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REPRESENTATION
COALMINES

SELEKMAN AND VAN KLEECK

'i\

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SERIES

EMPLOYES'

REPRESENTATION

IN COAL MINES

A STUDY OF
THE INDUSTRIAL REPRESENTATION PLAN OF
THE COLORADO FUEL AND IRON COMPANY

BEN M. SELEKMAN

AND

MARY VAN KLEECK

OF DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL STUDIES
OF RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION

NEW YORK

RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION

1924

WM. F. FELL CO. PRINTERS
PHILADELPHIA

FOREWORD
TO INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SERIES

By Mary Van Kleeck
Director of Industrial Studies, Russell Sage Foundation

"T T TAGE-EARNERS' participation in manage-
\ /\ / ment" is the general title under which the
T y Department of Industrial Studies of the
Russell Sage Foundation is carrying forward a series of
investigations of new experiments in the organization of
relations between employers and employes in industrial
enterprises in the United States.^

The series was planned in 1919 after interviews with a
number of persons, including engineers, social workers,
investigators, government officials, employers, and rep-
resentatives of labor, whose advice had been sought as
to how the Foundation could most effectively contribute
toward the improvement of human relations in industry.
The consensus of opinion seemed to be that there was
great need to record the experience of those industries
in which definite effort had been made to give wage-
earners a voice in matters affecting their employment.
These efforts had taken forms varying from conferences
between employers and employes on wages, hours, and
other conditions of employment to genuine participa-
tion by the workers in management.

These experiments include many kinds of organiza-

1 The studies thus far made by the Foundation, or in progress, in-
clude the Industrial Representation Plan of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company in its coal mines and in its steel works, the Partnership
Plan of the Dutchess Bleachery, the Works Council of Rock Island
Arsenal, and the employment policies of William Filene's Sons in
their store in Boston.

FOREWORD

tion under many different names, but roughly they may
be grouped into two major types; (i) those which are
limited to a single company or to one plant, as are
practically all of the forms known as employes' repre-
sentation plans; and (2) those which may include an
entire industry, with machinery for joint negotiation
between groups of employers on the one hand and trade
unions of employes on the other, such as are found in
the women's garment trades and the mining industry.
Neither the typical plan for employes' representation,
nor the usual trade union can be characterized as aiming
primarily to provide opportunity for wage-earners to
participate in management. Nevertheless the object
of our interest in all these experiments is the status
they give to wage-earners as measured by the workers'
opportunity to share in decisions affecting industrial
relations. We are not primarily concerned with the con-
ditions established, the rates of wages paid or the hours
worked except as these are the result of a larger influence
on the part of employes. Our chief concern is to find out
by what procedure conditions have been established
and, particularly, how effective the voice of the workers
has been in the process of determining them. Beyond
this lies the important question of how an industrial en-
terprise can be conducted so that the relations between
employers and employes shall square with American
ideals of democracy and brotherhood. Co-operation is
sometimes a vague word to conjure with, but in its ac-
curate meaning of "working together" it represents not
only an ideal but a practical necessity in carrying on
the specialized and complicated economic processes of
modern industrial society. It is to give the more sub-
stantial content of actual experience to our aspirations

FOREWORD

for more satisfactory relationships in industry that
studies of typical experiments are needed.

As to the desirability of better co-operation in indus-
try, no important difference of opinion can be found. As
to the best methods of bringing it about, however,
opinions are many and at times bitterly at variance.
A very effective way of stimulating better co-opera-
tion between workers and managerial officials in any
industry or in any single establishment is to show them
how it is being achieved elsewhere. One of the best
means of correcting the prejudices of uninformed public
opinion, which often increases antagonism between em-
ployers and employes, is to focus attention, not upon a
particular conflict which may at the moment be dis-
tracting men's minds, but upon the practical steps that
are being taken to establish the relations of labor and
management regularly and permanently on a demo-
cratic, just and sound basis, with proper regard also for
the interests of the consumer. We are not interested
merely in a record of success. An experience which
reveals mistakes and difficulties and points the way
toward more effective next steps is also a genuine con-
tribution to progress.

To accomplish practical results a study of such ex-
perimental steps in human relations must interpret with
equal accuracy the attitude of mind of the workers—
their aims, their motives and their standards— and the
problems and difficulties of management. A true record
of actual procedure and its results should make it pos-
sible for those who are now responsible for policies in in-
dustry to learn from one another's experience. To con-
tribute to that kind of exchange of experience is the aim
of the Foundation in these studies of industrial relations.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

Foreword to Industrial Relations Series

By Mary Van Kleeck iii

List of Tables and Map xiii

Synopsis xv

INTRODUCTION
Purpose and Methods of the Investigation . xxvii

CHAP. PART I. HISTORY

I. The Problem of Employes' Representation . 3

II. Beginnings of Employes' Representation . . 9

Objects of the Strike of 191 3 9

President Wilson Proposes a Truce . . . .12

Suggestions to the Company from Mr. Rockefeller 13

The Nucleus of the Plan 14

Plans of the Company Officials 20

Introduction of the Plan for Representation . . 24

The Vote of the Miners 27

III. The Company's Purposes in Employes' Repre-
sentation 28

The Four Parties to Industry 28

A New Spirit Required 29

The Need for Conference ' . 30

Recognition of Wage-earners as Men . . .31

Representation the Principle 31

Preventing Injustice by Local Officials ... 32

Voluntary Action without Compulsion ■ • • 33

Organization within each Company .... 34
Difference between Trade Unionism and Employes'

Representation 35

Harmonious Relations within one Company . . 36
vii

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES
PART II. THE MINER'S WORK

CHAP. PAGE

IV. Coal Mining as an Occupation . . . .41

A Coal Mine Described 41

A Working Place 43

Pick Mining • . .44

Machine Mining 45

Piece Workers and Company Men . . . .46

The Mine Foreman • . 46

The Fire Boss 47

The State Mine Inspector 47

The Company's Chief Mine Inspector ... 48

The Superintendent 48

Allotment of Working Places 49

Securing Supplies 51

"Dead Work" 51

Supply of Mine Cars 53

The Characteristics of Coal Mining .... 53

PART III. THE PLAN

V. The Representation Plan 59

Election of Employes' Representatives ... 60
District Conferences . . . . . . .63

Joint Committees in Each District .... 63

Supervision of Safety, Housing, Health, Education,

and Recreation 65

Thd Joint Committee on Industrial Co-operation and

Conciliation .65

Provision for Arbitration 66

Joint Annual Meetings 67

Relation of the President to the Plan. ... 67
The President's Industrial Representative . . 69

Expense of Administration 70

A " Trade Agreement " 70

Fundamental Rights Recognized . . . -72
viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

VI. The Employes' Representatives . . . . 74

Subjects for Action by Representatives. . . 74

Functions in the Written Plan 74

Representatives' Share in Reporting Grievances . 76

Financial Status 77

The Status of Employes 79

Elections 80

Occupations of Representatives .... 84

Meetings 86

The Need for a General Representative of Employes 89

Past Activities of Representatives .... 96

VII. Responsibilities of Local Mine Officials . 99

The Power of Discharge 100

Limitations on the Power of Discharge . . .102
Superintendents and Foremen in the Representa-
tion Plan 103

The Superintendent a Community Organizer . .105
Changes through Employes' Representation . . 106
The Problem of Developing Local Officials . .107
Dangers in Superintendents' Authority . . .110

PART IV. THE PLAN IN PRACTICE

VIII. The Work of Committees 115

Housing M7

Health and Medical Service 129

Employes' Objections to Physical Examination . 134

Safety and Accidents 137

Education and Recreation 139

Employes' Representation in Community Life . 143

IX. How Grievances Are Adjusted. . . . 148

Procedure 149

Adjustments by the President's Industrial Repre-
sentatives 149

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

CHAP. PAGE

IX. {Coutinued)

Joint Committee on Industrial Co-operation and

Conciliation 156

Local Settlement 163

Some Adjustments Unsatisfactory to Employes . 165

X. Some Unreported Grievances .... 177

Grievances not Reported . 177

A Report on Starkville 178

Miners' Grievances at Starkville . • '79

Unreported Grievances in Walsen District . . 186
The Weakness of Representatives . . . .188

Representatives' Views 194

Possible Supervision of Employment Policies . 197
The Age Limit in the Pension Plan . . .197
Sharing Decisions with Wage-earners . . . 202

XI. Grievances Over Compensation. . . . 204

Daily Adjustments in Compensation . . . 205

Rates for Cross-bars 207

Weights 216

Cleaning Up "Falls" 219

Rock 228

XII. Wages and Security in Employment . . 232

Wages in the Plan 232

Setting Wage Rates 234

Wage Increases Since 191 5 236

Wages in 1920 245

Wage Reductions in 192 1 247

PART V. THE TRADE UNION IN COLORADO
XIII. The United Mine Workers in Colorado . 269
National, District, and Local Organization . . 272
Past Efforts to Organize the Colorado Fuel and

Iron Company 275

Factions in the Union . . . . . . 277

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAP.
XIII.

PAGE

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

(Continued)

The Threatened Strike of 19 1 7

Strikes of 1919 and 1921 ....

Attitude of the Union Toward the Representation

Plan

Trade Unionists' Objections to the Plan
Method of Inaugurating the Plan .
Method of Conducting Elections

Lack of Check-weighmen

Wages not Determined by the Plan
Improvements Due to the Union

No Resources for Strikes

Activities of the Union Against the Plan

Colorado Miners in the Strike of 1919
The Corr^pany's Efforts to Prevent the Strike
Extent of the Strike in the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company . . . .

The Company in the Strike of 1919
Excluding Organizers from Camps .
Excluding a Number from Re-employment
The Card for Employment . . ..
The Company's Statement of Policy
Assignment of Inferior Work-places to Strikers
A Strike for Re-employment ....

The Industrial Representation Plan versus

Trade Unionism

The Policy of No Discrimination

Changes Since 191 5

The Company Confers with Labor Leaders
Admission of Union Organizers to Camps
Union Meetings Outside the Camps
The Policy of the Y.M.C.A. .
The Company's Criticisms of the Union
National Organization ....
xi

280

284

286
288
288
292
292
292
294
294
295

303
308

310

325
325
328
329
333
337
339

350

35'
356

358
361
365
366
372
377

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES
PART VI. CONCLUSION

CHAP. PAGE

XVII. An Incomplete Experiment .... 381

The Constitution 381

The First Agreement 382

Unwritten Laws and Practices 383

The Judicial Function 384

Enforcement a Managerial Function . . . 384

The Legislative Function 385

Emplo\es Given No Responsibility for Decisions 385
No Participation in National Standards . . 387
The Need for an Industrial Code .... 390

An Opportunity in Colorado 392

Next Steps in the Colorado Fuel and I ron Company 395

APPENDICES •

A. Plan of Representation of Employes of the Colorado

Fuel and Iron Company in the Company's Mining
Camps of Colorado and Wyoming . . . .401
Memorandum of Agreement Respecting Employ-
ment, Living a-jid Working Conditions .416

B. Joint Representation of Employes and Management

and Procedure in Industrial Relations. Consoli-
dated Form for Mines, Steel Works and Quarries . . 42 1

INDEX 439

XII

LIST OF TABLES AND MAP page

Map of Industrial Properties of the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company Facing 60

TABLE

1 . Number and Type of Questions Brought up by Em-

ployes, in Coal and Iron Mines and on Colorado
and Wyoming Railway, of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company, for Consideration by the Presi-
dent's Industrial Representatives, in 1920 . .150

2. Number and Type of Questions Adjusted Under

the Industrial Representation Plan at the Coal
Mines of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
in 1922 152

3. Size of Force and Output in 15 Mines of the Colo-

rado Fuel and Iron Company during October, 1919,
and during Strike Period, November i-ii, 1919 311

4. Size of Force and Output in Four Mines in the Trini-

dad District of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Com-
pany during October, 1919, and during Strike
Period, November i-ii, 1919 .... 314

5. Size of Force and Output in all Mines in the Canon

and Western Slope Districts of the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company during October, 1919, and
during Strike Period, November i-ii, 1919 . 316

6. Size of Force and Output in all Mines in the Walsen-

burg District of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Com-
pany during October, 1919, and durmg Strike
Period, November i-i I, 1919 .... 323

xui

SYNOPSIS

Introduction— Purpose and Methods of the Investiga-
tion
How a company which operates more than 20 bituminous
coal mines, a large steel works, and a railroad in Colorado
undertook to organize its relations with its workers by
instituting a plan of employes' representation is the subject
of this report. The relation of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., to
the plan, by reason of which it is sometimes called the
Rockefeller Plan, is described. It was an outgrowth of the
Colorado strike in 191 3 and 1914, and the first prominent
experiment in establishing employes' representation. It
has been copied by other industrial establishments. Hence
we studied the operation of the plan in both the mines and
the steel works of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company as
part of a series of inquiries into industrial relations because
we believe that the problems which the company encoun-
tered in putting the plan into execution are typical and that
the experience gained should be analyzed.

The methods of the inquiry are described in detail. A
tentative draft of the study was submitted to officials of the
company and every fact which they disputed was carefully
re-examined.

Chapter I— The Problem of Employes' Representation
The growth of the company is described in order to show
the complexity of large-scale industry and the loss of that
personal relationship between management and men which
Mr. Rockefeller believes to be the most important problem
in industrial relations. The purpose of the plan was to
restore this personal relationship. The questions which we
undertook to ask are summarized as follows:

(i) Are the conditions of living and working more
wholesome and happy for men and their families, as a
result of the plan, in the camps and the steel works of the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company?

(2) Are the miners and steel workers satisfied as men
that their interests are protected in decisions regarding

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

wages, hours, or other conditions of work, and regarding
the aspects of community life, political and social, which
affect them?

(3) Docs employes' representation, as practiced in this
company, give stimulus to efficient service in the public
interest?

