The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-04-19

lttee made up OF the pit COM
mittees of all of the mines Of
the same company and to
fight for better conditions in
the mines. Also to hold an
other meeting during the later part
Of this month.
The meeting decided to have
nothing to do with the N. r. A. labor
board and the U. M. w. A. officials
in settling their cases. IF we want
to lose our cases we can do this
without the help of the N. r. A.
board or the u NJ. w. A. officials"
the miners said. Since the miners
are not allowed to strike under the
contract, and are subject to a fine
of S10O a day, the miners decided
that when they have grievances they
will go into the mines, but win only
load one car per man.
This conference of the Westmore-
land coal miners shows how tbs
miners feel towards the officials and
the N. r. A. board. They have lust
received new wage agreement,
This calls for a $500 a day scale and
the seven-hour day and flve-day
week. This means q wage increase
Of % per cent, and sounds very good
to one that does not work in the
mines or knows nothing about the
conditions in the mines.
For instance, this increase onlv
covers the day men. They make up
about 10 per cent of the miners.
The other 90 per cent. only get a
few cents more on the ton and work
one hour less, thus they actually get
a cut in wages. Besides this the
rent for the company houses. the
cost Of powder and house coal has
gone up, as has the price for food
and clothes.
These miners at a conference held
in the early part Of January, adopted
a resolution calling for the Sc day
wage scale and the six hour-day and
the f1ve-day week. Besides this the
resolution called for the payment of
dead work, against arbitration, no
discrimination against the Negro
miners and the youth, against the
strike penalty clause, etc. This was
sent to the 1888 U.MW.A. conven-
ton.
Instead Of these demands the
miners received the recent scale that
was signed for them by Lewis, the
coal bosses and the N. r. A.
When the coal diggers held their
conference there was not one Of the
officials present. They are afraid
to go and face the coal miners. OF
course some Of their supporters
were present. They defended the
present appointed officials, one said,
Show me a better official and I will
follow him."
In the meantime the officials tell
the miners that they will not be
able to elect their own officials or
to have a convention. They are
afraid Of a convention or an election
because of the bitter feeling of the
miners. The officials give as their
reason, "the district is not self sus-
tanning and Lewis has to pay the
bills out of the International trea-
sury. That is the reason they can
not elect their own officials" There
is much talk of the rank and file
calling a convention and electing
their own officials. This was done
by the miners in Arkansas and
Oklahoma
The movement in WeStmoreland
is starting out good. The leadership
is in the hands Of good rank and file
miners They are connecting the
fight Of the coal bosses and the fight
against the Lewis machine, which is
coal operators machine. They are
also rating the need of extending
this movement to the other mines
in the same district, and already at
the April meeting their were some
miners present from some of the
other mines.
The Westmoreland coal miners,
with long traditions of struggle
against the coal bosses and the
Lewis machine will set the pace for
the other miners to follow. This fight
will be connected by the rank and
file Coal Digger, the organ of the
Rank and File Committee of the o.
M. w. A. that will come out this