Montana labor news., 1934-09-20
DRIFTS AND RAISES
(Ihis column Contributed BY Butte
Miners Union No. -
ANALYSIS

The Agreement, which was reached
between the Joint Conference Com
mittee representing the men on strike
at Butte, Anaconda and Great Falls
and the Officials of the Anaconda
Copper Mining Co., after weeks Of
negotiating, wherein c. W. Chapel
and R. c. jacobson, representing the
government acted as referee, has been
the subject Of much discussion, pro
and con as to its merits and demands.
Some people believe that the unions
lost the most important points, while
others seem to think they did remark
ably well, especially the Miners union.
So, we are OF the opinion that a fair,
unbiased survey of the principal points
in this Agreement is in order now.
Therefore we undertake this job, and
as we proceed we propose to make
comparisons of conditions as they were
prior to this time and endeavor to.
draw some correct conclusions there
from.
The most important points with
which the miners were concerned were
Hours OF Labor, Wages, Contract Sys-
TEN, One Man System and Closed
Shop.
Hours Of Labor; No change what
ever was made. Score: No gain. No
loss.
Wages: An increase of fifty cents
per day for the first six months Of
the Agreement guaranteed. That
would be $475 a shift for miners, and
this increase to be continued during
the second six months of the Agree
ment; provided copper remains at or
above nine cents per pound during the
first six months of the Agreement.
That all overtime shall be paid for at
the rate of time and one-half. That
double time shall be paid for Memoir
ial Day, independence Day, Labor
Day and Christmas Day. That $4.25
shall be the minimum wage for
underground work when copper Sells
below nine cents, and this is the alb
solute minimum, no matter how low
the price of copper may go. That,
we believe, covers briefly the wage
setup for the ensuing year. VIZ have
not touched upon the sliding scale, be-
cause it may never become operative
during the life OF this Agreement.
Very well, if we go back to the
time the last three years Agreement
was signed, the minimum wage was
$3.50 a day for miners based on thir-
teen cent copper. Comparing that
with our present minimum and slid
ing scale, if copper should sell at Is
cents per pound during the coming
year, the miners wage would be $5.25
a day. Going back a little further to
the first five year Agreement $3.50 a
day was the basic rate for miners, and
this was based on the selling price
of copper at fifteen cents a pound.
1t is not our intention to contend
that any of these basic rates were or
are sufficient for u needs, what we
wish to point out is that a distinct
gain has been made in the matter OF
wages. Then again, overtime has
never been paid for except at straight
time, and the miner has never collect
ed more than straight time for any
holidays he might have to work. Oh
course, we understand that Ten Dol
lars a day is no good if it costs a man
Eleven Dollars to keep himself and
his family. 1t has been quite a mum
Der of years since the $3.50 minimum
rate was paid to miners, but until now
there was no provision whatever &c
prevent the company from dropping
the wage to that level, Score: Dis.
tinct gain.
Contract System and One Mar Sys-
TEN Both these systems will be con
tinued, but there is machinery provid.
ed for, to handle any grievance tina.
may arise incident to the working o.
these systems. We anticipate a lot o.
work for the grievance committed
during the next few months. Also
Nv. B. DAILY wrote a letter to c. w
Chapel pledging himself and the com
pany to see to it that the alleged evil
of these systems be corrected immedia.
tely. We have a copy Of this letter
Score: To be computed six month.
hence.
Closed Shop. The miners unior
was the only one to benefit directly
by this provision. All other union.
have had this condition, at least nom
inally. The Miners union has got a
least as good a closed shop agreemen
as it ever had before, and since i
hasn't had any such condition at al
for twenty years, this is a one hun
dred per cent gain.
Then there we're two conditions re
quired by the company that doesn'
look so good. They read originally
There shall be no collective cessation
{ OF work. In case of a strike or shut
/ down the unions agree to leave a
many men on the job as the compan.
: may determine is necessary to main
tain the property and preserve it from
l destruction, such as pumpmen, engin
| GERS, machinists, etc, with the provi
so that if the company attempts t
t produce, these men shall be immediat
D ely withdrawn.
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