Chapter II — Beginnings of Employes' Representation

Correspondence and testimony given to the Industrial
Relations Commission by Mr. Rockefeller and W. L. Mac-
kenzie King and officers of the company, relating to the
strike of 1013 and 1914, are quoted to show the origin of the
plan and how its provisions were finally developed.

Chapter 111— The Company's Purposes in Employes'
Representation

Mr. Rockefeller's speeches and statements made to us
by officers of the company disclose their purposes in estab-
lishing the plan. President Welborn's statement, quoted
at the end of the chapter, is an accurate summary of their
aims.

The purpose of the plan he defined briefly to be the
establishment of such direct relationship between man-
agers of the company and employes as shall insure their
confidence in the fair dealing of the company and shall
bring to the company value received, so to speak, in the
form of loyalty from the workers. The idea of "repre-
sentation in industry" includes, he believed, actual
participation by employes in determining working and
living conditions. Representation in industry, he said,
could be defined as collective bargaining.

Chapter IV— Coal Mining as an Occupation

The interior of a coal mine and the various tasks involved
in mining are portrayed. The work of the mine foreman,
the state mine inspector, the superintendent, and other
employes, is examined and the difficulties of coal mining
described.

It is shown that the physical nature of coal mining makes

for changes day by day in the conditions encountered in a

working place, for variations in earnings, and for differences

of opinion as to what should be paid for certain tasks.

xvi

SYNOPSIS

Work-places change almost daily as the mine is extended
further along its underground course. It is an industry
where disputes of more or less importance constantly arise.
The remoteness of the camps where the miners live and the
dangers of mining have given unlimited authority to the
superintendent and foreman which' has led to abuses of
power and to injustices unknown to higher officials. Out of
these natural conditions of mining grows the need for some
means of appeal by the men to higher officials.

Chapter V — The Representation Plan

The essential features of the plan are outlined. At each
mine two or more representatives, in accordance with the
number of men employed, are elected to serve for one
year. These employes' representatives from all branches
,of the company come together in an annual meeting with
an equal number of company officials. In addition, district
meetings are held every four months for the camps in each
of the five districts. At these conferences any matters
which employes desire to have discussed can be brought up
for consideration with representatives of the management,
in each district there are four joint committees composed of
equal numbers of employes and officials to consider: (i)
safety and accidents; (2) sanitation, health, and housing;
(3) recreation and education; (4) industrial co-operation
and conciliation. The relation of the president of the
company to the plan as its administrator is shown. ' The
"trade agreement" regarding working conditions and "fun-
damental rights" is examined.

Chapter VI— The Employes' Representatives

The functions of the employes' representatives, the
occupational groups they represent,' and the weakness of
their position as described by the miners are given in
detail. The representatives are men who work in the mines
and who, as- employes of the company, do not feel free to
act in opposition to the company's interest in defense of
fellow-employes. The realization of this weakness at one
time led employes to suggest the need for a general repre-
sentative, paid by the employes, who would give his whole
time to the work, as does the president's industrial repre-
sentative. This suggestion was acceptable to the company.
It was, however, finally voted down by the miners, partly
xvii

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

because the general manager of the fuel department actively
campaigned for it, partly because the miners did not be-
lieve that an emplo\'es' representative would accomplish
much for them, and partly because they would be obliged
to elect one of their fellow-workers for the office, which
they said would continue a weakness of the present plan.
The activities of representatives in behalf of their constit-
uents at the time of our inquiry are described.

Chapter VII — Responsibilities of Local Mine Officials
The way in which the company has voluntarily limited
the power of the superintendent to discharge is discussed.
The responsibilities of the superintendent and foreman in a
plan of employes' representation are analyzed to show how
difficult is the problem of administration, and that a new
type of superintendent and foreman must be trained.

Chapter VIII— The Work of Committees

The company is shown to have been a pioneer in welfare
work which was developed prior to 1890 by Dr. Corwin,
its present chief surgeon. The excellent housing conditions
and the attractive communities are described. The pro-
cedure of the various joint committees is fully analyzed in
order to show just how far employes display initiative.
The conclusion is that abuses through compulsory buying
in company stores are things of the past; that inevitable
complaints against prices are dealt with promptly and
frankly through the representation plan; that the old
influence of the company in county and state politics, so
much discussed in 191 3, is no longer exercised; that life in
the camps is happier and more healthful, and opportunities
for schooling are greatly improved. But our examination
of the procedure of the joint committees has shown that
these changes are due primarily to the initiative of manage-
ment. Employes are not given responsibility for decisions.

Chapter IX— How Grievances are Adjusted

The adjustment of grievances was one of the primary
purposes of the plan. Cases are cited to illustrate the
procedure of adjustment. The work of the Joint Committee
on Industrial Co-operation and Conciliation is described,
and also the methods followed by the president's industrial
representative in settling difficulties. The chapter contains
xviii

SYNOPSIS

material taken largely from minutes of meetings of joint
committees and from reports and conferences of the
president's industrial representatives. Several complaints
which were unsatisfactorily adjusted are described. The
facts show that the employes are not making use of the
plan for the presentation of grievances.

Chapter X— Some Unreported Grievances

Grievances brought to our attention by employes which
had never been referred to employes' representatives or to
higher officials were carefully investigated. This chapter
contains the results of the inquiry. In various mines a
number of complaints were discovered which arose out of
conditions due to coal mining, but we could find no record
to indicate that the president's industrial representative
had detected them or that the employes' representatives
had acted upon them even when aware of their existence.
Although the first function of an employes' representative is
to be a connecting link between management and employes
for the adjustment of grievances, in actual practice the
employes' representative does not deal with all grievances
and he does not have a definite share in decisions. This
lack of responsibility on the part of employes' representa-
tives is a fundamental defect in the plan as it is conceived
and practiced. Unless they are given definite responsibility
it is diificult to retain the interest of the men.

Chapter XI— Grievances over Compensation

The daily adjustments of pay for extra tasks, such as
removing rock, cleaning up falls, and putting up props and
cross-bars, are described. Instances are cited where
employes' representatives were asked to share in decisions;
others are cited where their disappointment was voiced to
us because rates were set in the mines where they worked
without their being consulted. This practice has led some
of the staunchest friends of the plan among the miners to
declare that the plan may be all right as a means of settling
small disputes, but that it does not give the men a definite
share in determining what the conditions shall be. We
have found that the activities of the employes' representa-
tives have been chiefly confined to bringing complaints to
the attention of officials. Officials have the power of final
decision.

xix

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Chapter XII— Wages and Security in Employment

It is the custom of the company to accept the wage scale
of its competitors as its own. An account is given of each of
the wage increases since the cstabh'shment of the plan in
1915. With ihcexception of the increase of 1919, all increases
were made during the period of the war, with a certain meas-
ure of sanction by the national government. It was the
United Mine Workers of America which took the initiative in
securing all these wage increases, and statements made by
the compan>- indicate that it felt obliged to accept its com-
petitors' rates. This situation is a cause of discontent among
the employes of the company, who reason that except for the
efforts of the United Mine Workers they would not have re-
ceived these increases. The idea is constantly kept alive
among the miners that their wage scale is protected by the
union but that, as the company has no dealings with the
union, its employes have no opportunity to express their
views on the wage scale. Moreover, many miners feel that
they do not share in the burden which union members
assume when striking for higher wages.

The only instance of the determination of wages within
the company without reference to its competitors was a
reduction of 30 per cent in 1921. This reduction resulted
in a strike and in the intervention of the Industrial Com-
mission of Colorado. The Colorado law creating the com-
mission requires that it must be notified thirty days in
advance of a change in wages or other working conditions,
unless such changes are made by mutual agreement between
employer and employes. The real question at issue in the
mines of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company was, there-
fore, whether the new wage scale was the result of a joint
agreement between the company and its employes. The
company demonstrated that the agreement of the employes
had been secured through a petition to reduce wages which
had been circulated in the mines for the personal signature
of the men. The commission declared that the company
was within the law in making the reduction \yithout the
thirty days' notice required, as noted, in the absence of a
collective bargain. Following the decision of the commis-
sion the employes again struck. The 30 per cent wage
reduction remained in force, however. The employes
joined in the strike of 1922. After that strike was settled
nationally, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company restored

SYNOPSIS

the 30 per cent reduction made in 192 1 and thus again
equalized its wage scale with that of its competitors.

Chapter XIII— The United Mine Workers in Colorado
The form of organization of the United Mine Workers of
America is described, and the past efforts of the union to
organize the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company are briefly
summarized. An account is given of the factions in the
union following the strike of 1914, and the effect that dis-
sension within the union has had upon both the company
and the miners. The efforts to organize the employes of the
company and to call a strike in 19 17, finally averted by
former President White of the United Mine Workers, are
described. The opposition of the union to the representa-
tion plan and the attitude toward it of union members
employed by the company are told in detail. In general,
the attitude of union s\'mpathizers is that even the intro-
duction of the plan itself was indirectly due to the activities
of the United Mine Workers, and that without the support
of the national union the employes of this company could
not, under the representation plan, adequately protect
themselves. They have no treasury and are represented
only by fellow-employes, so that whatever is done in their
interest comes, in the last analysis, through the voluntary
action of the company. Meanwhile, in a number of camps
the miners are organized in local unions of the United Mine
Workers of America and hold meetings in buildings out-
side the camps. This situation keeps alive the issue of
trade unionism versus employes' representation.

Chapter XIV— Colorado Miners in the Strike of 1919
This was a national strike. Statistics show how many of
the employes of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
quit work. State militia were sent to some of the mines.
In the mines as a whole, the average number who stayed
away from work was 62 per cent, which indicates that the
United Mine Workers' organization has considerable in-
fluence over emplo\-es of the company.

Chapter XV — The Company in the Strike of 1919

The company undertook to oppose the strike by organiz-
ing meetings in the camps and discussing the issues. The
opposition of important officials to the strike led some
xxi

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

superintendents to understand that they were to discharge
active union men and that they were to keep union organ-
izers from entering the camps. The freedom of the men to
belong to the union had been assured by the plan, and for
several years after the plan was introduced the company
gave entire freedom to union organizers to enter the camps.
At the time of the strike of 1919 it appeared to the employes,
and especially to the members of the union, that this policy
was being reversed. The company denied that its activities
in the strike of 1919 were a reversal of the policy adopted
with the plan, and claimed that its action was determined
by the fact that the federal government had condemned
the strike and had emphasized the necessity for uninter-
rupted production of coal.

Chapter XVI — The Industrial Representation Plan
VERSUS Trade Unionism
The attitude of the company toward the union is traced
as it has been described by W. L. Mackenzie King and by
officials of the company. Changes in policy since the
strike of 1913-14 are shown so that, for example, President
Welborn has willingly met with representatives of the
United Mine Workers who were not employed by the
company when they had asked for conference. We des-
cribe, however, the refusal of the company to allow the
union to hold meetings in the camps. The Y.M.C.A.,
which includes officials of the company on its board of
managers, has not permitted its buildings to be used by the
union, and this whole problem brings up the question of the
freedom of community life in a mining camp and the
importance of distinguishing between the company as an
employer in the mine and as a landlord in the town. Full
credit is given to the company for its more liberal attitude
since the plan was introduced, but the facts presented
show that a conflict is in existence in Colorado between
employes' representation and trade unionism, which must
be wisely dealt with before any plan can be made to work
satisfactorily. The final paragraph of this chapter reads:

Unionism in the coal mines of Colorado has spent its
energies in vain efforts to secure recognition. At that
stage, facing the constant opposition of employers, a
trade union becomes aggressive, rather than constructive.
The leaders are likely to be those who can stimulate

SYNOPSIS

antagonism to the company as a first step toward proving
the need for a trade union to protect the employes. Out
of this kind of campaign develop endless petty causes of
irritation between a company and the leaders of a union;
and the employes share in these irritations. Behind all
these petty occurrences is a fundamental fact — the exis-
tence of a national organization of the miners. Employes'
representation is inevitably, therefore, a competitor of
the union unless a modus vivendi can be agreed upon
between the company and the union.

Chapter XVI I — An Incomplete Experiment

Reference is made to Mr. Rockefeller's statement that
the Industrial Representation Plan is a comprehensive in-
dustrial constitution. The plan and its administration are
examined in the light of this phrase, and the facts brought
out in the report are summarized to show the lack of respon-
sibility of employes in decisions regarding working condi-
tions and the problems presented by wage-setting in the
bituminous coal industry. The President's Second Indus-
trial Conference, held in 1920, recognized in its report the
importance of a shop committee to represent employes in
settling questions affecting the relation of a company to its
own employes; but it also declared that the existence of
employes' representation does not necessarily reduce the
scope of the union representative's work. The report also
refers with approval to industries in which employes'
representation and trade unions have been functioning
harmoniously. Only through unions can workers have a
voice in the settlement of questions in which their employer
must be influenced by his competitors' standards. The
scope of the representation plan as it now exists in the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company must be enlarged if it is
to create satisfactory relations between its employes and
its officials. The final paragraph reads:

The experiment which Mr. King planned and which
Mr. Rockefeller has so often and so effectively inter-
preted to the public is as yet incomplete. Its fruits so
far have been better living conditions and better relation-
ships between managerial officials and miners. An
"industrial constitution" for the company or for the
industry, or a partnership for labor, it has not yet become.

xxni

INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE AND METHODS OF THE
INVESTIGATION

HOW a company, which operates more than twenty
bituminous coal mines, a large steel works, and
a railroad in Colorado, undertook to organize
its relations with its workers by instituting a plan of
"employes' representation" is the subject of two
studies, one on coal mines and one on steel works,
which are simultaneously published.

