The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-01-13
Musteites Sabotage the
Cleveland Unity
Decisions
BY BILL GEBERT

The history of the Illinois miners
is a history Of heroic, courageous
mass struggles. And in these strug-
giles the miners learned through Bit
ter experience that numerous So
called rank and file' and militant
leaders" betrayed them in every one
Of these struggles. It is sufficient to
mention just few names, such as
Harrington and his so-called oppcsi-
ton to Lewis.
Then came Alexander Howatt, with
his reorganization movement of the
U.M.W.A., the rank and file move
ment" led by LewSs' agent, Roy Ed
munson, in which movement the lead
ing role was played by Jerry Allard.
Next was the so-called opposition by
John Walker and, finally, the time
when John Walker stole the ballots
after the miners refused to accept
the wage-cut and broke out In mass
revolt. This led to the formation Of
the Progressive Miners Of America,
in which militant miners placed so
much hope, because they believed
that it will be rank and file Or
ganization and fight for the inter-
ests Of the miners.
Progressive Leaders Betrayals
They learned soon enough that the
leadership which they trusted, the
Pearcys, Kecks, etc, betrayed them
once again, deserving the struggles
of the miners and leaving them at
the mercy of the coal operators and
governments.
The militant organization Of the
wives, mothers and daughters of the
Illinois miners. the Women's AuXil-
larry Of the PIMA, which had such
a splendid record OF struggle OF the
miners, has been turned over by the
Music elements, under the leadership
of Mrs. Wicks, into the hands Of Mrs.
BelIni, an agent of reactionary Pear
cy, although the majority Of the
delegates followed or supported Mrs.
WickS.
All this is a bitter lesson for the
Illinois miners. They began to see
clearly, at least minority of the
miners, that they can no longer trust
in any of these so-called leaders, but
they have to depend upon themselves
that the solution to their problems
is a militant class program and that
the best leaders and fighters for such
q militant class program are the
Communists and the Communist
Party.
Local Struggles
At present, the miners of Illinois
who are members Of the PIMA. are
entering the road of consolidation
Of their forces, developing local strug-
giles and preparing for further adj
vances through building rank and
| file opposition movements. The re-
cent elections in the locals Of the
PIMA. resulted in the election Of
some of the rank and file candidates
in Is locals.
Among those elected are members
Of the Communist Party and Young
Communist League. Likewise, in six
branches Of the Women'S Auxiliary of
the PIMA. rank and file candidates,
some Of whom are Communists, have
been elected.
The opposition movement in the
U.M.W.A. locals Is not broad as yet,
but already shows some crystalliza-
ton. Local 5000 adopted q resolu-
tons based on the principles of the
class struggle, to present to the In
ternational Convention of the UNI
WA, which will open in Indianapolis
on Jan. e.
1
Unity Burning Problem
The burning problem confronting
the miners of Illinois is the unity in
action Of the miners who are MEM
beers of the PIMA. and U.M.W.A. The
rank and file opposition movement
is undertaking the task Of unifying
! such action on the basis Of the we'll