The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-09-14
Miners Keep Ranks
Solid in Face of
Rigid Martial Law
Two B a bies Born in
Strike Camp; Relief Is
Badly Needed

GALLUP, N. Mex, Sept 19.-
Maintaining their ranks as. solid
as the day they walked out, 1000
miners of Gallup are still striking
in the face of tremendous difficult
! ties.
Rigid martial law has served
merely to consolidate their forces
and strengthen their determination
to win. Attempts to stifle the
entire strike apparatus, as well as
the union have been defeated.
Under martial law it was de-
creed that only persons could
lawfully assemble at one time.
Temporarily the unions leading
committees were not able to meet
Z because of this restriction. Mass
meetings were prohibited. Every
cl annel of communication with the
stsikers was stifled. Harrassed by
fear, doubt and subject to the ly-
ing propaganda of the local press,
faced with deportation threats, the
miners have managed to maintain
their ranks solid.
Through the pressure of the
mass committee, by securing the
support of ether labor unions in
this vicinity, such as the Railroad
Brotherhoods of Las Cruces, the
Central Labor Council of ALDER
querque, the miners were able to
force permission to hold union
meetings, of executive bodies as
well as local unions. All these
are held, however under military
surveillance. The Sub-District Ex-
ecutive Board meets with five
menacing troopers in its midst. We
have been able to force the open
sing of our union office daily for
the transaction of union affairs.
A committee of Is, elected by
the miners to go to Santa Fe to
see Governor Seligman and de-
mand a conference with him, left
Gallup last Wednesday morning.
En- route to Santa Fe, they sche-
duled mass meetings for the re-
turn trip. In Albuquerque, Rob-
ert Heath LaFollette, prominent
attorney of this city, and Mr..
Shingledecker, president of the
Central Labor Council, spoke in
defense of the strikers. Through
out pouring rain, 200 men and
/ women listened to the speakers.
J Twenty dollars was collected for
the relief fund. Mayor Tingley
who had promised to speak, did
not appear. Later it was re-
ported that the Gallup Chamber of
Commerce had wired ahead to Al
berquerque and threatened him if
he did speak. The mayor was ap-
parently persuaded not to appear.
At the conference with the gov
ernor, which laster five hours, the
. miners demanded the immediate
removal of the troops on the
grounds that they were not needed,
because there had been no violence
and none was contemplated, that
they were being used by the OPP
orators to smash the strike. The
committee pointed out that guards
men were going to the homes of
the strikers and telling them they
eould go to work and that the
troops would give them "protec-
/. tion," thus intimidating the min
ors. They told the governor that
although peaceful picketing was
assured them by himself and Cen
eral Woods, they are not permitted
to picket on Federal Highway.
Labor Commissioner Ralph L.
Davey was present at the con-
ference. He is an agent of the
operators and a strike breaker.
Mr.. Grubbs, representative Of
the National Labor Board of the
MIRA was also called in by the
Governor to be present at the |
meeting with the committee. He
urged the strikers to go back to
work and settle their differences
afterward. He told them that the
code would take care Of them. He
was informed that they could not
go to the butcher shop and tell the
butcher to wait for payment until
the code was signed.
Governor Arthur Seligman in
dicated that unless the miners
would go back to the mines, a
deportation drive would be started.
The miners here are IS percent
Mexican, the rest being Slavish