It was during the prolonged strike of coal miners
in Colorado in 191 3 that W. L. Mackenzie King, former
Minister of Labor, and subsequently Premier, of Can-
ada, was asked by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who was
the largest stockholder in the largest company involved
in the strike, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, tc
suggest a plan which would prevent the recurrence cf
such a catastrophe. Both men believed that the lack
of personal relationships between directing manage-
ment and employes, which is characteristic of modern
industrial organization, was the true point of origin of
the bitter conflict of the coal strike in Colorado. To
restore the personal relationships that existed in the
days of small-scale crafts in a company which employs
5,000 men in its mines and 7,000 in its steel works in
Colorado alone, and operates lime quarries and iron
mines in another state and a railway carrying both
freight and passengers, was obviously impossible. The

employes' itEPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

"principle of representation" was the essence of the
plan suggested. The idea was to apply in industry the
mechanism of republican government in political life.
Relationships between management and men were to be
restored through representatives chosen by officials and
employes. The plan of organization embodying this
principle was called the Industrial Representation Plan.
It was established in the coal mines of the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company in October, 191 5, and in the
Minnequa Steel Works in 1916.

This was the first prominent experiment in establish-
ing such a plan of representation for employes, and a
forerunner of the shop committees, or works councils,
which multiplied rapidly in a variety of industries dur-
ing and after the war. Several of these later schemes
were modeled on the plan of the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company.

Because of its influence on the growth of what is called
employes' representation, and because the operation of
the experiment could be examined in two basic indus-
tries— coal and steel — the Industrial Representation
Plan of the Colorado Fuel and I ron Company was chosen
as one of the series of inquiries which are described in
the Foreword.

The decision to study the aims and workings of the
representation plan of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Com-
pany was made in the autumn of 1919, after a brief sur-
vey of shop committees in eleven industrial establish-
ments in or near New York. Ben M. Selekman, who for
three years had been a member of the staff of the
Department of 1 ndustrial Studies, made this prelirriinary
survey and after its completion he was sent to Colo-
rado. The plan of work outlined in advance was to

xxviii

INTRODUCTION

interview both employes and company officials, to
familiarize himself with working conditions, to examine
the procedure in carrying out the representation plan,
and to consult all the available documents on the
subject, including minutes of meetings, correspondence
and reports.

On his first trip Mr. Selekman stayed five months
in Colorado, from November, 19 19, to April, 1920.
When he reached there a strike had been in progress
for several weeks in the steel industry and the coal
miners were returning to work after a strike of some-
what over a week. Mr. Selekman spent the first
weeks in Pueblo, interviewing steel workers. He at-
tended hearings of the State Industrial Commission,
which was investigating a phase of the strike in the
coal mines, and thus heard the testimony of employes
and officials of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
concerning the alleged discharges of miners for activ-
ities in the union. In the coal camps, as in the steel
works, he interviewed workers, the representatives
elected in accordance with the representation plan, fore-
men, superintendents, and higher officials of the com-
pany, the state officials who enforce the mining and labor
laws, and disinterested citizens having knowledge of
labor conditions. A large amount of documentary
material was placed at our disposal by the company, in-
cluding minutes and reports of activities and procedure
in connection with the representation plan. The pro-
ceedings of official investigating commissions were ex-
amined. Mr. Selekman visited each mining community
at least once, and some of them as many as six times,
thoroughly inspected typical mines, talked with miners
in their work-places, and several times accompanied the

xxix

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

State mine inspector on his rounds.^ In accordance
with the usual practice of the Department, typewritten
records of his interviews and all documentary material
were forwarded daily to the director of the Department
in New York.

When information received in interviews could not be
verified in minutes or written reports, its accuracy was
checked b\' securing statements regarding the same inci-
dent from men in different positions in the company.
For instance, when miners told us of grievances which
had not been brought up through the representation
plan and hence were not described in the records, we
questioned foremen and superintendents about the con-
ditions which might have given rise to the men's griev-
ances. We did not disclose the names of miners whom we
had interviewed. 1 n these ways, and by later submitting
the manuscript to representatives of both management
and mine workers, we gave ample opportunity to com-
pany officials and miners to explain their points of view.

The information and material regarding the coal mines
were embodied in a preliminary report, of which copies
were submitted in December, 1920, to John D. Rocke-
feller, Jr., J. F. Welborn, president of the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company, and William Green, secretary-treas-
urer of the United Mine Workers of America. These
were all urged to give us their criticisms. We explained
that it was our regular practice to submit an early draft
of a report to those most vitally concerned in the subject
of our inquiry, in order to afford them an opportunity
to examine and to criticize it before publication.

The secretary of the United Mine Workers gave as his

* In 1919, 24 mines were operated by the company in Colorado.
One mine. Emerald, has been added since Mr. Selekman's first visit.

XXX

INTRODUCTION

opinion that, in spite of adverse criticism of some of the
activities of the union in Colorado, the report was a fair
and valuable statement of facts. The representatives
of the company questioned the accuracy of some of the
statements and disagreed as to the interpretation of
many of them.

We welcomed opportunity to consider their criticisms
in detail and to re-examine the evidence for every dis-
puted statement. After correspondence with Mr. Wel-
born and consultation with Mr. Rockefeller's office
in New York, it was finally agreed that the director of
the Department of Industrial Studies, Mary Van
Kleeck, should go to Colorado to discuss the manu-
script with officers of the company and to get a direct
impression of the views of the workers on the operation
of the plan.

Following interviews with trade union officials and
others outside the company in Pueblo and Denver,
Miss Van Kleeck met the officers of the company in
their Denver office early in February, 1921, and together
they spent six consecutive days in reading and discuss-
ing the entire manuscript of the first report. In order
that the points of difference might be kept clearly in
mind the discussion was recorded in a memorandum
prepared by Miss Van Kleeck and agreed to by the
officers of the company. In all the stages of the inves-
tigation, the officers of the company were uniformly
generous in affording us access to sources of information
that we needed to reach through them.

Following the discussion of the preliminary report,
Miss Van Kleeck visited the camps of 23 of the 25 coal
mines of the company in Colorado, and conferred at
length with 64 men employed in the coal mines, includ-

xxxi

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

ing the representatives elected for the year 1921 in every
mine of the company then in operation in Colorado, ex-
cept Crested Butte.* At least two company officials
went with Miss Van Kleeck to all the camps, but no offi-
cial was present at any of her conferences with employes.
Miss Van Kleeck 's main purpose was, first, to gain an
understanding of the point of view of the officials, in
order that the fairest possible consideration should be
given to their objections, and, second, to re-examine
every fact which they had challenged in the manu-
script. Mr. Selekman also returned to Colorado in 192 1
to check up again the evidence of his first interviews.

Following her visits to the mines. Miss Van Kleeck
returned to Pueblo for an investigation of the repre-
sentation plan in the Minnequa Steel Works. Here she
interviewed between 40 and 50 workers, including a
large majority of the representatives who had served
in 1920.-

When her inquiries in Pueblo were completed. Miss
Van Kleeck had a final conference with officials of the
company in Denver, at which she stated her findings in
detail. Mr. Selekman was present to explain the pro-
cedure which he had followed in his inquiry. A ver-
batim stenographic report was taken of this conference,
and its 444 typewritten pages constitute an unusual
record both of the findings of the study and of the views
of the company on the facts presented. It was approved
by the president and other officers of the company after
a few minor corrections.

^ Of the 25 mines, one, Crested Butte, is a long distance from the
others; another, Engle, was closed when Miss Van Kleeck was in the
neighborhood, but she talked with one of its employe representatives.

^ The elections for 1921 were then in progress and in some depart-
ments not completed.

xxxii

INTRODUCTION

After revision of the manuscript, to include the new
material gathered by Miss Van Kleeck, the galley proof
was submitted to President John L. Lewis and other
officers of the United Mine Workers and to representa-
tives of the union from Colorado, who approved it as a
whole. It was also submitted to the officers of the
company and to Mr. Rockefeller, and we regret that
after giving full consideration to their objections many
differences of opinion as to interpretation and con-
clusions still remain.

The details thus covered in conference and in new
observation were so numerous that a summary of the
results is difficult to formulate in a few words. Some of
the differences in interpretation between us and officers
of the company, on which agreement was not possible,
will appear at various places in the following pages.
Considerable new material was added, some of it re-
lating to events subsequent to Mr. Selekman's first
trip to Colorado. Much of the information secured
from employes and supporting our first report con-
tinued to be unconvincing to officials. They suggested
that if we would name employes who had made the
statements recorded by us, either officers of the com-
pany or superintendents might be able to give facts
from their point of view about these employes which
would be a check on their accuracy. This we could not
do, because we had assured them that their names
would be held in strict confidence. In the important
specific cases which were re-examined by Miss Van
Kleeck, and in her interviews with miners, her findings
confirmed the essential facts upon which Mr. Selek-
man's report was based.

The weight which we gave to the objections made by
2 xxxiii

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

officials to some of our descriptions of miners' opinions
and experiences can be better understood if we dis-
tinguish between the types of data secured in our talks
with employes. Interviews with them had yielded
two types of information, which were embodied in
the report: (i) Statements of opinion by the miners
which constituted evidence of their reactions toward
the representation plan and their attitude toward the
company; these may have reflected a limited under-
standing of the company or the plan, but they gave us
insight into the minds of the workers; (2) statements of
experience by the miners regarding the operation of the
plan; these were subject to the usual processes of
verification.

As to the second type of information, every effort
was made to hear testimony from both sides and to sift
the evidence in order to discover the truth without
bias. As to the first type of statement— that which
reflects the feelings of the employes— the objection of
officials of the company is not conclusive, for a dis-
interested outsider who wins the confidence of a worker
is, often, in a position to secure a franker expression
of opinion than would be given to a company official.
When, therefore, company officials doubted the accu-
racy of our interpretation of the psychology and of the
point of view of the workers regarding the representa-
tion plan, it was necessary to let the matter stand as a
difference of opinion. For instance, many grievances
had been described by the men to Mr. Selekman which
had never been taken up through the machinery of
the plan, and the fact that no adjustment of these diffi-
culties had been sought by employes, despite the provi-
sion for their representation, was analyzed in our report

xxxiv

INTRODUCTION

as a test of the plan. These were facts which, in the
very nature of the case, had never been brought to the
attention of the company, yet officials questioned their
accuracy. Our confidence in their vaHdity was based
in part upon our knowledge of the repetition of state-
ments on the subject made by one miner after another
in all the camps.

Probably, full agreement by both workers and em-
ployers as to the conclusions presented in an investiga-
tion of this kind is impossible of achievement. Never-
theless, the tests to which the material here presented
has been subjected have included a re-examination of
every disputed fact. After all, differences of opinion
are in themselves information for the seeker after
truth in labor problems, and they form an essential
part of the record of human relations in industry. In
the chapters which follow, the reader's attention will be
called to the points on which important differences
have been expressed. Our aim has been to set forth
events, conditions, statistics, purposes, methods, and
opinions fully enough to enable readers to weigh the
evidence and to draw their own conclusions.

XXXV

PART I
HISTORY

CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM OF EMPLOYES' REPRESEN-
TATION

FROM the Denver office of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company south to Trinidad, the center of its
southern mines, with Pueblo and the steel works
on the way, is 2 1 6 miles. From Denver west to Crested
Butte, the most western of its mines in Colorado, is
320 miles. Scattered over this area lie the mining com-
munities Avhose citizens are asked to co-operate in a plan
for industrial representation.

From the work-place of the miner with his pick and
shovel to the office of the president of this, the largest
coal-producing company of Colorado, is a distance of a
kind that cannot be measured in miles.

The geographical distance is overcome by 800 miles
of leased telegraphic lines, by the automobile or railroad
trips of officials, and by the journeys of representatives
of the men to central points for conferences or committee
service.

The Industrial Representation Plan is an effort to
overcome the mental and economic separation. Be-
tween the miner in his work-place and the president in
his office the Industrial Representation Plan is to restore
personal relationships. It is intended to provide an or-
ganized means of communication between managing
officials and wage-earning employes by giving employes
the right to elect men to represent them in joint con-
ference with representatives of the company.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

The growth of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
is a significant story in the industrial history of Colorado.
The original company had only two mines and a small
steel plant with a blast furnace or two. Four pioneers,
Julian A. Kebler, John C. Osgood, Alfred C. Cass, and
John L. Jerome, came to Colorado in the eighties, and in
1892 the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company was incorpo-
rated, consolidating the Colorado Coal and Iron Com-
pany, the Grand River Coal and Coke Company, and
the Colorado Fuel Company, which in turn had just ab-
sorbed the steel works in Pueblo and the fuel and iron
property of the old Colorado Coal and Iron Company. ^
Mr. Kebler was the first president of the new corpora-
tion. When he died in 1904, the local papers referred
to what they called the "new" title of "Captain of
Industry" as applicable to him. Shortly before the
death of the first president, the expansion of the steel
works and other undertakings of the company, with the
consequent demand for some twenty millions of dollars,
had given an ascendant control to "eastern capital," as
embodied in the Rockefeller interests. This consoli-
dation of industrial enterprises into large companies was
an example of the development which was characteristic
of the history of industry in America in the decade of
the nineties.

To this period also belonged the growth of trade unions.
The United Mine Workers of America, organized in
1886, was active in Colorado. The American Federa-
tion of Labor was expanding. Organizers for the national
unions made their appeal to workers to join, largely on
the ground that only through national organization

^ Camp and Plant, April 23, 1904, p. 353. Formerly published by
the Sociological Department of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.

PROBLEM OF EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION

could the workers protect themselves against what they
saw to be the growing indifference to human relation-
ships in large-scale, impersonal business organizations.
Colorado miners responded to calls to strike in 1893,
in 1903, and in 1913.

How, then, after a long and unsuccessful strike for
recognition of the union in 1913, was a spirit of partner-
ship between labor and a distant and powerful capital to
be established— even though the owners willed it? Was
there in the joint conference of wage-earners and com-
pany officials, which a new representation plan made pos-
sible, any assurance that the workers' interests would be
protected when they seemed to be contrary to the in-
terests of capital? After the adoption of this new plan of
relations within the company, would the elected repre-
sentatives of the men in one mine be a match for this
powerful "consolidation" of capital and managerial skill
with control extending over many mines?

