Evening star., 1938-02-02
MINERS REJECT
CURB0NOFF|CERS:
Vote Down Amendment For
bidding Their Holding Two
SaIaried Positions.
BY JOHN C. HENRY.

SaIaried Positions.
BY JOHN C. HENRY.
Faced with the threat by Thomas
Kennedy, their secretary-treasurer,
that he would resign his Office as Lieu
tenant Governor Of Pennsylvania. dele
gates to the 35th convention OF the
United Mine Workers today voted
down a constitutional amendment for
bidding their officers holding two
salaried positions.
An issue which threatened to over
turn the control of the convention
leadership. the constitutional proposal
came before the convention today with
an adverse committee report. After
one or two delegates. insisting they
bore no personal animosity toward Mr..
Kennedy. had appealed for approval
of the, amendment, Mr.. Kennedy took
the floor.
Il am extremely sorry" he said,
that names and personalities are be-
coming an issue at this convention.
want to assure you. however, that I
will abide by the laws of the United
Mine Workers and this convention no
matter what they may be.
Statement by Kennedy.
IF the question should arise of re-
naming as Secretary-treaSurer Of the
United Mine Workers or as Lieutenant
Governor Of Pennsylvania, would
resign the Office of Lieutenant Gov
ernor. As for the salary balance as
Lieutenant Governor, I would sell it
to you for $l.60. Or would be willing
to turn it over to the United Mine
Workers"
Mr.. Kennedy said there would be
no salary question il he should be
elected Governor. an ONCE for which
the convention already has Endorsed
him. since he would require q leave of
absence from his union duties in such
an eventuality.
BY the terms Of q constitutional
amendment adopted in 1896, Mr.. Ken
nedy's salary as secretary-treasurer OF
the United Mine Workers is $4,000
yearly. Although officers of the union
did not accept raises in salary voted
in 1886, the present convention has
reaffirmed the increased sums and di-
rected officers to take them As pres
ident. John L. Lewis is to receive
$25,o00 annually under the new scale
Shift to c. L. o. Completed.
Completing their shift from the
American Federation OF Labor to the
Committee for Industrial Organization,
the mine workers this morning ap-
proved a constitutional provision that
no local union may contribute funds
to any strike unless Endorsed by the
c. I. o. or an affiliated organization.
The provision has the effect Of pre-
venting wildcat" strikes.
In previously unannounced move
the mine workers leadership yester-
day proposed that all reference to the
A. F. Of L. be deleted from their con-
stitution, with the c. I. o. inserted
therefor.
Approved with applause. the pro-
posal specifies how delegates to a
c. I. o. convention should be selected,
together with other technicalities of
representation in the parent group,
the C. I. O. With the U. M. w. al
ready under Suspension from the A.
F. of L. and no longer paying any
per capita tax, yesterdays action evi-
IDENTIFY beat the gun" in severing all
ties between the KEY union of the
NJ kA n>A>
Green Issue to Be Faced.
AS the mine workers headed toward
the close of their convention, prob
ably tomorrow, they still faced the
problem Of what to do about William
Green. president of the Federation
and a lifelong member of the U. M.
w. Expulsion or reference to the
Executive Board with power to expel
were the likely alternatives in view
OF Mr.. Green's decision not to come
here for personal appearance be-
fore the convention.
Among other actions taken yester-.
day on the U. M. w. constitution was
the reaffirmation of the provision
raising the salaries Of officers and of
the provision banning membership to
those who accept membership in the
Ku Klux Klan, the Communist party
or the Industrial Workers Of the
World.
Despite the ban on Communist
party members, the first section of
the constitution specifies that mem-
bership in the U. M. W. should not
interfere with the political freedom
Of the miners.
Among several guest speakers yes
terday was Miss Josephine Roche,
former Assistant Secretary of the
Treasury and operator Of coal and
iron company in Colorado.