The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 16, 1926, Page 1

The DAILY WORKER Raises the Standard for a Workers’ and Farmers’ Government NEW YORK EDI ON THE DAILY WORKER. |: | Entered as Second-class matter Scptember 21, 1923, at tne Post Office at Chicago, Illinois, ander the Act of March 3, 1879. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16,1926 <q” MINERS’ BLACK FR ANTHRACITE STRIKERS REPUDIATE eee Bek Fidel TO.ALL ANTHRACITE MINERS! BETRAVAL OF THEIR DEMANDS BY on “Black Friday” Open Letter to the TebDintvict Convention JOHN [. LEWIS Ay PHILADELPHIA HE full text of the shameless agreement drawn up by Lewis Six months ago we anthracite miners mobilized at the Tri-District Convention in Scranton 10, by mail, $8.00 per year, hicage, by mail, $606 ER Published Daily except Sunda; PUBLISHING CO., 1113 W. y by THE DAILY WORKER ‘ashirgton Blvd., Chicago, Ll. Vol. Il. No. 30. Subscription Rates: Sustss Price 3 Cents / and the operators against the striking miners in the anthra- cite fleld is as follows: | This agreement, made this twelfth day of February, 1926, he- tween Districts 1, 7 and 9, United Mine Workers of America, par- ties of the first part, and the anthracite operators, parties of the second part, covering wages and conditions of employment in the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania, witnesseth: * * * * 1—Work shall be resumed at once under the terms of the ex- pired contract, which, subject to modification as hereinafter provided, shall be in force and effect until Aug. 31, 1930. * * * * 2—At any time after Jan. 1, 1927, but not oftener than once in any year, either party may, in writing, propose modification in the wage scales of said contract. The parties agree within fifteen days after receipt of such written proposals to start conferences in the usual manner in an effort to agree upon such modifications. * * * * 3—If within thirty days after starting such negotiations the parties have not agreed, all issues in controversy shall be referred to a board of two men with full power and without reservation or restrictions, and the parties agree to abide by any decision or de- cisions of such board, either on the merits of the controversy or as to procedure to be followed. Such board shall be appointed as follows: The operators shall name three men and the miners shall name three men. The operators shall select one man from the miners’ list and the miners shall select one man from the operators’ list, and the two men so approved shall Constitute gald board. Unless agreed, the men Hamed by the partios shall not Be Connected With the United Mine Workers of America or the business of mining coal. The board shall be obliged, within ninety days after appoint- ment, to arrive at a decision on all issues in controversy, and to that end shall formulate their own rules and methods of procedure and may enlarge the board to an odd number,,in which event a majority vote shall be binding. *e@ @ @ 4—The demands of the operators and the mine workers on the question of co-operation’ and efficiency are referred to the board of concillation, exclusive of the umpire, which shall work out a recipro- cal program of co-operation and efficiency. * * * * 6—The board of conciliation shall proceed to equalize wages, etc., In accordance with clause 12 of the agreement, dated Sept. 19, 1923, so * # @ 6—Except as modified herein, the terms and provisions of the award of the anthracite coal strike commission and subsequent agreements made in modification thereof or supplemental thereto, as well as the rulings and decisions of the board of conciliation, are hereby ratified, confirmed and continued during the term of this contract, ending Aug. 31, 1930, * * * * In witness whereof, the parties hereto, thru their accredited representatives, have caused this agreement to be properly exe- cuted, the day and year first above written: ‘ On behalf of the anthracite operators: W. INGLIS, GEORGE HADESTY, J. B. WARRINGER, E. H, SUENDER, THOMAS THOMAS, ANDREW M. FINE. On behalf of Districts 1, 7 and 9, United Mine Workers of America: JOHN L. LEWIS, _ PHILIP MURRAY, THOMAS KENNEDY, Cc. J. GOLDEN, RINALDO CAPPELLINI, ANDREW. MATTEY, Attest: JAMES A, GORMAN, Secretary. | ALVAH MARKLE, Shatibnbin: RELIEF STILL BADLY NEEDED Despite the fact that the anthracite coal strike has ap- parently been settled, the general grievance committee of the miners, in general meeting assembled in Walkes-Barre on February 13, decided to open food relief stations in co- operation with the International Workers’ Aid. Accordingly a committee was immediately sisting of 15 miners, representing 15 different loca D, A, Edmunds, chairman of the grievance committees, will act as secretary. The first food station will be opened Mon day, February 15. There is much actual suffering among the families of this district. M. have absolutely no me: the bare necessities of life. It will