The United Mine Workers, the organized union of
miners in the United States and Canada, say. No.
They contend that only a powerful economic organiza-
tion of the workers throughout an industry can meet
as equals the powerful capitalistic organization which
management has come to represent. The miner, who
is dependent upon his pick and shovel for a living,
cannot act on behalf of his fellow-employes against
the company which gives him the right to use his tools
in the mine and can deprive him of this chance.

The company officials and other advocates of em-
ployes' representation say. Yes. A company can be a
large family, in which co-operation in common interests
is possible through getting together and talking things
over. The interference of outside leaders, who seek to

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

organize unions on the basis of antagonism to capital and
to enforce their demands by strikes, is all that the com-
pany need fear as an obstruction to co-operative rela-
tions with its own employes. The employes' interests
can be adequately served without the intervention of
representatives of a union who are not employed by
the company.

What do the facts say? Have the conferences and
the joint service on committees brought together man-
agement and men? Has their closer acquaintance had
concrete results in improving conditions? Have both
sides developed a capacity for co-operation? Do the
workers merely voice complaints or express opinions
when asked, or do they share in determining policies
and standards? How wide is the "zone of agreement"
in which an identity of interest between capital and
labor has been demonstrated in the experience of this
company?

So prominent has this company become in the public
mind, and so controversial have been the issues in its
labor history, that some readers have probably already
prejudged its representation plan, though they may
have had no first-hand knowledge of its workings.
Some there are who, doubtless, believe that no good
can come of this so-called " Rockefeller Plan," because
they regard it as a capitalistic effort to defeat unionism.
We ask that they bear in mind that in advocating rep-
resentation for wage-earners, Mr. Rockefeller is definitely
opposing the traditional view that management alone,
with its knowledge of business conditions, should estab-
lish the terms of employment without any organized
means of consulting the workers.

If, in contrast, other readers are convinced in advance
6

PROBLEM OF EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION

that no good can come out of trade unionism, we ask
them to bear in mind the history of the labor movement.
Its advocates beheve that action through a group has
become necessa§y because of the compHcations of in-
dustrial organization; and that the record of progress
for labor which is attributable in large part to trade
unionism has benefited not only the workers but the
whole nation, of which the workers are members and
citizens. Especially, they contend that trade unions are
an established fact— embodied in a large group with
influence and aims to be reckoned with as an integral
part of industrial life in America today.

The accomplishments of a plan for improving human
relationships in industry should first be measured by
the purposes and objectives of those who have devised
it. Has it performed the office genuinely and effectively
for which its originators designed it? This is different
from asking, Has it accomplished what someone else
with another social philosophy than theirs thinks it
ought to have accomplished?

The second and larger question to ask about this or
any other social instrument is, What social utility does
it possess, measured both by the purposes of its origi-
nators and by its actual results?

It is in gauging the value of the social philosophy
behind this plan that men will probably be moved by
their own philosophies to reject it as too reactionary or
as too radical. The evidence of its results should, how-
ever, be judged on its own merits. He who believes
that industry cannot successfully serve its purpose of
production unless it is autocratically managed by those
who own capital and direct it; and he at the other ex-
treme of opinion, who believes that representatives of

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

labor should have a voice in management in full accord
with the principles of democracy, should both be in-
terested in the facts wherewith to answer three ques-
tions : ( 1 ) Are the conditions of living and working more
wholesome and happy for men and their families as a
result of the plan in the camps and the steel works of the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company? (2) Are the miners
and steel workers satisfied as men that their interests are
protected in decisions regarding wages, hours or other
conditions of work, and regarding the aspects of com-
munity life, political and social, which affect them?
(3) Does employes' representation as practiced in this
company give stimulus to efficient service in the public
interest?

CHAPTER II

BEGINNINGS OF EMPLOYES'
REPRESENTATION

THE need to restore the lost personal relationships
between management and men was impressed
upon the mind of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., by
the strike in Colorado in 1913 and 19 14. As representing
the largest stockholders in the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company, Mr. Rockefeller came to recognize, through
the distressing events of the strike, his own responsibility
for ending it and for seeking to restore, as he said, " a
permanent condition of peace."

Objects of the Strike of 191 3
The Representation Plan was established in October,
191 5, ten months after the strike of the coal miners,
begun in September, 191 3, was ended in December,
191 4, by the United Mine Workers of America. This
strike has been analyzed and described so thoroughly by
federal agencies and by students of labor problems like
John A. Fitch,^ that it is not necessary to describe it at
length.

Nevertheless, brief reference to some of the outstand-
ing events and controversies connected with it is nec-
essary to a better understanding of the causes which led
to the establishment of the representation plan. More-

1 Fitch, John A.: Law and Order, The Issue in Colorado. The
Survey, December 5, 1914.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

over, the effect of the strike is not alone a matter of
history, for memories of it are so vivid in Colorado that
they still have a strong influence on human relations in
the coal industry there.

" The 1913 strike wasn 't a strike at all, " v/e were told
again and again by miners who had taken part in it.
" It was a civil war, and a bloody one at that." And
then they would go on to describe the " Battle of Hog-
back Hill," the "Attack on Chandler," the skirmishes,
and the "manoeuverings for positions," constantly in
fact using the terms of war strategy. The impression
received by the investigator was that industrial civil war
took place in Colorado in 191 3 and 19 14; and that the
tragedy of Ludlow, whereon April 20, 1914, eleven chil-
dren and two women were smothered to death during a
battle in the tent colony, in which the families of strikers,
turned out of their homes in the camps, were living, was
the climax of one of the most violent industrial strifes
in the history of this country. Several coal companies
were involved, the largest of which was the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company.

The demands of the miners which led to the strike
concerned wages, hours of work, the enforcement of
certain state mining and labor laws, and union recog-
nition. Of all these demands, the last was the most
vital to the strikers. What was conventionally called
"union recognition" meant specifically that wages,
hours, and other conditions of employment should be
agreed upon jointly by one or more of the companies
and the United Mine Workers of America, the latter
acting as representative of the employes; that all em-
ployes of the company below the rank of supervisory offi-
cials should be members of the union ; and that the agree-

BEGINNINGS OF EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION

ment should be embodied in a written contract. More-
over, machinery for enforcing the agreement and for
adjustment of grievances was to be estabhshed through
the United Mine Workers, also, in agreement with the
companies. The operators, acting together, refused to
concede these demands, and the strike went on with
both sides standing firm while hostility toward one
another deepened.

In May, 1914, after the strike had been in existence
about nine months, and after the deaths of women
and children at Ludlow, the United States Commis-
sion on Industrial Relations undertook an inquiry
into the causes and the events of the conflict.^ The
commission conducted hearings in New York, Washing-
ton, D. C, and Denver, at which testimony was given
by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., W. L. Mackenzie King,
J. F. Welborn, president of the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company, E. H. Weitzel, manager of the fuel department
of the company, John Lawson, the Colorado member of
the International Executive Board of the United Mine
Workers, Frank J. Hayes, vice-president of the United
Mine Workers, John Mitchell, former president of the
United Mine Workers, and John McLennan and Edward
L. Doyle, president and secretary respectively of District
1 5 of the United Mine Workers, which includes Colorado
in its area. Testimony was also heard from a number of
public officials. Correspondence and other documents
were subpoenaed. The proceedings and reports of the

^This commission had been appointed by Act of Congress on Au-
gust 23, 1912, as the result of a widespread demand for a thorough
study of industrial unrest. The dynamiting of the building owned by
an anti-union newspaper, the Times, in Los Angeles on October i,
1910, had called the attention of the country to the need for such an
inquiry.

1 1

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

commission constitute a record of events which is readily
accessible.' In addition, a sub-committee of the Com-
mittee on Mines and Mining of the House of Represen-
tatives had been authorized in February, 1914, to
investigate conditions in the coal mines of Colorado.
This committee held hearings in Denver, Colorado, and
Washington, D. C.^

President Wilson Proposes a Truce
Stirred by the reports of investigations into conditions
in Colorado and the widespread demand throughout
the country for a settlement of the conflict, President
Wilson on September 5, 191 4, addressed a letter to the
miners and the companies, enclosing a proposal for a
"Three Years' Truce. "^ The document embodied the
results of an investigation made jointly at his request by
a coal operator and a former official of the United Mine
Workers. It provided in the main for the enforcement
of the mining laws of the state, the re-employment of
striking miners not found guilty of violations of law, a
guarantee of non-intimidation of workers either by the
union or by the mining companies, the posting of the cur-
rent scale of wages, a grievance committee at each
mine, to consist of employes of the company only, with

1 Industrial Relations, Final Report and Testimony submitted to
Congress by the Commission on Industrial Relations created by the
Act of August 23, 1912, 64th Congress, ist session, Senate Document
No. 415, Washington, Government, 1916. Vol. Vll, pp. 6,345-6,990;
Vol. Vlll, pp. 6,991-7,425, 7,761-8,013; Vol. IX, pp. 8,015-8,480,
8,481-8,948.

^ Conditions in the Coal Mines of Colorado. Hearings before a
sub-committee of the Committee on Mines and Mining, House of
Representatives, 63d Congress, Second Session, Pursuant to House
Res. 387. Government, Washington, 1914.

' President Wilson's Plan for Peace in Colorado. The Survey,
September 19, 1914.

BEGINNINGS OF EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION

no outsiders such as trade union officials, and a plan
for the adjustment of grievances by a commission to be
appointed by the President of the United States as
a court of last resort.

As a preliminary to this truce the miners were to
waive any claim for a written contract or recognition of
the union, and during the three years of its existence to
desist from striking, picketing or in any way obstructing
the working of any mine. The companies were to de-
sist from employing mine guards and not to suspend the
operation of any mine over six days without authoriza-
tion by the commission. This body was to be given
power to impose penalties.

This proposal fell far short of the demands of the
strikers, but the situation was desperate and the policy
committee of the United Mine Workers accepted it
immediately, and at a special convention of the miners
on September 15, 1914, the delegates voted almost
unanimously to agree to it. The operators rejected
the proposal.

Suggestions to the Company from Mr. Rockefeller
When this proposal for a truce was made to the
operators in Colorado by the President and rejected, the
officials of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
already had before them suggestions from Mr. King.

in August, 1914, while the strike was still on, Mr.
Rockefeller had written to Mr. King for advice on
"some organization in the mining camps which will as-
sure to the employes the opportunity for collective
bargaining."^

1 See United States Commission on Industrial Relations, Report
on the Colorado Strike, George P. West, Government, Washington,
191 5, pp. 158-159, where this letter is quoted.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

"There would seem to be but two ways in which a
permanent condition of peace can be restored," his
letter continued. "First, by the calling ofT of the
strike by the United Mine Workers of America.
That this is likely to happen in the near future, we
have no definite reason to believe, unless the financial
resources of the union are so depleted as a result of
their industrial conflicts in several states that they
cannot much longer continue to support the striking
miners. Secondly, by developing some organization
in the mining camps which will assure to the employes
the opportunity for collective bargaining, for easy and
constant conferences with reference to any matters
of difference or grievance which may come up, and
any other advantages which may be derived from
membership in the union. When we had our first
conference at my house you remember we discussed
this matter and developed certain points which such
an organization would include. 1 am wondering
whether you can take the time to dictate, at your
convenience, an outline of such an organization and
send it to me for consideration. . . "

The Nucleus of the Plan
Mr. King replied that, because of his duties to the
Canadian government, then organizing its forces at
the beginning of the war, he could not give thorough
consideration to Mr. Rockefeller's request; but he did
suggest the nucleus of a plan.

"... the hope of establishing confidence be-
tween employers and employed," he wrote, "will lie
more in a known willingness on the part of each to
confer frankly with the other than in anything else.
Similarly, the avoidance of friction, likely to lead to
subsequent strife, is likely to be minimized by agencies
which will disclose the existence of irritation and its
cause, at or near inception; trouble most frequently

BEGINNINGS OF EMPLOYES' REPRESENTATION

follows where ill-feeling is allowed to develop, un-
known or unheeded.

"A board on which both employers and employed
are represented, and before which, at stated intervals,
questions affecting conditions of employment can be
discussed and grievances examined, would appear to
constitute the necessary basis of such machinery.
The size of this board, and whether there should be
one or many such boards, would depend upon the
numbers employed, the nature of the industry, and
whether or not the work is carried on in one or several
localities. Where, for example, there are different
mines, or refining plants as well as mines, it might
be that boards pertaining to each individual concern
might be combined with a provision for reference to a
joint board covering the whole industry, or group of
industries, to which matters not settled by smaller
boards might be taken for further discussion and ad-
justment.

* * *

"What might be expected of boards of this kind
would be that employes, before taking up any question
with the officers of the company, would try to adjust
or settle it among themselves. Failing adjustment
in this manner, differences and difficulties would be
presented to the officers of the company, not by the
individuals immediately affected but by the duly
constituted representatives chosen to safeguard the
interests of all. Having had a preliminary sifting
in this manner, cases could be brought before a com-
mittee of the board or before the whole board in any
one industry for adjustment. If it should be found
that an individual board could not definitely deter-
mine a matter of importance, there might be brought a
further appeal on stated conditions to a board chosen
to represent the industry as a whole, or a group of
allied industries; the purpose here being to get away,
to a degree, for purposes of adjustment, from the
parties immediately concerned, but not wholly away

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

from parties likely to be ultimately affected. This
would make it an essential that all members of such
boards, exceptinj^ possibly persons chosen as chairmen,
referees or umpires, should be persons actually em-
ployed in the industry or connected with it in some
way, not persons chosen from outside. It should be
possible, however, for workmen to select one or more of
their number, who could give their entire time to act-
ing in a representative capacity, and pay them a salary
pending their acting in such capacity."^

On August n, 19 14, Mr. Rockefeller, in a letter to
L. M. Bowers, who was then chairman of the Board of
Directors of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, and
to Mr. Welborn, its president, personally endorsed the
suggestions made by Mr. King. He assured them that
he was forwarding these suggestions "in the most in-
formal way . . . simply for the purpose of ascer-
taining whether you gentlemen in Denver believe that
anything along these lines is worth considering for the
Fuel Company."

