The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-10
.Wage-Cut Tricks in West Virginia Mines
U.M.W.A. Heads Rob Miners by Check-Of But
Refuse to Defend Pay Against Attacks
By q WOrker COrrespOndent

BOOTH, W. Va.-Wages are cut
under the N. R. A. in West Virginia,
in River Cine Coal Company mine,
by indirect methods. Miners got
paid doing extra work bailing water
and cleaning slate. Now, this last
week the bosses refuse to pay for
this work. Miners are pushing the
empty cars, and also dropping the
tools out of the working places.
which is very dangerous. The COM
pany cut the main trip off In the
evenings miners have to walk out of
the mine for one hour after the
hard days work.
Before the U. M. W. A. the miners
did get pay for the work they did
on the main trip. We have an U.
M. w. A. local here, but pit COM
mittees and officials of the local do
not say word about it. The only
thing they talk about is the dues.
The union has no agreement with
The company. The cars weigh much
less than they did before, and we
elect the acknowledgment on a
tipple. Miners go into the mine at
five o'clock in the morning, and
come out at four and five, and
sometimes at pm. The cleanup
system is here. If you do not clean
up 2-3 cars before the next day.
you are turned back in the mine
to clean up. Miners are looking for
rails and ties all over the mine.
U. M. w. A. officials do not see this
thing. We have a preacher for a
President in the local. and stool
pigeon acts as secretary.
The New England Mine Cooper
Coal Co. cars are five tons. When
the cars go over the scale they only
weigh two tons and II hundred or
a little more. There is no pay for
extra work. Water miners are
working 10 10 II hours a day. A
U. M. W. A. meeting was held last
Saturday, Feb. 10. One Negro got
up and told the miners that his
baby boy does not know him any
more because he leaves the house
in the morning when he is sleeping
and comes home at night the same
way. In this mining camp work.
ers work from IL to IA hours day.
Negro and white workers are segre-
gated-Negroes on one hill, and
whites on the other.
Mine No. 80 Consolidated Coal Co.
450 miners are working. So are
paying dues to U. M. w. A. grafters.
No pay for extra work, same as in
other mines. They check weighmen
on a tipple and coal weighing is
worse than without him. Also he
Is chairman of the local.
Now that the new cars have come
into the mine miners claim that the
cars should weigh 6 tons, but the
check weighman and the superin-
tendent told the miners that the
cars cannot weigh more than 8 and
one-half tons, and that is what the
miners get.
All the coal-leaders are against
the J. Lewis clique and the Bitners.
In this mine the workers are dis
charged if they put up a fight for
better conditions, and they see the
district officials of the U. M. w. A.
but the officials are telling the
miners that they cannot do any
thing for them.
In the Edna Gas Coal Co. Mine
two young workers were discharged
for not working in water and doing
extra work without pay. These two
miners went to see Tony Titay and
the District Superintendent of the
U. M. w. A. When the workers
told them the story, the officials
said they couldn't do anything for
them, so the miners said that if you
can't do anything we will do it our
selves. We are going to stop pay
ing dues to your grafters, and tell
many others not to pay. They went
back to the boss, and asked for their
jobs again, and told him if he did