take s fore all the mines are working and pay day comes only once It will, therefore, be at least a month before In the mean- in two weeks. any cash comes into the individual family. time the most needy c Many are a’ least thi Make out your contributions to the Miners’ |, W. Ay and send to D, A. Edmunds, 523 Market St., Kingston, Pa, or direct to the national office of the International ira . ers’ Aid, 1553 W. Madison St., Chicago, III, i and endorsed the demands for— 1) A ten percent increase in. wages with 2) No arbitration or conciliation boards; 3) The check-off in the anthracite. After lengthy conferences the operators turifed down these demands and we entered into the strike to enforce them with all the enthusia: John L. Lewis and the whole adminis! demands. (Continued page 5). st.00 per day for day men; born of the conviction of the justice of our! ation supported our demands and we miners SOLD! FIVE YEARS AND. NO WAGE INCREASE! Fier H L MAKE IT 50 YEARS S YEARS MINERS IDE ANO IVES for Republished by request from a recentiissue of The DAILY WORKER. Defend the Zeigler Miners! STATEMENT OF THE CENTRAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE WORKERS (COMMUNIST) PARTY OF AMERICA Eight out of the thirteen defend- ants in the framed-up trial of the Zeigler miners h been convicted and face sentences ranging from one to fourteen years in prison. The conviction was based upon the fraudulent ¢ sault upon D. B. Cobb, sub-district vice-presi- dent of the United Mine Workers, who is one of the most corrupt of- ficials in the American Labor move- ment. This conviction, affecting as it do most militant and progres- sive leaders of the miners in South- ern Illinois, comes right upon the betrayal of by John L. Lewis and the official ma- chine, The frame-up is a part of the great conspiracy to wreck the United Mine Workers of Amer an organization fighting for the im- provement of the conditions of the miners, and its transformation into a servile instrumentjof the bloated coal operators. Railroad Progressives to Jail. The leaders of thé Miners’ Union, with their treasonable policies, have done worse than nothing to defend the interests of the miners. They have workedihand in hand with the operators to sel! out the rank and file of the union, They ha’ betrayed the demands of the anthracite miners. ‘Now they have succeeded, in conspiracy with the ku klux klan and the coal operat- ors, in railroading to jail eight of the most active progressives in the ilinois union. The men who are financing the prosecution of the Zeigler miners are the men in control of the no- torious Farrington machine. The most active leaders in the prosecu- tion were D. B. Cobb, sub-district vice-president and Lon Fox, the sub- district p lent; Farrington had assured them of his support from the beginning. Miners Fight Coal Barons. The crime of the defendan as that they ins d upon the Zeigler miners getting a deeent wage by getting a correct weight on the they mined. The officials of union “upheld the Bell and Zoller Mining company, against the min- ers.. They carried on a_ fight against the menace of the ku klux klan, and the officials joined with the klan against the rank and file progressives. The miners of Zeig- ler insisted upon their rights to vote for the progressive officials and for militant policies to fight the boss, and the machine. steadily stole their elections, The conviction of these eight min- ers is of the gravest concern to the American working class as a whole, and to the organized workers in par- ticular. The entire labor movement of America is on trial and not only the Zeigler miners, Their fight is the fight of all the workers of this country. Defend Zeigler Miners! The miners of this country must intensify their fight for the pro- gressive movement in the union, The workers of the entire country must come to the aid of the defend- The International Labor De- a non-partisan working class organization which «has been in charge of the case for the defend- (Continued oaspage 4.) (Special to The | gant praise of the “freedom” en | signed the pact that is designed The strikers were stunned; t | mands of the strike were form-{ ulated and who said the de- |mands were all too inadequate, jcould so ignominiously betray them. Then, when the full meaning of | black Friday dawned upon them they | ;perceived that the be al was | deliberate and well-timed. The long drawn-out strike and the refusal of | | Lewis and Cappellini to call out the | }maintenance men and make the strike \general was being repudiated in the anthracite fields. The demands origin- ally. advocated. by. the. progressive miners and the Communists in the strike region were becoming the de- mands of the rank and fils, The gen- eral grievance committee meeting in Wilkesbarre had gone on record to pull out the maintenance men, there- by making the strike effective. The coal barons knew such a move would