Mr. Bowers replied almost immediately. ^ He thought
well of the suggestion. But he considered the time
(August, 1914) inopportune to establish any plan for
collective bargaining. Such a step, he stated, "would
be regarded ... as an admission . . . that some
such committee or board was lacking prior to the strike
and might perhaps have prevented it." The United
Mine Workers of America could and would justly
charge officials of the company "with inconsistency."
They would believe that the company was at last forced

^ Ibid., pp. 163, 166.

' Mr. Bowers resigned shortly afterward, and never participated in
establishing or administering the plan. His statements are quoted
to show some of the difficulties encountered by Mr. Rockefeller in
getting a new plan considered.

BEGINNINGS OF EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION

"to sidestep" and compelled to admit the repeated
charges of the union that the miners had no effective
way to reach the management with their grievances.
To form now such a board as was suggested by Mr.
King would discount the statements that the company
had made; namely, " that there were nodifferences what-
ever between the employes and the company," and
the strike was not forced because of any grievances or
differences.

In the same letter Mr. Bowers writes that he and the
other executives of the company " have known for some
time" that if they "would agree to a joint committee of
miners and operators being formed the strike would be
called off and without recognition of the union being
mentioned . . . they [the union leaders] know [this]
would be a recognition of the union and they would
shout it over the world, that they had won the strike,
and our men [be] set upon by a horde of organizers and
run into the union and followed in a year or two with a
strike and the open shop would be shut."

"Later on," Mr. Bowers continued, "and after the
strike is off or worn out, the writer would favor and
take an active part in joint conferences . . . and
undertake to form ... a plan that would give the
miners a representative to whom they could go with
any matter that they thought should be adjusted. . .

"At the proper time the writer will give his cordial
support and will take an active part in formulating
such a scheme. . ."

Later, in the same letter appears reference to " the
enemy," the United Mine Workers of America:

"Our rugged stand has won us every foot we have
gained and we know that the organization is bank-
rupt in this field, while the big men in the union are

«7

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

at sword's points because of their failure here; so
to move an inch from our stand at the time that de-
feat seems certain for the enemy, would be decidedly
unwise in my opinion.

"The political gang at Washington are at their
wit's end to find some way to get out of the pit they
helped these leaders to dig, so we are encouraged to
stick to the job until we win." ^

On August 20, 1914, Mr. Welborn wrote to Mr.
Rockefeller regarding Mr. King's suggestions. Inas-
much as the main responsibility for administering the
plan of employes' representation later devolved upon
Mr. Welborn as president of the company, a large part
of his letter is quoted as an authoritative statement of
his first impressions of the plan and his interpretation
of the strike:

"I was very much impressed with Mr. King's
thorough presentation of the merits of what might be
termed a conciliation board, and have carefully re-
read his propositions a number of times. A plan some-
what similar in form was suggested by Secretary of
Labor Wilson when he was in Colorado the latter
part of November, and following the meeting be-
tween the three striking miners and representatives
of the operators, a part of which he (Wilson) attended.
I have no doubt Mr. King's plan would be effective in
cases of frequent disputes between the employed and
the employer, or where there was a general recognition
of union labor without the 'check-off' and exclusive
rights of the members of the union that are a part of
the policy of the United Mine Workers of America.

"It seems to me, however, that the adoption at
this time by the Colorado operators of such a plan as
Mr. King suggests would weaken us with our men;

^ See United States Commission on Industrial Relations, Report on
the Colorado Strike, George P. West, Government, Washington,
191 5, pp. 169-170.

BEGINNINGS OF EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION

would tend to strengthen the organization with our
employes not now members of it; and would, in the
minds of the public, be an admission, on our part,
that a weakness, the existence of which we had pre-
viously denied, was being corrected.

"The strike of our coal miners was literally forced
upon them against their wishes by people from the
outside. 1 imagine that some people more or less
intimately connected with labor conditions in other
parts of the United States, but uninformed as to our
affairs, would accept this statement with a good deal
of allowance, but 1 contend that it is absolutely correct
as made, and that being true, no arbitration or concili-
ation board operating between workmen and employers
could have prevented the calling of this strike.

" 1 am interested in what you say about the results
of Mr. King's labors in Canada in connection with
strikes, and hope to some time have the opportunity
of discussing work of this character with him. It
seems to be unnecessary, however, for him to come
to Colorado at this time, for my opinion, as indicated
above, is that it would be inadvisable to undertake
a plan such as Mr. King suggests while the coal strike
is in an unsettled state. We know there is no demand
on the part of our men — at any rate, none of moment
— for a board to arbitrate or handle possible differ-
ences between them and the mine officers. What-
ever demand there may be of that character comes
from the uninformed public and is an opinion, rather
than a demand, based on misinformation as to con-
ditions surrounding the Colorado strikes.
* * *

" Mr. Bowers, Mr. Weitzel, manager of our fuel de-
partment, and 1 have considered the advisability of
at some time inaugurating a plan to be represented by
the proper committee, by which our men could, when
they considered it necessary, reach the higher officers of
the company on matters in which they were concerned.
We were prompted to the consideration of this be-
19

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

cause of the charge frequently made during the past
few months — which as to the Colorado Fuel and 1 ron
Company is false — that the workmen could not reach
the officers of the company on any matter without
fear of discharge by the superintendent, and by the
fact that this charge seemed to make an impression
on some of those who were naturally favorably dis-
posed toward our side of the controversy and toward
our general policy. We have thought that whatever
we do in this direction should be done after the strike
is over, and as a natural forward step from or devel-
opment of our past liberal policy toward our men.
Above all, it seems to me that we should avoid a
course that would, in the minds of the public, justify
the charge that we had been forced by the United
Mine Workers of America into giving our employes
something radically different and better than they
had previously enjoyed. . . "^

To these two letters Mr. Rockefeller replies on
August 28 that he fully understands the point of view
mentioned in them, and "however desirable some such
plan as suggested by Mr. King may be for future con-
sideration, . . . it is not desirable to take the
subject up at this time. "2

Plans of the Company Officials
In the following month, September, 19 14, the three
years' truce was suggested by President Wilson. It
will be remembered that, among other things, this plan
provided for a grievance committee at each mine. Mr.
Welborn, in replying for the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company, rejected the proposition, but in his letter to
the President he said:

* See United States Commission on Industrial Relations, Report on
the Colorado Strike, Government, Washington, 1915, pp. 171-173.
^ Ibid., pp. 173-174.

BEGINNINGS OF EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION

"... We are now developing an even more
comprehensive plan, embodying the results of our
practical experience, which will, we feel confident,
result in a closer understanding between ourselves and
our men. This plan contemplates not only provision
for the redress of grievances, but for a continuous
effort to promote the welfare and the good will of
our employes."^

On September i6, a week after President Wilson had
made public his proposal, Starr J. Murphy, of Mr.
Rockefeller's personal staff, in a letter to Mr. Welborn,
comments on the attitude of the newspapers. He says
that he is "impressed with the frequency with which
they [i. e., editors] make the point that the parties
should either accept the President's plan or suggest
some other. . . Public opinion will demand either the
acceptance of the President's proposition, or some con-
structive suggestion from the operators. A mere re-
fusal to do anything would be disastrous. "^

Again on October 5 Mr. Murphy wrote to President
Welborn. This time he suggested the organization of a
"mine committee . . . which should be charged
with the duty of enforcing the statutes of the State and
also the regulations of the company looking to the
safety and comfort of the miners and the protection of
the company's property."^ Again he refers to the de-
mand of public opinion for a constructive suggestion
from the company.

To this communication Mr. Welborn replied im-
mediately (October 9, 1914).^ "1 think we must avoid
now the appointment of a committee," he writes, "as
that would come too near one of the demands of the

1 Ibid., pp. 174-175. 2 Ibid., p. 174.

' Ibid., p. 175. * Ibid., pp. 176-179.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

miners' organization which has been frequently made,
and is expressed through their so-called truce proposal
presented by the President." With this caution, he
thinks that the plan for a representative committee
"or a modification of it, might be employed to advan-
tage." He does not advocate permitting the miners
to choose their own representatives. He suggests that,

"It might be well to have the manager make the
appointment without there being any feeling that a
part of the committee represented the company and
the other part the workmen. There are some mines
at which undoubtedly our manager could select three
miners who would be glad, and could be safely de-
pended upon to assume the responsibility suggested
by you, and would in every sense of the word be safe.
In considering this forward work, which I feel we
must certainly keep in mind, I am impressed with the
importance of so composing whatever committees
are found advisable as to make it appear that they all
represent the same interest; in other words, that
there is but one interest which is in every sense of the
word common, yet having it understood that the
committee is as free to consider any complaints or
grievances of the men as though it were one entirely
of their own selection. I feel that the existing rela-
tions between ourselves and our workmen is such as
to form a natural foundation for development along
that line. I also feel that every step should be made
with very great care, so as to avoid impressing the
men with the feeling that we are alarmed or think
that we ought to give them some representation
which heretofore they have not had."

In the same letter Mr. Welborn analyzes present
needs in the coal mines. "There are a number of
things," he says, "in connection with coal mining oper-

BEGINNINGS OF EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION

ations much to be desired. Some of them are noted
below:

Regularity in work.

Efficiency.

General observance of rules and laws.

Care to guard against accidents.

Loyalty to the company's interests.

Cleanliness in the homes.

" Mr. Weitzel and I thought that we might possibly
develop a system of marking for efficiency in some of
these lines, and offer a prize to the one who made the
best showing in a year, or some shorter period, if that
seemed advisable. My first thought in connection
with it was that the contest should take place at each
mine independent of all the others."

To another suggestion of Mr. Murphy's he had
already referred in these words:

" I have also considered with favor a suggestion
which you made when 1 was in New York, of paying
a prize of a trip to Denver for efficiency in some
particular line.

" Yesterday and day before Mr. Weitzel, our man-
ager of the fuel department, was in Denver when he
and 1 went over your suggestion last referred to and
decided to perfect a plan along that line."

As to the need for some method of uncovering the
grievances of the men, and his suggestion for letting a
doctor or a store manager report their complaints, he
wrote :

" We have already started on a plan which was sug-
gested by Mr. Lee, of getting at the complaints of the
various men, in some cases through the doctors, and
at one mine through the store manager, who main-
tains a most intimate relation with all of the workmen.
We have started this at only four of the properties

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

and will try it there before extending the plan any
further. If it proves successful, we can work from it
into something perhaps a little broader."

Introduction of the Plan for Representation

The steps taken to establish the plan were shown in
Mr. Rockefeller's testimony before the Commission on
Industrial Relations on January 25, 1915. On that
occasion he testified that he had been deeply concerned
with the "distressing features" of the strike. He had
felt that "there was something fundamentally wrong
in a condition of affairs which rendered possible the loss
of human lives, engendered hatred and bitterness, and
brought suffering and privation upon hundreds of
human beings." Without attempting to apportion
blame, he had "determined that in so far as lay withiij
[his] power" he "would seek means of avoiding the pos-
sibility of similar conflicts arising elsewhere, or in the
same industry in the future."

For this purpose he had taken certain definite steps,
which he described in his testimony before the commis-
sion. He had recommended to his colleagues in the
Rockefeller Foundation the instituting of a series of
studies into the fundamental problems that arise out of
industrial relations. As early as June, 1914, he had
begun negotiations to engage Mr. King to direct the
studies to be undertaken. Mr. Rockefeller had also
"sought and obtained advice with respect to machinery
for the prevention and adjustment of industrial differ-
ences . , ." Shortly afterward Mr. King had as-
sumed the office of director of a study of industrial
relations for the Rockefeller Foundation.

The strike of the miners against the Colorado com-
24

BEGINNINGS OF EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION

panics was ended on December lo, 19 14. Six days
later, December 16, according to Mr. Rockefeller's
testimony before the commission, " Mr. David Griffiths,
formerly State Coal Mine Inspector of Colorado,^ was
appointed an intermediary between the company and
its employes respecting matters of mutual interest."^
Three weeks afterward, on January 5, 191 5, the miners
were invited to take part in the consideration of a new
scheme of industrial relationship. On that day a notice
was posted at all the mines, inviting the employes to
assemble in mass meeting in each camp to select by
ballot one representative to every 250 employes. Those
chosen would later represent the men at a joint meeting
of themselves and the executive officers of the company
in Denver "for the purpose of discussing matters of
mutual concern and of considering means of more
effective co-operation in maintaining fair and friendly
relations."

Concluding his testimony to the Commission on In-
dustrial Relations on January 25, 1915, Mr. Rockefeller
said:

" I have received from the president of the company
a telegram informing me that this joint conference
was held at Denver on the 19th instant, that the
meeting had proved most satisfactory to all concerned,
and that its spirit had convinced the management that
it would lead to more active co-operation between the
company and its employes in the future.

"Thus it will be seen that the company has already

1 Mr. Griffiths was also a former superintendent in the mines of the
Colorado Fuel and iron Company.

* Industrial Relations, Final Report and Testimony submitted to
Congress by the Commission on Industrial Relations created by the
Act of August 23, 1912, 64th Congress, ist session. Senate Document
No. 415, Vol. VI II, p. 7,766. Government, Washington, 1916.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

taken steps to initiate a plan of representation of its
employes. It is my hope and belief that from this
will develop some permanent machinery which will
insure to the employes of the company, through rep-
resentatives of their own selection, quick and easy
access to the officers with reference to any grievances,
real or assumed, or with reference to wages or other
conditions of employment."^

In the early part of 191 5 Mr. King visited Colorado.
There he spent some time .conferring with men who
knew conditions in the coal mines. Later, with the
assistance of various officials and directors of the com-
pany, including Mr. Rockefeller, he drafted the plan
known as the Industrial Representation Plan, or more
briefly now as the Rockefeller Plan. While it was under
consideration, Mr. Rockefeller, accompanied by Mr.
King, made the trip to Colorado in September, 191 5,
and visited every mining camp except one.

