The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 10, 1927, Page 12

Relief for the Miners (Continued from page 1) among the U. M. W. bureaucrats, underlings in the official hierarchy, graft, too, and even some as far down as the local relief committees have been found out giving money, at least on paper, to men that do not exist outside of their account books, or are scabs in the mines. And such things further reduce the actual relief payments. So, in western Pennsylvania local relief organiza- tions, committees and conferences, based on the local unions sprang up; their purpose being to make appeals to other bodies or organized labor through- out the country. There has never been any attempt to approach individuals. The district relief confer- ence that resulted from these local conferences, does not do it and the appeals all go out in the name of the District Conference, the Miners’ Relief Confer- ence, located in Pittsburgh, The M. R. C. deals with organized bodies of workers only, both as to solicitation of funds and-distribution of funds and food and clothing. Only committees authorized by the local unions, and able to use their seal, have a right to ask for relief: This local control of relief distribution, under the supervision of the central district body, seems most suited to the peculiar con- ditions in the mining field and results in a maxi- mum efficiency. The Miners’ Relief Conference of Pittsburgh was not easy to organize. Most determined and unfair sabotage was committed upon it by the union of- ficialdom. It seems that the latter not only will not provide relief themselves, they have an intense dislike for anybody else who wants to do it. The first local conference called a sub-district conference, inviting sub-district and district union officials, as well as International Vice-President Murray. Few of them came, but their agents ap- peared, and by filibuster. tactics tried to disrupt the conference, or steer it into a position where it could be declared dualistic, and forbidden by the officials. The sub-district conference called a district con- ference, which met in Pittsburgh, during the first of July, and represented 34 local unions, though the underground campaign against it instituted by officialdom kept still more from coming. The district officials: would not come to the con- ference, though again their absence was made an excuse for disruptive objections by their agents. Some time was taken in putting down the attempts to break up the conference. The district officials advised that no permanent organization to collect money be formed, but that the conference confine itself to merely requesting the A. F. of L. to give help. The conference con- strued this to mean that it could apps=: vs any part of the A. F. of L. and declare itself = vermanent organization to approach all groups of organized workers, and other organizations through its execu- tive committee. That was two monthyago. Since then the dis- trict executive has decided to maintain neutrality towards the M. R. C., and in a grudging way per- mits-some cooperation. When the local relief com- mittees (official) have not money enough from the union, the M. R. C. is allowed to make up the balance. The International vice-president in charge, of the strike in Pennsylvania, Murray, has not officially ruled on the propriety of being saved from starva- tion through the M. R. C., but hinders its work, as for instance in the following letter sent to sev- eral organizations investigating appeals from the M. R.°C. for donations: “Dear Sir: “Responding to the inquiry contained in your communication of August 2nd, I will ad- vise you that the so-called Miners’ Relief Con- ference of western Pennsylvania is not a bona fide organization recognized by the United Mine Workers of America. Our union has no relationship whatever with the people who. are sponsoring this movement. “Very truly yours, hilip Murray, “Vice-President.” The socialist party hesitated about assisting the M. R. C., as they were inyited to do, then saw Dis- trict President Pat Fagin, and were advised by him to start a dual relief. committee. So far they have not done this. In Illinois the move to organize a similar confer- ence was blasted by a denunciation from the district president, Harry Fishwick, who offered to expel anybody who had anything, to do with the affair. Fishwick maintains his power, as did his predeces- sor, Frank Farrington, the operators’ $25,000 a year man, by terrorism and expulsions, by bullets, not ballots. He was defeated in the last district election, but held official by fraud. Still, the drive for relief in Illinois was too great to be checked, and Fishwick, after prohibiting the rank and-file relief organizations, had to make at least a pretense at relief, and some has been dis- tributed, principally through local and sub-district organizations. Much as has been done, there is much to be done 44, NG, NGF, CFE JS still. Unless the strike gets relief, it will be lost. The union officials will not raise money for starving miners, they will even interfere as much as pos- sible with whoever else wants to raise money. But the miners are unanimous for relief, and apparently nothing can now prevent the organization on a wider and wider scale of rank and file relief com- mittees. As an example of the effect upon the rank and file miners of any scheme to interfere with their first attempts to get relief, may be cited a com- munication under the seal of Local Union 5071, U. M. W. A., Cokeburg, Pa., and signed by the chair- man, secretary and a committee of five miners elected at a meeting of seven local unions. It is addressed to the executive board of the Croatian Fraternal Uniorf of America, headquarters in Pitts- burgh, and shows the disgust of the miners with their officials who try to declare their relief illegal, and their resentment at the decision of the fraternal order, which accepted International Vice-President Murray’s decree of August 2, that the Miners’ Re- lief Conference “is not a bona fide organization.” The letter is as follows: ; To the Executive Board of the Croatian Fraternal Union of America, 1012 Peralta St. N. S., Pittsburgh, Pa.: Dear Sir and Brothers—We read your minutes of the 10th of August and see you rejected the appeal for relief for the striking miners and their families made to you through their representatives elected on the‘ first of July, 1927, at Pittsburgh. Your refusal to help us at this time means starv- ing for more families, not only of your nationality, but many of whom are also members of your society. Our district office does not afford us as much relief as we need, so we get the shortage from the Miners’ Relief Conference. For instance, our local got $279 from the district office, but we needed $351 to provide all members that are on relief, and in kad circumstances with their small quota so you see that we have to have the shortage. Sometimes we have more shortage, sometimes less, according to how many members are idle. We are just trying to keep our members from going to the non-union fields and especially .from scabbing. As for the statement of Philip Murray regarding the Miners’ Relief Conference, we, members of Locals 155, 2278, 1190, 1165, 1197, 5071 and 38422 of the U. M. W. A., at a joint meeting held at Bentleyville, Pa., on Sept. 2, declared that the state- ment of Murray is more to the detriment of the United Mine Workers of America than to their ben- efit in the present struggle. ' \ Through the union there are no charges against any of our members who are on the executive com- mittee of the M. R. C., and if the officers of our district and international union does not deem it a breach of ‘the constitution of our union to organize such a conference, and to be on the executive com- mittee of such conferences—if they do not forbid the local union relief committees to receive help from the M. R. C., then we feel that the conference has all the right in the world to speak in the name of the striking miners and their families of western Pennsylvania, despite the denials of Brother Mur- ray, which we don’t know officially. A eT tae mene tt na \ 3