coal trade bulletin - Clpdigital.org

MINE WORKERS OFFICIALS ISSUE CALL FOR
REFERENDUM VOTE ON WAGE SCALE
RECOMMENDATIONS.
THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN. II
Indianapolis, lnd., March 30.
To the Officers and Members of the United Mine
Workers of America:
Brothers—By instructions of the last Interna­
tional convention, United Mine Workers of Amer­
ica, your scale committee met yvith the operators
of Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illi­
nois at Philadelphia, Pa., beginning Feb. 10.
The demands of the mine workers, as adopted by
the International convention, yvere presented to
the coal operators by your representatives, and
for almost three weeks we tried, by argument,
facts and persuasion, to have them accepted and
agreed to. The coal operatois refused to agree
to any one of the demands proposed, but offered
the Cleveland contract without change instead.
We refused their offer and the meeting adjourned
without reaching an agreement.
We met again in Chicago, 111., on March 17,
and renewed our demands without change. For
an entire week yve continued our pleadings with
the operators, but they still refused to grant a
single demand. After exhausting every honor­
able means at our command in trying to have
your demands accepted, the joint conference ad­
journed sine die yvithout reaching an agreement.
The policy committee, representing the Inter­
national union, composed of representatives of all
the states ancl districts within the jurisdiction
of our organization, then met for the purpose of
defining a policy to be pursued. It yvas the
unanimous opinion of your policy- committee that
the demands of the mine workers were reason­
able, just and fair ancl ought to have been con­
ceded. Hoyvever, after canvassing the situation
carefully, and after giving calm and thoughtful
consideration to the industrial and economical
conditions of the entire country, your policy com­
mittee deemed it unwise to engage in a national
strike at this time for the enforcement of our
demands.
Acting in accordance with such opinions and
conclusions, your committee drafted the following
as a basis of settlement of the wage scale and
recommends it to you for your approval by a ref­
erendum vote:
Chicago. 111., March 25, 1914.
We hereby recommend, as a basis of sttlement
of the wage scale in the states ancl districts under
the jurisdiction of the United Mine Workers of
America, whose contracts expire March 31, 1914,
or some date subsequent thereto, the following:
First, that the representatives of the United
Mine Workers of America in sub-districts, dis­
tricts and groups of districts are authorized and
instructed to negotiate and enter into wage agree­
ments yvith coal operatois operating mines in
their respective jurisdictions, who will agree to
the prices now being paid under the present con­
tract for pick and machine mining, day labor,
yardage and dead work, or the equivalent of the
tonnage and niining prices, where any district,
sub-district or groups of districts, either by rea­
son of an act of the legislature or by agreement,
may change their method of mining from screen
coal to mine-run.
Second, that with the adoption of prices, as
set forth in the preceding clause, the right to
NEW COAL SALES MANAGER OF
JAMISON COAL & COKE COMPANY.
MR. R. T. DONALDSON
WHO HAS TAKEN CHARGE AS MANAGER OF COAL
SALES FOR THE JAMISON COAL a COKE COMPANY.
WITH HEADQUARTERS IN PITTSBURGH
take up for settlement local inequalities both as
to prices and conditions in the different districts,
sub-districts or groups of districts is fully recog­
nized.
Third, that all men employed in districts, sub-
districts or groups of districts are instructed to
continue at work pending a settlement of local
questions yvhere the operators agree to the prices,
hours of labor and conditions of employment now
in effect, except that in districts where a change