On October 2, 191 5, Mr. Rockefeller held a meeting
in Pueblo, Colorado, at which were present elected rep-
resentatives of the miners and appointed representa-
tives of the company. At this meeting he outlined the
representation plan and invited discussion. He ex-
pressed his intention of staying in Colorado until one
should be worked out which would satisfy all. He de-
clared that there was "one thing that no man in this
company could ever afford to have happen again" and
that was "another strike. "^ He wished that the rep-
resentatives would explain to the men in the camps
that the company was "proceeding a little more rap-
idly" than it would if Mr. Rockefeller lived in Colorado

1 Ibid., pp. 7,766-7,767.

-2 Rockefeller, John D., Jr.: The Colorado Industrial Plan, 1916,
p. 47. Published by Mr. Rockefeller.

BEGINNINGS OF EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION

and than if he "was not so desirous of seeing some agree-
ment reached" before he left. The board of directors
would meet on the following Monday and act on the
plan. He hoped "that meetings could be held in the
various camps next Monday, Tuesday and Wednes-
day." When the board of directors met on the ap-
pointed Monday they approved the plan.

The Vote of the Miners
The week after the meeting at which Mr. Rockefeller
had described the plan to the miners' elected repre-
sentatives, employes at each camp were asked to express
their opinion of it in secret ballot. Before the voting,
at meetings in the camps officials of the company had
explained the scheme to the men. Ballots were pro-
vided in two colors, white for a vote in favor of the plan,
red for one against it. These colored ballots, the com-
pany believed, would make voting easy for the foreign
born, who could not speak or write English. Oificials of
the company have told us that the men voted in booths
to insure a secret ballot, and were told that they could
destroy the unused blank. The total vote cast was
2,846, of which 2,404, or 84 per cent, were in favor of
the representation plan, and 442, or 16 per cent, were
opposed. Rockvale was the only camp in which a
majority of the employes voted against the plan. After
the vote was known, the miners of Rockvale petitioned
the company for permission to vote again, and this time
the majority of the ballots were cast in the affirmative.

CHAPTER III

THE COMPANY'S PURPOSES IN EMPLOYES'
REPRESENTATION

BEHIND the Industrial Representation Plan is
a definite philosophy. It has been expressed
several times to the American public by Mr.
Rockefeller who, as we have shown, was largely re-
sponsible for initiating the plan in Colorado. The
fundamental feature of this philosophy is that the in-
terests of the various parties in industry are identical
and not opposed to one another, and that the industrial
problem is largely the result of the loss of personal rela-
tions between owners and wage-earners.

The Four Parties to Industry
In his address before the United States Chamber of
Commerce, at a meeting held on December 5, 1918, soon
after the armistice was signed, Mr. Rockefeller defined
the various parties to industry as Capital, Management,
Labor, and the Community. He described the interest
of these various parties in industry as follows:

"Capital is represented by the stockholders and is
usually regarded as embracing Management.

" Management is, however, an entirely separate
and distinct party to industry — its function is es-
sentially administrative; it comprises the executive
officers, who bring to industry technical skill and
managerial experience.

" Labor consists of the employes.
28

THE COMPANY S PURPOSES

"Labor, like Capital, is an investor in industry,
but Labor's contribution, unlike that of Capital, is
not detachable from the one who makes it, since it is
in the nature of physical effort and is a part of the
worker's strength and life.

"Here the list usually ends. The fourth party,
namely, the Community, whose interest is vital, and
in the last analysis controlling, is too often ignored.

"The Community's right to representation in the
control of industry and in the shaping of industrial
policies is similar to that of the other parties. Were
it not for the Community's contribution in main-
taining law and order, in providing agencies of trans-
portation and communication, in furnishing systems
of money and credit and in rendering other services —
all involving continuous outlays— the operation of
Capital, Management, and Labor would be enor-
mously hampered, if not rendered well-nigh impossible.

"The Community, furthermore, is the consumer of
the product of industry and the money which it pays
for the product reimburses Capital for its advances
and ultimately provides the wages, salaries and profits
that are distributed among the other parties."^

A New Spirit Required
Since the establishment of the Industrial Representa-
tion Plan, Mr. Rockefeller has repeatedly explained his
views on personal relations in industry. The solution
of the industrial problem, he believes, "can be brought
about- only by the introduction of a new spirit in the re-
lationship between the parties in industry — the spirit
of justice and brotherhood." Mr. Rockefeller realizes
that it is quite impossible for the owner of an industrial

' Rockefeller, John D., Jr.: Representation in Industry, pp. 7-8.
Address before the War Emergency and Reconstruction Conference
of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, Atlantic City,
N. J., December 5, 1918.

3 29

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

establishment to know individually all of his employes
and therefore suggests "industrial representation" as
a solution. Perhaps the best statement of his opinion
of this aspect was given in his address at the President's
Industrial Conference in Washington, October, 19 19,
during the course of a debate on the resolution express-
ing the right of workers to bargain collectively. Mr.
Rockefeller defended collective bargaining:

The Need for Conference

"... In the early days of the development
of industry, the employer and capital investor were
frequently one. Daily contact was had between him
and his employes, who were his friends and neighbors.
Any questions which arose on either side were taken
up at once and readily adjusted.

"A feeling of genuine friendliness, mutual confi-
dence and stimulating interest in the common enter-
prise was the result. How different is the situation
today! Because of the proportions which modern
industry has attained, employers and employes are too
often strangers to each other. Personal contact, so
vital to the success of any enterprise, is practically
unknown, and naturally misunderstanding, suspicion,
distrust and too often hatred have developed, bring-
ing in their train all the industrial ills which have be-
come far too common. Where men are strangers and
have no points of contact, this is the usual outcome.
On the other hand, where men meet frequently about
a table, rub elbows, exchange views, and discuss
matters of common interest, almost invariably it
happens that the vast majority of their differences
quickly disappear and friendly relations are estab-
lished. Much of the strife and bitterness in industrial
relations results from lack of ability or willingness on
the part of both labor and capital to view their com-
mon problems each from the other's point of view.
30

the company s purposes

Recognition of Wage-earners as Men

"A man who recently devoted some months to
studying the industrial problem and who came in con-
tact with thousands of workmen in various industries
throughout the country has said that it was obvious
to him from the outset that the workingmen were
seeking for something, which at first he thought to be
higher wages. As his touch with them extended, he
came to the conclusion, however, that not higher
wages but recognition as men was what they really
sought. What joy can there be in life, what interest
can a man take in his work, what enthusiasm can he
be expected to develop on behalf of his employer,
when he is regarded as a number on a payroll, a cog
in a wheel, a mere ' hand'? Who would not earnestly
seek to gain recognition of his manhood and the right
to be heard and treated as a human being, not as a
machine?

Representation the Principle

"While obviously under present conditions those
who invest their capital in an industry, often num-
bered by the thousand, cannot have personal ac-
quaintance with the thousands and tens of thousands
of those who invest their labor, contact between these
two parties in interest can and must be established,
if not directly, then through their respective repre-
sentatives. The resumption of such personal rela-
tion through frequent conference and current meet-
ings, held for the consideration of matters of common
interest, such as terms of employment and working
and living conditions, is essential in order to restore a
spirit of mutual confidence, good will and co-opera-
tion. Personal relations can be revived under mod-
ern conditions only through the adequate representa-
tion of the employes. Representation is a principle
which is fundamentally just and vital to the successful
conduct of industry. This is the principle upon which

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

the democratic government of our country is founded.
On the battlefields of France this nation poured out
its blood freely in order that democracy might be
maintained at home and that its beneficent institu-
tions might become available in other lands as well.
Surely it is not consistent for us as Americans to de-
mand democracy in government and practise autoc-
racy in industry."^

The plan now in operation in the mines of the Colo-
rado Fuel and Iron Company is, then, an effort to apply
in industry this principle of representation. To these
ideals of Mr. Rockefeller the officials of the company,
who are now responsible for administering the plan for
employes ' representation, subscribe. Realizing, because
of the effect of their ideas on administration, the im-
portance of knowing the purposes of the officials of the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company and their own inter-
pretation of employes' representation, we interviewed
them separately on this one question, What has been
your purpose in the plan so far, and what is your objec-
tive in the immediate future?

Preventing Injustice by Local Officials
"To provide machinery to prevent wrong treatment
of employes by their immediate superiors," was the
answer of one of them. For this purpose representa-
tives chosen by the men are essential. The commit-
tees are less important. At the time of the strike of
191 3 this official had discovered conditions, he said,
that he had not known existed, and these discoveries
convinced him that there should be more direct contact
between the higher officials and the miners. The re-

1 Remarks of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., October 16, 1919. Proceed-
ings of First Industrial Conference, Government, Washington, 1920,
pp. 142 ff.

THE COMPANY S PURPOSES

suits have benefited men and company in unforeseen
ways. For example, in securing greater safety in the
mines, the suggestions of the miners have been useful.
It is not fair to say that grievances among the men
show weakness in the plan, for some grievances are
inevitable in mining because of the very nature of the
occupation. The value of the plan is the opportunity
it offers for daily adjustments to meet particular needs.
This flexibility, he added, was not attainable under an
agreement with a trade union; he had found that a
union contract permitted less freedom in making ad-
justments than is possible when decisions represent the
best judgment of management and men on each occa-
sion as it arises.

In the opinion of this official, the biggest problem now
in the development of the plan is to educate the men to
feel free to take up any matter aflFecting their welfare.
The turnover of labor — the frequent changes among
employes — is the greatest obstacle in the process of edu-
cation. Five years is too short a time in which to edu-
cate employes to participate in a plan like this.

The relation of the foremen to the change, he said,
was also a problem. Foremen too must have a square
deal. No one who has not been a foreman can under-
stand what it means to be confronted with a change of
this kind. The representation plan has " hurt discipline"
in some ways. Training superintendents and foremen
to co-operate in a new policy is one of the most difficult
tasks in a plan of employes' representation.

Voluntary Action Without Compulsion
Another official who had recently entered the company
and spoke, therefore, from the point of view of impres-

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

sions gained in the present, said: "The Industrial
Representation Plan is an agency which brings men
voluntarily to a better understanding and guarantees a
morenearly uniform justice for all parties. . , . The
problem of industrial relations is merely the problem of
human behavior, getting along harmoniously and treat-
ing each other justly. The spirit of force and compul-
sion in the past has made necessary the banding to-
gether of the workers to compel the granting of plain,
simple justice. The idea of the representation plan is
that it is possible for men so to understand each other
and so to treat each other that no outside force will be
needed. The compelling power will be the desire of each
group to see that the other side gets a square deal. I
am confident that when all the facts are placed before
these groups of men you can depend upon them to rise
to any situation. Fair dealing will, in time, remove
suspicion and eliminate ill-will." The objective is "vol-
untary action without police power."

Organization Within Each Company
We asked him whether he had in mind the industry as
a whole or separate companies. Was it desirable that
the principle of representation should be embodied in
an organization extending over an entire industry, or
confined to one company? He replied that as woman
suffrage and prohibition were secured state by state and
finally adopted by the nation, so the idea of employes'
representation was having a normal and encouraging
growth. He believed that, "There is still need for
those who represent the idea of force and power to
oppose wrong treatment of wage-earners by selfish
managers," but as one company after another makes

[

THE COMPANY S PURPOSES

experiments in employes' representation, the idea will
spread.

Difference Between Trade Unionism and
Employes' Representation

A stockholder less closely identified with actual ad-
ministration, but influential in the affairs of the com-
pany, defined his idea of the difference between trade
unionism and employes ' representation. Trade unions,
he said, are fighting organizations. They regard the
interests of capital and labor as antagonistic. They
cannot, therefore, in his opinion, be a satisfactory means
of communication between management and men in a
single company. The representation plan, organized
for management and men in a single company, is based
upon the principle of co-operation through identity of
interest and is, therefore, preferable.

He realized that union leaders object to the adop-
tion of representation plans because, if an employer is
not sincere or fair, his employes, if organized separately,
are cut off" from their fellow-workers in the industry and,
therefore, they and all the workers in that industry are
weakened in their fight for better conditions. This
must be admitted, but the remedy in his opinion was to
"organize from the shop up," gradually developing con-
nections between the shop organizations throughout an
industry in a given state and so letting a national organ-
ization develop with delegates from all industries. In
trade unionism, he said, the national organization goes
to a factory with a fixed plan of organization and a
fixed constitution, and says to the workers, You must
come into this organization and accept it as it is. This,
he contended, is not a normal, democratic method of

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

development. "These United States grew from a num-
ber of States, and the growth of industrial organiza-
tion should be analogous." In principle, nevertheless,
he declared, there is no essential conflict between a
national trade union and the local shop committee, and
he intimated that some day the two may be working
together.

Harmonious Relations Within One Company
" The intent of our representation plan has never been
to use it as a subterfuge to combat unionism," said
President Welborn, thereby voicing the idea which every
official was eager to have clearly understood. "We de-
sire harmonious relations within our own company
undisturbed by agitation from the outside, and we have
sought to develop the conditions which will establish
the confidence of the workers in the management."
As to the application of the idea to a wider field of
industry than that represented in one company, or, put
in another way, the responsibility of any one company
for better human relations throughout the industry,
Mr. Welborn was frank to say that he had not thought
it out. "As a matter of fact," he said, "we actually
are isolated here. We do not wish to act with other
operators of Colorado, or with others in the coal indus-
try throughout the country, either in such matters as
the setting of prices, or in labor policy. In the coal
mines we are largely isolated, and in the steel works we
are wholly so. Of course, the intent of legislation has
been to prevent common action between companies in
business policy. 1 have not wished any propaganda on
our representation plan or any national agreement on
labor policy."

