The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-02-22
An t hraCite
Miners War
on Disnlissals
By GEORGE PAPCUN.


ened and crippled. It is not enough,
alone to ask question but we must
realize that at the present time our
union is being attacked in the anthra-
cite, that it is being weakened previous
to final onslaught by the operators.
We find that the officials whom we
miners of the anthracite pay are not
paying any attention to the four OUT
standing problems which face us.
Four Problems.
(1) The great unemployment.
(2) The introduction of machinery
which is displacing thousands Of our
brothers.
90 The contract system which Is
a detriment to our union and which
is bringing the standards of the min
ers lower and lower.
(4) The wage reductions which are
going on at the present time.
The coal operators are systematic
cally putting these things into effect
with the union officials of our tri-
district. At the present time the coal
operators are introducing machinery
and displacing thousands of our
brother miners without provisions be-
ing made for them and are driving
them out of the industry. Alongside
of this they are extending the con-
tract system and are forcing wage re-
ductions.
A Worthless Resolution
About all that the officialdom of
our union so far did was to meet on
February Ia and pass resolution
(which means nothing, in fact the res
olution which says as follows:
Whereas, due to the present de-
preston of the coal industry in the
anthracite fields, the various coal
companies have been working broken
time, some of the coal companies have
closed down a number of their coll
lieries while others are being operated
continuously. This practice has
caused suffering to the different To-
calities affected, especially to the
mine workers and to their families.
We believe this condition can be
remedied and if they choose the an
thracite operators can give an equal
division of time worked to each of
their several collieries, therefore
"Be it resolved by the tri-district
board of Districts Nos. 1, Z, and 8
hat we appoint a committee COM
posed of Rinaldo Cappellini, Andrew
Mattey and Chris J. Golden to meet
with the proper officials of the var
ous anthracite coal companies to go
over the present conditions with the
thought in view to find solution of
the present deplorable conditions ex-
isting in anthracite Districts Nos. 1,
7, and 9, and with respect to the in
equitable distribution of available
work, and
"Be it further resolved that we call
upon the Anthracite Cooperative As
ISOLATION to lend their aid to this
movement as it effects workers and
business alike"
This resolution is worthless. Aid
; for jobless miners will not be had by
cooperation with the operators but in
spite of them.
Officialdom Does Nothing.
The officialdom has been forced to
realize the tremendous unemployment
which is making the miners suffer
IN the anthracite but outside of crawl
ng before the coal operators, fooling
the miners and trying to keep them
quiet, it has done nothing to bring
relief to the thousands of miners who
are out of work.
The "Save the Union Movement"
thruout the tri-district must sound
the note of struggle and demand i'm
J Il. la ,4N%1
municipal authorities and also from
the industry itself, for the thousands
of miners unemployed. 1t must de-
mand that certain percentage of the
auge profits of the anthracite coal
operators be diverted for the use of
the miners who are suffering today
and who created these profits for the
coal operators.
We must point out the reason for
this unemployment and also the dan
ger that it brings to the union if the
miners are starved out--that is, the
attack by the coal operators on the
miners union as was done in the btu
minous fields.
Provision For Unemployed.
We also must demand absolute pro-
vision for the thousands of our broth
ers who are displaced by mechanical
Iloaders and other machinery intro.
duced in the mines. We must also
fight against the contract system
which is lowering our standard of liv-
ing and which is undermining our con.
ditions in the anthracite. We must
also demand the living up by the coal
operators to the agreement which n
now in force.
Clean Out Corruption.
We must not allow the situation ia
get any worse, and we cannot afford
to allow our officials to use the fifty
per cent unemployment Of the miners
in order to sell them to the different
political bosses who have demon.
strated thru the soft coal strike and