Montana labor news., 1936-12-17
Give the Striking Miners in Utah
a Square Deal
By M. l. THOMPSON, Editor Utah News


Give the striking miners in Park City, Lark
and Bingham a square deal! They are entitled
to it,
All the strikers are asking for is fair play and
a square deal. We feel sure of this. They
have been patient and peaceful. AS far as we
know they have at all times been ready and
willing to meet the employers and talk things
over with a hope of reaching an understanding
and a peaceable settlement. There is nothing
fairer than this procedure.
We believe the union miners are asking for
only those things which are deemed just and
fair - a small wage increase in keeping with
the higher cost of living, and recognition OF col
lective bargaining by the operators.
There is nothing wrong with these demands.
The operators should realize in this age of
organization and collective bargaining that the
only way to continue pleasant relations be-
tween employers and employees is through or
ganized channels.
Evidently the employers are organized and
have an understanding among the employer
groups - therefore they should not b~egrudge
organization Of labor into bona fide and orderly
labor unions.
There is no room in organized industry for
company unions, welfare organizations or any
other forms of strike-breaking agencies, and
the employer who aids and abets such agencies
is making a sad and costly mistake. These may
succeed for a time, but they are short-lived.
Sooner or later the employers in Utah mines
must recognize the bona fide union = then, why
not now?
True, the business men in the strike areas
Io,,o c,,fforol = fo1Ioo 4rcIo I.,+ Ill. ,L.a,.1J -
turn them against the striking miners. Instead
they should cooperate with the strikers toward
a speedy settlement and return to work under
the conditions and wages which the miners are
entitled to receive. If the business men give
their cooperation and good will to the working
men now, it will mean prosperity for them after
the strike is settled and is a closed history.
The public officials in the strike area should
keep in mind the fact that the striking work.
ers are human beings and are entitled to every
consideration a citizen should receive. They
should consider the peaceful and orderly man.
ner in which the union miners have continued
all these weeks on picket lines and other acti-
vities of the strike.
All concerned, whether they are business
men, public officers or unorganized working
men, should not give aid to the strike breaking
organizations and scabs. Instead they should
aid and assist the bona fide union miners and
cooperate to the end that the strike might be
ended through proper and orderly channels and
to the satisfaction of the employers and en-
ployes.
Some might say that this is impossible, but
we say it is not. Remember this Where there
is a will there is a wayl
l am familiar with the trials and tribulations
of the working men of Utah. | know a great
deal about the treatment given employees by
some of the employers in unorganized indus
tries of this state.
During my six terms as president of the state
federation of labor I learned about the arrog-
ance and the "holier than thou attitude of some
employers. | know how some employers de-
spised and hated labor officials and organizers.
| can r~ecollect the stumbling blocks they put
in my way when I was making efforts to or
ganize the unorganized workers. If l were to
relate my experience during these years it
would make a volume of many pages and would
contain names of a number of prominent citi-
zens who are employers of labor, and were op-
posed to organization Of their employees into
bona fide labor unions.