The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-04-25
Glen ALDEN sTR1KE

GLEN ALDEN STRIKE
THE Grievance Committee of the Glen Alden
Mines, headed by the fake progressYes. Ma
loney, Tonlichak and Davis, has decided to call
off the strike of $4,000 miners and turn the adj
justment of the miners grievances over into the
hands of the Lewis Boylan sellout leadership
What the attitude of the Lewis clique will be
in the negotiations with the coal operators is
obvious Lewis and company openly opposed the
strike as unjustified, and as dI5henor to the
M. w A. Yes, it was q t;shcnor to the U. M.
w. A. officials. who were disllonored because
they could not keep their pledge to the mine
operators to prevent strikes,
Lewis and Boylan could not prevent the strike
because the miners can no longer stand the star
walton conditions imposed upon them. The fake
five and half year anthracite agreement was
already In itself betrayal of the interests Of
the miners. But now it has become clear that
the anthracite agreement which was hailed by
Lewis and all the A. F. of l., bureaucrass as a
great victory for the policies of class peace, car
ried WITH it also the secret understanding be-
tween the coal operators and the U. NJ w. A.
officials that they will help carry through the
attacks on the miners standards. That they
will prevent any strikes against the attempts
of the operators to cut the earnings of the
miners. That they will break every strike that
the miners will undertake despite the takers
attempts to prevent them
Conditions That Led to Strike.
What were the conditions of the miners that
led to the strike Of $4,000 miners of Glen Alden
mines? Wages had been reduced by more than
half. The miners were not being paid for any
dead work, they did not have their supplies de-
hvered, the hours Of labor were heightened
every advantage was taken to increase the tasks
of the miners and at the same time lower their
earnings. Under these conditions it was not rare
to find miners working for two weeks and then
find themselves in debt to the company for sup
plies at the end, having mined mostly rock for
which, they received no pay 1t is at the same
time difficult to find miners making $40 per
week after the most ardous labor of ten and
even 16 hours per day.
When it became clear that the Lewis machine
could not prevent the strike, the operators relied
on their second line of defense, upon the Glen
Alden Grievance Committee, to break the strike.
The Grievance Committee after making every
effort to stop the strike, undertook ito head it
in order to behead it.
While Lewis and Boylan we're attacking the
strike an outlaw strike these gentlemen Of the
Grievance Committee made fiery speeches
against Lewis and at the same time carried out
the Lewis policy Of denorazing the miners.
They did nothing to organize the strike. They
carried through no mass picketng, they did
everything possible to prevent the individual
mines from joining the strike, though they had
sanctioned the strike which was in reality
called" by the miners themselves by striking.
They Immediately entered into negotiations with
Boylan, Murray. Kennedy and company while
they held closed meetings barring the miners.
But the miners militancy was more than they
had expected. 1t was necessary for them to
carry through many maneuvers before they dared
to betray the miners openly and call off the
strike and turn the fate OF the miners into the
hands of the coal operators and their agents,
the Lewis -Boylan leadership of the U. M. W. A.
Takers Dressed Up Differently.
They did all this because they are no better
than Lewis Boylan-Mrrray and Kennedy. They
are merely allowed to dress and speak differently
by the coal operators so that they can betray
the miners where Lewis would fail because he
has already exposed himself too much before the
miners Most of the members of the Grievance
Committee are picked men of the Glen Alden
Coal Company They are the leading spirits in
the Opposition" to the Boylan leadership in
the coming anthracite elections in District to
be held in June 1t Is to the interests Of the coal
operators to have these gentlemen play the "op-
position In order to stop the miners from TAX
ing things in their own hands-from rallying to
nff ir nft tive