Montana labor news., 1935-09-26
CARRIES
BY Slim MAJORITY
Small Margin of Votes in Favor
Indicative of Dissatisfaction
With Present Conditions.


On Sunday the 22nd, the Butte Min
ers' Union held a referendum vote or
the question OF whether or not to ao-
cept the proposition as presented by
the A. c. N. Co., details OF which ha:
been publicised elsewhere.
The polls opened at 10 o'clock A. NJ
as advertised, and remained open unit.
after 10 o'clock P. M. to accommodate
the large crowds voting.
Voting was slow due to the fact that,
as per the agreement, and also as pro-
vided by the international Constitution
only those directly involved shall vote
on a question OF this kind. Directly in
volved meant those who had worked
anytime within the past 9 months.
Lists were compiled Of those eligible
to vote and it was necessary for each
man voting to sign his W name. This
was in the event that should the agree
ment be voted down and any challen-
.ge be made that all provisions had not
been complied with, the Union could
have the vote verified by any impartial
third party.
The election judges and clerks ex-
pressed regret that men had to stand in
line for so long due to this technically
In ordinary elections this is dispensed
with.
Significant Figures
The total number eligible to vote was
1852 which goes to show that, while the
number OF men working on the hill I'M
der the Miners jurisdiction is probably
not over $500, the number who have
worked within the 9 months period
prior to the referendum was about
1900 in excess OF this figure. This
means hat at least one third OF the
crew in the mines turns over every six
months. This startling fact would seem
to prove that conditions on the hill are
not what they should be and that the
miners were entirely JUSTIFIED in seeking
changes in conditions.
The number Of votes cast was a littlt
over 5000 which, apparently prove.
further, that in view Of the interesf
expressed by the local miners in thi,
question, the total number of votes wa.
about 1900 short Of the potential 4592
although only about 800 short of the ac-
tual number working. This would tend
to support the argument that about one
third OF the miners on the hill at any
time are not stationary.
Many Factors
Many factors, according to miners
interviewed at random, had a bearing on
the result. Among these were that
many men, in spite Of the wide pub
LEFTY given the question, were under
the impression that it meant a strike
vote. Others we're apparently indif-
ferent and didn't care which way it
came out, and last but not least was
the large number OF what might be
termed migratory workers who were
averse to having anything interfere with
the status quo as long as they had a
chance of making a few dollars before
they moved on again.
The conference committee OF the
Miners Union did every thing possible
to thoroughly acquaint everyone con-
cerned with the result Of a yes or no
vote.
Miners Disillusioned
This is somewhat OF a lesson in what
can be gained through arbitration"
The major demands were ignored by
the Company who were, however, will
ing to discuss anything by the hour
but were, at the same time, in a posi-
ton to say no without end. The min
er's present position is essentially the
same as that of the other crafts work
ing on the hill their agreement is for
one year, but we must add that no
agreement is worth the paper it is
written on unless it is accompanied by
a little square dealing.
Peace treaties have been signed for
centuries and yet there have been
plenty Of wars.
According to a great many miners,
in the future they are going to use
other tactics than parliamentary ones.