. This is
that the industry shall be monopo-
lized, the "uneconomic" mines closed
down and 100000 surplus miners
driven out Of the industry. Now we
seem to be on the way also to have
this point accomplished. The recent
announcement by the Rockefeller in
terests that they will close down
many of their "uneconomic" mines
and turn loose into the surfeited la
Dor market the surplus miners from
the shutdown mines, is the beginning
of the acceptance of the second pro-
posal of John L. Lewis. In fact,
Rockefeller publicly thanks Lewis for
his assistance to the capitalists in
monopolizing the industry.
Who will profit by such a proce-
dure? Will the miners gain by it or
the coal operators? 1t does not re-
quire much analysis to show which.
What will happen in the Rockefeller
properties and in the other districts
where similar plans may be put into
effect? The operation of the "un-
economic" mines, so-called, constitutes
a sort Of division of work amongst
the great body of miners. What work
there is is spread over most of the
workers. But now the proposal is to
throw large numbers of these miners
into unemployment altogether and to
give the others relatively steady
work. The displaced miners will be
thrust into the great army of the I'M
employed, there to starve. They have
that alternative. Or, they may try to
stay in the industry and compete with
the workers who have jobs and in this
way serve as an industrial reserve
army to break down the conditions of
the miners as whole.
Lewis Is Bosses Man.
Lewis, instead of organizing the
unorganized miners and making a
fight to establish the hour day, 5
day week, and thus to re-absorb the
unemployed miners and to protect
their interests during the impending
reorganization and classification of
the coal industry, acts as an eff
cheney expert of the operators by Co
operating with them to close down
the uneconomic mines at the expense
of the miners. His policy sacrifices
the interests of the workers and pro-
tects those Of the capitalists. The
whole thing is an open shop proposal.
1T means more economy in produc-
ton, elimination of competitors, and
hence more profits for the employers.
1t means starvation for hundreds of
thousands of miners, the breakdown
of wage and working standards, and
the ruin of the u. M. w. A. 1t is
such policies as this, with the union
leaders acting as the agents of the
bosses, that are liquidating the
unions.
The socialist trade union leaders
are proving themselves as reactionary
as the old A. F. of L. leadership. In
fact they are often taking the lead in
the movement to the right, of surren-
der to the employers. The standards
of production Of Sidney Hillman were
among the first signs of real company
unionism in the American labor move
ment. 1t was the socialist trade union
leaders in the needle trades who in
tensified the struggle against the left
wing in the unions to the extent Of
splitting the organizations. In the
needle trades they are the champions
of piece work. of union manage