THE COMPANY S PURPOSES

The purpose of the plan he defined briefly to be the
establishment of such direct relationship between man-
agers of the company and employes as shall insure the
confidence of wage-earners in the fair dealing of the
management and shall bring to the company value re-
ceived, so to speak, in the form of loyalty from the
workers. The idea of " representation in industry"
includes, he believed, actual participation by employes
in determining working and living conditions. Repre-
sentation in industry, he said, could be defined as col-
lective bargaining.

PART II
THE MINER'S WORK

CHAPTER IV
COAL MINING AS AN OCCUPATION

THE problems and methods of administering the
representation plan will be better understood if
the reader has a clear idea of a coal mine as a
place in which to work.

Imagine a deep, narrow, railroad tunnel laid out like a
small city, with streets and lots, and you have a picture
of the interior of a typical coal mine. In fact, if you
should look at the map of a coal mine without knowing
what it represented, you would say, offhand, that you
had before you the map of a town or city. If the coal
vein is situated deep in the interior, you enter at the
mouth of the mine by descending in a "shaft" elevator;
if the coal is near the surface, you may enter on foot or
in a mine car directly into the "main haulage way."
The main haulage way may be compared to Broadway
in New York City, or to the street carrying most of the
traffic of any city, or to the trunk line of a railroad
system; for the coal from all parts of the mine is de-
livered in small electrically driven cars through the
main haulage way to the outside tipple, where it is
weighed and dumped for shipping.

A Coal Mine Described
Advancing about i oo feet, you find yourself enveloped
in darkness. The guide takes you aside, invites you
to sit on a stray log until you "get your eyesight"

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

and can see in the darkness with the lamp. Gradually
definite objects become discernible. After ten minutes,
with the help of the lamp you can see some distance,
perhaps 15 feet. Walking is resumed. As you advance
you feel a constant current of air against your body.
The guide explains. Up near the entrance of the mine
a huge fan pumps fresh air in and drives stale air out
over the "air course," which is a passage parallel to
the main haulage way. The air course and the main
haulage way together provide channels for a complete
circulation of air. The state mining law is very strict
on standards of ventilation. The reason is easy to
understand. In the first place, in order to be able
to live and work underground, miners must have fresh
air. In the second place, the constant circulation of
air acts as a preventive of explosions by driving out
dangerous gases which are found in so many mines.
Should your guide happen to be a mine inspector, he
will take an instrument from his pocket, suspend it in
the air, and obtain a measurement of its velocity.
Measuring the area of the passage, and multiplying
this by the velocity of the air, he ascertains the cubic
feet of air coursirtg through the mine.
* As you walk along, the inspector taps the roof here
and there to see whether there are any "slips" or pieces
of rock or slate that have come loose. A "fall" in the
main haulage way is bad. Not only is it likely to in-
jure passing miners, but it blocks the tracks and shuts
the whole mine down until the fall is cleaned up. As
you watch the inspection you notice that the roof is
braced with "props" and "cross-bars." Props are up-
right posts, varying from six inches to a foot and a half
in diameter. They are placed on the sides at irregular

COAL MINING AS AN OCCUPATION

intervals according to the firmness of the roof. When
the roof is very loose, or penetrated with slips, a log is
put across the props. This is called a cross-bar. When
the roof is extremely bad, even the cross-bar must be
niched and "lagged" with smaller timbers at various
angles. In some mines which have loose and falling
roofs the timber work gives the roof an appearance of
a fancifully patched quilt.

The mining law forbids miners to use the main haul-
age way in getting to and from their work-places. In
large mines they are brought to the "main parting" in
a train of empty coal cars called a "man-trip." In
small mines they walk through the air course until they
reach the main parting. From here they walk to their
various work-places. The main parting may be com-
pared to the Hudson Terminal in New York, or to
the chief terminal point in any city. From the main
parting other roads called "entries" branch off like the
side streets of a city to various parts of the mine. For
instance, in New York, we have East Third Street. A
similar entry in a mine would be called " the third east."

To the main parting loaded cars are brought by mules
or motors from all sections of the mine. A "trip" is
made up, a motor attached, and the coal hauled to the
tipple on the outside. From the main parting empty
cars are also distributed to various work-places in the

mine.

A Working Place

You follow the first east entry. You wish to see a
"working place," to know how coal is dug. The in-
spector turns into a smaller entry. In "rooms" in this
entry miners are digging coal. There is bustle here,
instead of the silence which characterized the main

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

haulage way. A driver, bringing empty cars to diggers
or taking loaded ones away, hurls a strange mixture of
profanity and cabalistic words at his mule. "Timber
men" are sawing logs into props and cross-bars, notch-
ing them and fitting them together to brace roofs as
miners advance. "Trackmen" are either repairing or
laying new tracks. The rooms, corresponding to city
lots, are the working places to which the miners are
assigned, usually in pairs. In order to keep the roof of
a mine from caving in, "pillars" of coal are left as the
men advance. Hence the name given to this method of
coal mining is " the room and pillar method." The pillars
are "pulled" after all the other coal has been mined.

On entering one of the rooms or working places you
may see a husky fellow standing upright, heaving his
pick into the coal. Or you may find him lying prone
on his side, swinging his pick into the bottom of the
coal vein. He is " undermining," or excavating the bot-
tom of the coal vein for a distance and height of about
two feet.

Pick Mining

In the meanwhile, this miner's "buddy" may be
doing one of many things. He may be fitting timbers
for props or cross-bars; laying tracks from the nearest
entry to the " face, " a term used to designate the partic-
ular place where the coal in a working room is being
mined; or dipping water from the room. Many mines
in their development suddenly encounter water in ex-
cess of the capacity of the pumping machinery first in-
stalled to carry it off. Or the buddy may be drilling a
hole several feet above the spot where the other man is
undermining. The purpose of the hole is to provide a
place for the explosive powder which is used in most

COAL MINING AS AN OCCUPATION

mines to break the coal up. The diggers themselves do
not fire the shots. Specially trained and experienced
miners, called "shot firers" are employed for this pur-
pose. The shot firer enters the mine after all the miners
are gone home. He makes the rounds of the various
rooms, puts the powder left by the miners into the holes
drilled by them and then ignites it with an electric bat-
tery. The next morning the miners find their coal
loosened from the face. They break it up into smaller
chunks prior to loading it into cars.

Machine Mining

You have now seen pick mining and would like to see
machine mining. You walk, or, when the coal seam is
low, crawl through a tunnel called a "cross-cut," an
opening 'between rooms required by law for ventilation
purposes. At the other end of the cross-cut you come
out into another room or working place. A "machine
runner" is operating a pick machine. This machine,
driven by electricity or compressed air, is very much
like a rock drill. It does the undermining in place of the
hand work of the pick miner. Men who load the coal
after it is mined by machines are called "loaders."

While in the country as a whole machine mining now
predominates, in Colorado pick mining is still the pre-
vailing method. In the mines of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company more than three-fourths of the coal is
dug by pick miners. This is largely due to the gaseous
condition of the mines, which makes it dangerous to use
electricity near the working face lest electric sparks
ignite the gas.

Where the coal vein is low, miners " brush" or take as
much rock off the roof or floor as will allow for the pass-
4 45

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

age of the mine car. " Brushing" is usually paid for by
the yard.

Piece Workers and Company Men
There are two classes of workers in a mine — piece
workers and day workers. The piece workers are the
miners proper, the "diggers," who actually excavate
the coal. They are paid by the ton, seventy-five or
eighty cents, or whatever the rate may be for each ton
they dig and load into a car. The workers paid by the
day are usually called shift men or "company men,"
and include drivers, motormen, tracklayers, timber-
men, pumpmen, machinists, blacksmiths, electricians,
and workers in other mechanical crafts necessary in
coal mining.

The Mine Foreman
The official in charge of underground operations in a
mine is the mine foreman. The state mining law of
Colorado provides that:

"In order to secure efficient management and
proper ventilation of the mines, to promote the health
and safety of the persons employed therein, and to
protect and preserve the property connected there-
with, the owner shall employ a competent and practi-
cal mine foreman for every mine; . . . The mine
foreman shall have full charge of all the inside work-
ings and of all persons employed therein. . . "^

No one, not even the superintendent of the mine,
shall interfere with him in the discharge of his duties, on
pain of being prosecuted for a misdemeanor.^ The

' Coal Mining Laws, Colorado, 19 19, section 44.

'^"Any superintendent or other person who interferes with the
mine foreman in the discharge of his duties as prescribed by this act
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor." Coal Mining Laws,
Colorado, 19 19, section 44.

COAL MINING AS AN OCCUPATION

mine foreman, in order to be eligible for his position,
has to pass a very rigid examination and receive a
license. Usually he is a practical miner, who has been
in coal mines all his life and has risen from the ranks to
his present position. In large mines there are one or
more assistant foremen.

The Fire Boss
The fire boss is the other official of extreme importance
underground. He is the local safety inspector, respon-
sible to the foreman. He visits every working place
before workers enter the mine. He inspects for danger-
ous roofs, gaseous conditions, fires, bad timbering, and
other hazards. No one is allowed to enter the mine or
pass the fire bosses' station which is situated in the
mine until he has recorded his inspection of conditions
and his report is approved by the mine foreman. The
fire boss makes another round of inspection after the
men begin to work. He, too, like the foreman, is re-
quired to take a rigid examination. In large mines
there are two or more fire bosses.

The State Mine Inspector
The state mine inspector and his deputies enforce
the law for safety. They visit each mine periodically,
make a thorough inspection of the ventilation, roof, and
gaseous conditions, and the thousand and one other
standards that assure safety and health to the miners.
Each inspector or deputy files a duplicate of his report
with the superintendent of the mine. The latter posts
the report so that all employes may see it. Those who
do not obey the state mining law and the recommenda-

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

tions of the mine inspection department are liable to
severe penalties.

The Company's Chief Mine Inspector
The company also has a mine inspector who has over-
sight in all the mines and can bring about a uniformly
high standard of enforcement of safety regulations
which would be impossible if there were no centralized
supervision. His work will be more fully described in
the discussion of the committee on safety.^

The Superintendent
The general executive officer at the mine is the super-
intendent. He may or may not be a practical miner.
Under the state law, however, he is not made responsible
for the interior management of the mine. The fore-
man only is recognized by the state inspection depart-
ment. The superintendent does not take a state ex-
amination. In practice, however, most of the superin-
tendents in Colorado are practical miners and virtually
control the interior management of a mine. At any
rate, the company usually holds a superintendent re-
sponsible for the production and general management
of a mine. This is, in some respects, an anomalous con-
dition. The state holds the foreman primarily re-
sponsible, while the company holds the superintendent
responsible. The reason is not difficult to see. The
state is interested only in the safety of the miners. The
company, while wishing to safeguard the health and life
of its employes, is interested in the efficiency and output
of the mine. For this reason representatives of the
operators who were on the committee to draft the pres-
1 See page 137 ff.
48

COAL MINING AS AN OCCUPATION

ent mining law in Colorado were opposed to a clause
requiring superintendents to take the examination re-
quired of foremen. "We hire our superintendents,"
ran their argument, "not because they are coal miners,
but because they have all-round ability." The fact of
the matter, however, is that this anomalous condition
results in a divided authority between superintendents
and foremen, some instances of which will be described
later. 1

The superintendent is in reality local agent for
officers of the company in all matters, including rela-
tions with employes and, generally speaking, is charged
with the execution of their responsibilities as employer.
He hires and discharges, manages properties, and " directs
the working force." In these tasks, as they relate to
management underground, the foreman, as we have
seen, has a legal responsibility. In management un-
derground, the superintendent and the foreman must
meet constantly the difficulties of variable and uncertain
conditions in the work-places, which inevitably cause
discontent among the men. The miner's livelihood
is affected by the ever-changing difficulties of getting
out the coal.

Allotment of Working Places

Discrimination in allotting working places is one of

the chief causes of complaint. Natural conditions

cause a great variation in the difficulty of mining coal

in various parts of a mine. In some places the coal has

been squeezed and made softer by the pressure of the

strata above. In others the roof is particularly bad.

The miner must spend much time in timbering his

^ See pages i66ff.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

place, in setting up props and cross-bars, so that he
may not be injured or killed by a fall of part of the roof.
He is then not able to load as much coal as in a place
where the roof is good. Again, he may be assigned to a
place where rock intervenes in the seam of coal. The
coal vein may measure six feet, and a foot from the
bottom he may encounter five inches of rock. He
may have clean coal for another two feet, and again
rock of two or three inches. The miner must separate
this rock from the coal. It takes time to clean coal,
and the worker loads less than where he has a seam with
no rock. Similarly, there are wet and dry places, high
and low coal, efficient drivers and careless drivers, all of
which materially affect the earnings of miners.

The foreman has sole charge of assigning miners to
working places. In the old days in some mining re-
gions they were not slow to capitalize this power.^ The
best .rooms were sold to the highest bidders. But even
in mines where the foreman could not be bribed, men
often suspected him of favoritism in assigning work-
places. For the nature of coal mining lends itself to
the possibility of subtle discrimination. Any practical
miner will tell you how easy it is for a foreman to be
unfair, often unconsciously. He may come into your
working place every morning, find fault with your work
and ride you so hard that you grow discouraged and are
ready to quit. Or, he may put you in a place where
there is a huge amount of deficient work — low coal, rock,
bad roof, water, hard coal, and so on. Or, he may shut
off your turn of cars. If you have obstacles like these

^ In all our visits and interviews in Colorado we did not run across
even one case where the men suspected the foreman of accepting
bribes at the present time.

COAL MINING AS AN OCCUPATION

to hinder your digging coal or loading cars, you will be
lucky to earn a fair wage for the hard work that you do.
To be a foreman or a superintendent under these con-
ditions is likewise not an easy task.

Securing Supplies
Another cause of grievance is the difficulty in securing
necessary supplies, like props, cross-bars, rails, ties, and
spikes. The miner is required to lay his own track to
the face in the room where he is working. Without
this track, empty cars cannot be brought to him.
Without cars he is unable to load coal and his earnings
are diminished. The facility with which supplies can
be brought to him depends on the efficiency and fairness
of the foreman and on the general organization of work
in the mine.

