The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-10-17
Miners Face Danger
BY FRANK BORICH.
tsecretary of the National Miners UniOn)

(Secretary of the National Miners Union9
A NEW concentrated effort is being made to break
u the heroic miners strike. All the enemies of the
miners are united in this latest attempt All have
come out in the open The mask is thrown off The
mailed fist is evidence The government the operators
and the UMw-A. msleaders are determined to break
the strike, The miners strike has entered
phase.
The whole capitalist class and its Roosevelt gov
eminent looks upon the outcome of the miners strike
as decisive to the future development Of the labor
movement The NR.A has come out more openly than
for the open shop, This is to be not only in
the speeches OF Perkins McCrady johnson and Roose-
Welt but in the new check-of agreement that has
been worked out by the open shop operators with the
fun support of President Roosevelt This check-of is
complete recognition of the open shop This brings
climax the controversies that have ragged for weeks
the open shops as embodied in the various codes
especially the auto code with its merit clause Until
now the government tried to appear neutral hiding
behind the plea of interpretations of section la
Now the mask is off. The government openly sides
with the open shop operators, with the steel trust
The new arrangement calls for the operators agree
ing to check off the dues for those miners who ind-
vidually ask that it be done. The miners have the
right to ask that this deduction be made for one
or the other organizations The U.M.W.A. is not
even mentioned by name. What this means can be
seen from the fact that the employers have already
formed a number OF company unions.
TIE leaders of the UMWA are forcing the miners to
return to work. BY this act they give full approval
to the open shop. They more betray the strike
of nearly 100000 miners. They open up the way for
the smashing Of the entire organization built by the
miners These leaders, who their first allegiance
to the bosses and the bosses government caught
in their own net of contradictions Having no OBJ
jectons to organize the miners under their leader
ship they help to destroy this organization in the
interests of the Bosses They do this because they are
the tools of the bosses. Because they themselves be-
bxyt
exhibiting. Basing themselves on the MIRA with its
strike policy they have only one road in the face
CT the rising mitancy Of the miners AS to their
special economic interests they will have to be salts
Esd best they be through the conditional check
CT where it can be enforced in their interest.
The miners know Of the corruption of the Lewtses
and Murrays, the Fagans and Feeneys.' They know
that it difficult for the Farringtons to go over
Z IN one day from the payroll Of the U.M.W.A to the
payroll Of the Peabody Coal Company. Nor are we
naive to believe that Harrington was not on the
honor role of the Peabody Coal Company before the
climax of his career of treachery And it is not diff
cult to guess about the present top leaders
IN THE present concentrated attack we see that the
Ryans who until now, either because of game they
played to maintain the confidence of the miners or
because of the pressure of the miners opposed
the LeTises and Murrays called upon the miners to
fight, now entering the road of open betrayal What
else conclude from the limitation of pickeng
bnaG Will clearly result IN dividing the miners and lay
the basis for repetition of the 1922 betrayal2 Now
the miners know where they stand They can see
openly who they
At the same time the bosses building the COM
pany, unions. The government is threatening the with
drawal of relief to the miners. The government is
preparing to the brutal Ambridge terror against
the striking miners
But it will not be easy to defeat the miners.
The miners have great experience and tradition. The
miners have developed a great solidarity.
To defeat all their enemies the miners must be
clear about their tasks The central task to develop
central leadership of the miners themselves to lead
the strike 1t is necessary that sole reliance be placed
upon the militant rank and file representatives elected
by the miners themselves. Such rank and file COM
mittees should be elected extended in all mines 1t
is necessary to organize central leadership of the
strike independent Of the betrayers of the miners
Without such leadership the strike will be broken
by the bureaucrats.
1t is necessary to continue and strengthen mass
pickeng to force the authorities to give relief to
the miners This requires joint actions of the en-