The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-08-10
BY B. X. GEBERT

THE miners of Illinois, in the re-
ferendum, by a overwhelming
majority defeated the agreement
signed by the coal operators and
officialdom of the U.M.W.A., which
provides for penalty for "impurity"
in the coal, which is to be forced
upon the miners by the sole wish
of the mine bosses in the form OF
fines to the point of firing from the
job. While there is supposed to
be a basic wage, $500 a day, the
miners very correctly interpreted
that because the tonnage will be
68 cents, hardly any miner will
make $500 a day. The wages OF the
many miners have been cut to $4.75
and for the boys up till $500, cut
ting down Is per cent on dead
work, etc.
The miners voted against the
agreement despite the mobilization
of all the forces at the disposal of
the coal operators and bureaucrats
of the U.MWA. radio speeches,
the use of churches, especially Rev.
J. w. R. Mcguire, capitalist press,
Republican party machinery, did
not help. And the miners voted
against the wage cuts in spite of
the fact that during the whole Pc
Rod of the lockout, no relief was
given to the miners and their fam
lilies as far as the district and in
ternational UMWA is concerned.
John Walker put in charge Of the
relief committee, the counter-reyo-
lutionary Trotzkyite, Jerry Allard,
whose policy was very simple-to
starve the miners so that they
would accept wage cuts. The Jerry
Allard Relief Committee is a COM
mittee of starvation. The Emmerson
Relief Commission cut off the re-
lief of the miners. In face of starry
alton the miners voted against the
starvation wages.
Tools of the Operators.
The line and policy of the Off
cialdom of the U. M. w. A, Lewis,
Walker, Nesbitt, ETC., is clear. They
are open tools of the coal operators
and the Republican administration
of the state to cut the wages of the
miners. But there are others who
appear on the scene, who are more
treacherous than Walker and Co.
Riding on the wave of the growing
revolutionization of the miners,
Jack Allen, Pat Ansbury and others
give lip service to the general de-
mandS of the miners and against
wage suits. They jump on a band
wagon against the wage-cuts in Or
der to keep the miners from follow
ing revolutionary leadership. There
fore, they want to take over the
leadership of the miners and lead
them into blind alley.
Strike Committees.
The task confronting the rank
and file membership of the UMWA
is the unity of ALL miners, en-
ployed and unemployed, against
wage cuts and for the relief of the
starving families. To carry this out
1T is necessary that in every mine a
broad united front strike commit
tee is to be elected. That strike to
be declared under the leadership
OF these strike committees. The
strike committees must embrace I'M
employed miners and joint strug-
giles to be carried on against wage
cuts and for relief by means of
mas picketing of the mines as there
is no doubt that John Walker and
the officialdom, together with the
state, will attempt to open the.
mines. To organize a hunger march
to the country governments, de-
relief and leading towards
a state hunger march. mn NNNN
In this situation the miners must
pss the situation yeFy plainly be-