The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1943-11-18
Saturday Evening
Post Writer Cites
GoodJob BYGroup
Magazine Article Says In
Efforts Point WdY To
Reduce Absenteeism

Activities of the Victory Labor
Management Production Committee of
the Anaconda Copper Mining Company
and its CIO and .AFL union representa-
tives at Butte Mont, receive favorable
mention in an article. "The Richest
Hill on EARTH by Charles LaniuS, in
the Saturday Evening Post of Oct. 80
l943. He writes in part:
Butte hardrock miners are prob,
ably the toughest miners in the world
When they feel they aren't being treat
ed fairly, they yip and zip loudly. But
the consensus of the mine operators
union officials, townspeople and the
miners themselves is that there's moth,
ing outstanding in Butte that can't be
settled over glass of beer
To-day Butte has two unions, the
AFL Craftsmen organization and the
CIO. Both are purely Butte organiza-
tons and both are cooperating with
the company to aid the war effort.
after Pearl HarbOr Buttee miner!
and operators were quick to recognize
their responsibility to the nation They
knew that there's hardly Il single piece
of war equipment which does not re-
quire copper, zinc or manganese. Su
they got together to see what could be
done to step up production to further
the war effort. One of the first things
they did was to form the Victory
Labor Management Production Com
mittee, composed of miners and owners
representatives. The committee meets
every Thursday to iron out difficulties.
Miners and operators say the commit
tee is doing Il tirst-class job.
The miners have plenty of squawks,
but at the moment they are relatively
minor ones. Both unions and owners
are out to beat absenteeiSm. Operators
furnish the union daily list of EN-
plOyeeS absent from work, and the
unions then interview the men to de-
termine the cause Even So absentee
ism is still major prOblem-particu-
larly in the summer. Some miners quit
to work in the country. And there's
always Il certain percentage who can't
stand prosperity, and their weekend
lines dip sharply.
'rhe biggest factor in helping to
keep Butte miners ut work is their in
nate patriotism. Many of them have
lost shift mates to the Army and the
Navy. Others have sons or brothers in
hn Of
men is cited for heroic deed, the
whole hill Swells up with pride. When
one is killed, all Butte knows it. They
all knew him. They feel his loss keenly.
The Copper Commando, Il sixteen
page, tabloid-siZe magazine newspaper,
sponsored by the Management
Committee. helps keep Butte war
minded. Published twice Il month, it
carries timely articles on the war ana
shows the men the job the copper they
mined is doing in every branch of in
duStry. The editors keep tab of Butte
servicemen i'm foreign lands and on the
seas. They publish stories of miners
Victory Gardens. 1t shows miners what
the men on top are doing and vice
versa. Miners like to see themselves
and their friends i'm print. Tried out
as an experiment, the Copper Com
mandO has been Il great success. The
committee believes it has done Il LOT
to cut down abSenteeiSm and bolster
production. Nearly every issue of the
Commando carries some safety lesson
or warming.
Last year, an overall total of 9OO,-
55S, lSl pounds of strategic metals, in
Guiding zinc, manganese and chrOmitC,
were prOduced--a 2l.5 per cent in
crease over 1911. This year. Butte
miners and operators hope to min"
1,O96, 1SS.S92 ponds OF these metals
Il 2l.1 per cent jump