defeat them; would beat them | |to their knees before the solidarity of |the miners. Rather than permit the union to get beyond His Control Lewis jcapitulated to every demand of the | | operators. Like others of his type in | jthe labor movement he will destroy the unions rather than permit them to become effective instruments against the employers. All these things are now fully understood by the miners, and with the few remaining days until the tri-district conference is called for Tuesday they are rallying to endeavor to repudiate the agreement and re- buke the infamy of such arch-traitors as John L. Lewis and Rinaldo Cappel- lini. Condemn Settlement. Delegates to the general grievance committee of District No, 1 of the United Mine Workers of America, re- presenting some thirty local unions with approximately 15,000 members, meeting in Wilkesbarre last night, un- animously condemned the betrayal of “Black Friday” and denounced the mine workers officials for their con- spiracy with the operators to drive the strikers back into the black holes beneath the earth to slave for wages so meagre than even Lewis himself ad- mits their utter insuffleieney to main- tain a decent standard of living. Sentiments expressed by every dele- gate taking the floor showed bitter re- sentment against the sellout of the miners and a determination to fight to the last ditch against the ratifica- tion of the Philadelphia agreement. All of them referred to the fact that the five and a half months’ struggle of the miners has resulted in their (Continved on page 2) coal miners slaves of the corporations for the next five yes Daily Worker) SCRANTON, Pa., Feb. 14—The: date of the Philadelphia be- trayal of the striking miners by John L. Lewis will always be known in these regions as “BLACK FRIDAY.” } On that date, Friday, February 12, the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, when patriotic spellbinders were indulging in extrava- joyed by the inhabitants of the | United States, the head of the United Mine Workers of America, | who should defend the interests of the membership of that union, to make the 158,000 anthracite hey could not for a time believe it possible for even Lewis to so completely surrender everything they fought for so long. They could not believe that the same }man who, at the tri-district convention in this city, when the de- JURY FINDS 8 HINERS GUILTY UN 10-DAY TRIAL Argue Motion for-New Trial on March 26 (Special to The Daily Worker) COURT HOUSE, Benton, Ill., Feb. 14—Eight out of the 13 defendants in the now famous Zeigler trial were | : |convicted by verdict of the jury on the frame-up charge of “assault to {murder D. B. Cobb,” the sub-district vice-president of the United Mine | Workers’ Union of Franklin county. Five of the defendants, Matt Cer- noevich, Charles Corbishly, arion Soyat, William Bartash and Pete Bla- zin, were found not guilty and imme- diately released. Move for New Trial. The attorneys for the defense, Fer- guson, Morgan, White and Ward, im- mediately made a motion for a new trial, hearings upon which have been granted for March 29. Those con- victed were: Henry Corbishly, leader of the progressive miners of Zeigler, Frank Corbishly his brother, Stanley Paurez, Ignatz Simich, Martin Simich, Mike Karadich, Eddie Maliski and Steve Meanovich, The convictions followed a ten-day trial during which the defense com- pletely exposed that it was a frame- up against the miners on trial, many of whom were not even on the scene when all the trouble took place at the meeting of the Zeigler local union. To Get Rid of Progressives, The entire struggle arose out of the fact that the Zeigler miners had elect- ed a progressive leadership for their union which had begun to lead a real fight against the ku klux, the thievery of the coal operators, and for the adop- tion of-progressive and militant pol icies by the whole union. They tried to change from ‘the defensive to the offensive the drivé which ds being made by the coal operators to drive (Continued on page 2.) Fight Just Beginning| Statement of the Trade Union Educational League. HIS latest betrayal of the miners out more clearly than ever the cl listic role of the bureaucracy, The becoming stronger. unions were demanding from their not transported to America. Gradually the entire American la by the Lewis administration brings collaboration policy and imperial- position of the striking miners was The strike had attained world attention, the British leaders that Welsh anthracite be bor movement was being drawn into the struggle. Tens of thousands of dollars had been sent to the striking mine The joint grievance commit tee in conjunction with the interna- tional Workers’ Aid were setting up relief stations to take care of the miners and their famili Relief o every large industrial center, These i .. (Continued ommittees were being organized in preparations would have in a very on page. 6)