" Dead Work"

Perhaps the greatest number of complaints relate to
what is called dead work.^ Now this term, dead work,
means exactly what it implies, work done which
costs the company money but which does not result in
immediate production of coal. To illustrate, James
Smith and Tom Harris are assigned to a certain room.
The coal is pretty good. The vein is fairly high and the
mining easy, but the roof is bad. It is penetrated with
" slips, " parts of the roof may fall at any time and break
a limb or kill outright. That means extra timbering.
Smith and Harris are perfectly willing to put up props
as they advance, but the roof is so fragile that these are
inadequate to make it safe. They must not only set
up props, but they must put cross-bars between them.

1 For discussion of the methods of paying for dead work, see pages
207 ff and 2igtJ.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

When the sides of the room are frail or "squeezing"
they must "notch" the props and cross-bars, "wedge"
them together so that the timber will offer the greatest
resistance possible to the squeezing roof and sides. It
takes time to saw and put up cross-bars, to notch and
wedge the cross-bars and props together, and "lag"
the cross-bars by inserting many smaller timbers to hold
the slipping parts of the roof. As miners are paid by
the piece, according to the number of tons of coal each
sends out of the mine, when they are timbering they
cannot be adding to their pay by digging coal. And
the foreman and superintendent may not give them
anything for this work, or may give them an amount
which the miners consider altogether inadequate.

Another condition which provokes grievances is the
presence of rock, slate or " boney " in various parts of the
coal vein. The company insists on clean coal being sent
out to the tipple. The miner spends time removing the
rock or slate. He expects payment for this work. On
" measuring day, " the foreman makes the rounds of all
the rooms. He looks at the rock which the miner has
cleaned and estimates how much extra pay to give him for
this work. The miner may disagree and a dispute arises.

Other causes of grievance come within the category
of dead work. "Falls" of parts of the roof occur in a
working place overnight, and the next day the miner
must clean up the fallen debris. He expects pay for
this work. It takes time and energy. The foreman
may refuse to give him anything because he may think
it is the miner's fault. Had he timbered his place with
care the fall might not have occurred. The miner be-
lieves that his timbering was perfect. Natural condi-
tions, in his opinion, caused the fall.

COAL MINING AS AN OCCUPATION

Supply of Mine Cars

The lack of "an equal turn of cars" constitutes in
many mines another grievance, growing out of the char-
acter of coal mining as an occupation. It is closely
connected with the subject of wages. The miner's
earnings depend on the amount of coal he sends out.
He can load plenty of coal only when he is supplied
during the day with an adequate number of cars.
Whether or not he gets enough cars will depend on the
efficiency and good will of the driver assigned to his
particular entry and the organization of work in the
mine as a whole. It is also to the company's interest to
keep the miners supplied with cars, but on any par-
ticular day, if production is sufficient for the market, the
company does not suffer from curtailment of output.
The miner, in contrast, loses his earnings. He may also
lose them through unequal distribution of mine cars,
which may occur even when total production for the
mine is satisfactory.

The Characteristics of Coal Mining

Thus the physical nature of coal mining makes for
changes day by day in the conditions encountered in a
working place, for variations in earnings, and for dif-
ferences of opinion as to what should be paid for certain
tasks. Work-places change daily as the mine is ex-
tended further along its underground course. It is an
industry where disputes of more or less importance con-
stantly arise. It seems probable, moreover, that the
nature of the work creates a state of mind which results
in the aggravation of grievances. We do not wish to
overdraw the picture, but coal mining is essentially a

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

dirty, unpleasant, and extremely hazardous occupation.
The miner works underground, with the darkness re-
lieved only by the lamp in his cap, and often in a
cramped physical position. He does not know when a
section of the roof may cave in and crush him, or leave
him crippled and dependent for life; or when explosive
gas may be accidentally ignited, and burn him and
his fellow-workers to death, or cause the mine to cave
in to such an extent that it will be impossible for a
rescue party to get near him and his friends. If you
wish to hear gruesome and blood chilling stories, listen
to veteran coal miners who have gone through mine
explosions, either as victims or as members of rescue
crews. In addition, miners work more or less apart
from one another, a few hundred scattered over a
wide area. They lack the constant companionship of
men who work together in large groups in a shop or
factory. The isolation, the darkness underground, the
constant presence of danger, make a miner's grievances
seem bigger than mere differences of opinion about
payment for tasks to be done or the desirability of the
work-place assigned to him. Insufficient compensation
for cleaning rock in the coal, or for a bad roof which
takes time to "timber," or delays in getting cars to
load their coal may arouse resentment and suspicion
of injustice and favoritism quite out of proportion to
the dispute itself. Unless his complaint can be voiced
to the management and speedily adjusted, it is likely to
grow because of the very conditions under which the
miner works.

On the other hand, miners enjoy the comparative in-
dependence of their jobs and the absence of close super-
vision. To mine coal is a man-sized task, and men are

COAL MINING AS AN OCCUPATION

attracted by its difficulties, while at the same time
these difficulties may be daily causes of discontent.

The mines may be remote from the city where the
offices of the company are located. To the miner,
wielding pick and shovel far within the mine, the presi-
dent and the members of the board of directors are
probably mythical personages. They, in turn, have
scant time or inclination to think about his difficulties
with rock and boney and weak roof. The superinten-
dent and foreman are the "bosses" who seem to the
miner to have power to give him a good job or a bad
one.

This is the background of the need for better human
relations in coal mining. It explains many grievances
which will be described in subsequent pages. These,
it should be remembered, are not always the fault of
the management. They are often due to natural condi-
tions which management must reckon with in its rela-
tion to employes. One object in introducing employes'
representation in the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
was to afford a quick method of righting such griev-
ances.

PART III
THE PLAN

CHAPTER V
THE REPRESENTATION PLAN

THE plan of representation submitted to the
miners for their vote in 1915 remained sub-
stantially the same at the time of this inquiry,
although some changes in methods of administration
were being contemplated by the company.^ The funda-
mental idea, as has been stated, was to make practic-
able a closer contact than would otherwise be possible
between the officials of the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company and the 5,000 miners and the 7,000 steel
makers in their employ. "Representation" of em-
ployes by the fellow-workers elected by them has been
the method of accomplishing this "restoration of per-
sonal relationships."

1 Since our field work and conferences with company officials in
1920 and 192 1 the representation plan of the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company has been revised and a number of changes made. These
changes were made by a joint committee representing employes and
management and were adopted by "theannual meetingsof employes'
and management's representatives at Pueblo on December 29-30,
1921." The pamphlet is entitled "Joint Representation of Employes
and Management and Procedure in Industrial Relations and Memo-
randa of Agreement Respecting Employment, Working, and Living
Conditions within the Colorado Fuel and iron Company." It is a
consolidation of what were formerly separate plans for the coal mines,
iron mines, and the steel works of the company. The Colorado and
Wyoming Railroad, a subsidiary of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Com-
pany, is also included in the revised plan. The specific changes will
be noted in this chapter and in other sections of the report where
provisions of the plan are discussed. Both the old plan and the re-
vised versions are printed in full in Appendices A and B, pages 401-437.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

The plan was similar in the mines and the steel works,
but conditions in these two industries are so different
that the operation of the plan in the steel works is
discussed in a separate report.

Election of Employes' Representatives
The properties of the company, which include bitu-
minous coal mines, lime quarries, and steel mills in
Colorado, and iron mines in Wyoming, are widely scat-
tered. The accompanying map shows the location of
the mines, quarries, and steel mills, and the railroad
lines connecting them, and the counties in which they
are situated.' in order to facilitate the administration
of the plan the coal mines are grouped in four districts. -
Each district and each mine has its own machinery for
carrying on the plan. Only wage-earners who have been

' The map shows the location of the following properties:
Coal mines: Trinidad District, Berwind, Engle, Frederick, Morley,
Primero, Segundo, Sopris, Starkville, Tabasco, Toller; ^Valsen-
burg District, Cameron, ideal, Kebler (2), Lester, Robinson (2),
Rouse, Pictou, Walsen; Canon District, Coal Creek, Em-
erald, Fremont, Rockvale; fVestern District, Crested Butte..
Iron mines at Sunrise, Wyoming.
Quarries at Lime, Pueblo County, and at Calcite, Fremont County,

Colorado.
Steel mills at Pueblo, Colorado.
The company's administrative offices are in Denver.
^ At the time of our investigation there were four districts for coal
mines: the Trinidad District, which includes both mines and coke
ovens, in Las Animas County; the Walsenburg District in Huerfano
County; the Canon District in Fremont County; the Western District
in Gunnison County; and a fifth, the Sunrise District for the iron
mines at Sunrise in Piatt County, Wyoming. The iron mines were
not included in this investigation. The revised plan adopted since our
inquiry adds a sixth district, the Minnequa District. This contains
the lime quarries and steel works in Pueblo County and the middle
division of the Colorado and Wyoming Railway. The southern di-
vision of the railway is now included in the Trinidad District, and the
northern division in the Sunrise District in Wyoming. See Appen-
dix B, page 420.

so. DAKOTA_

oCasper

WYOMING

Cheyenne* , NEBRASKA

•kOenver

CO L O RiA D O

oColorado Springs

' ^ W\ LAS ANIMAS

WJf ^Tr,n,dad

NEW MEXICO

I OKLA.

Map of Industrial Properties of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company

W Coal mines W Iron mines ^ Quarries i* Steel mills

Counties in which Colorado Fuel and Iron Compan\ properties are located are
outlined in thin broken lines. Railroad lines joining the properties are shown by
irregular solid lines.

THE REPRESENTATION PLAN

in the employ of the company at least three months prior
to an election may vote.^ At least one representative is
elected for every 150 employes in a mine, and no mine
has less than two representatives. On this basis most
mines are entitled to only two representatives. The
term of office is one year. Only employes of the com-
pany are eligible for the office of representative,-^ and
representatives add the duties of their position to their
regular work in the mines.

The annual meetings of employes for the election of
representatives are held simultaneously at all mines on
the second Saturday in January. These meetings are
called by direction of the president of the company.
Specific instructions are given in the printed plan for
the method of calling regular and special meetings and
for conducting elections.^

"To insure freedom of choice," secret ballots are
cast for both the nominations and the elections. Each
employe may nominate as many representatives as the

' Salaried employes are prohibited from voting for representatives
of the wage-earners. In 1919 a similar plan of representation was
put into effect for the salaried employes.

^ The revised plan provides additional qualifications for the office
of representative as follows: "Only an employe who is a citizen of
the United States, who is twenty-one years of age or over, and who is
and has been an employe of the Company continuously for at least
one year immediately preceding the month in which elections are
held, shall be qualified for nomination and election as a representa-
tive." See Appendix B, page 423.

' Several changes have been made in the revised plan. Nomina-
tion and elections are to be held during the first half of the month of
January unless deferred by common consent. No specific mention is
made of "meetings" for purposes of nomination and election, and
apparently the revised plan provides for voting in work-places as
well as in meetings. Nominations and elections continue to be called
by direction of the president of the company, but the procedure at
each mine is to be agreed upon by the employes' representatives and
the management. See Appendix B, page 423.

5 61

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

number employed in the mine warrants. From the
names thus voted for, twice as many as are to be finally
elected are placed on the list of nominees. These
nominees are, of course, the ones receiving the lari.':est
number of votes. For instance, if a camp were entitled
to two representatives, the four receiving the highest
number of votes in the nominations would be the candi-
dates for office. Of these four, the two receiving the
most votes in the final election would be the repre-
sentatives for the year. Any 25 employes may demand
a recount. From this recount, any 25 employes may
again appeal to the president of the company. The
ballots are then forwarded to the president, who may
either sustain the election or order a new one.^

The representative is the means of communication
between employes and company. His duty is to act on
behalf of the miners " with respect to matters pertaining
to their employment, working and living conditions,
the adjustment of differences, and such other matters of
mutual concern and interest as relations within the in-
dustry may determine." The employes' representa-
tives are paid for the time lost from work when engaged
in duties assigned to them by the company, and are
reimbursed for all necessary expense incurred, such as
railway fares. The actual work of representatives will
be fully discussed in Chapter VI, The Employes'
Representatives. 2

1 The revised plan provides that the president consider the appeal
with the district Committee on Co-operation, Conciliation, and
Wages. A representative may now also be recalled on petition signed
by a majority of the eligible voters in his mine. See Appendi.\ B,
page 425.

'^ See page 77.

the representation plan

District Conferences
Immediately after election, and every four months,
the president of the company calls a conference in each
of the five districts.^ At these meetings the representa-
tives of all the mines in the district meet with an equal
number of representatives of the management appointed
by the president of the company. ^ The purpose of the
district conference is to "discuss freely matters of
mutual interest and concern to the company and its
employes, embracing a consideration of suggestions to
promote increased efficiency and production, to improve
working and living conditions, to enforce discipline,
avoid friction, and to further friendly and cordial rela-
tions between the company's officers and employes."
The president of the company, or someone appointed
by him, acts as presiding officer. The conference elects
its own secretary, who keeps a record of the proceedings.

Joint Committees in Each District
In addition to district conferences permanent machin-
ery is set up in each district in the form of "joint com-
rnittees on industrial relations." These joint com-
mittees, four in all, are to consider safety and accidents ;
sanitation, health, and housing; recreation and educa-

1 The months in which the district conferences are to be held are
now named. They are January, May, and September. Special
joint conferences may also be held "as the president of the Company
or a majority of the employes' representatives may find desirable."

^ The revised plan has changed this provision somewhat. It reads
as follows: "At the joint conferences the employes shall be repre-
sented by their elected representatives. The management shall be
represented by such officials as the president may designate.

"The management representatives with voting power may equal
but not exceed in number the representatives of the employes.

"The Company shall provide appropriate places of meeting for
the conferences." See Appendix, pages 427, 428.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

tion; and industrial co-operation and conciliation.
The members are elected at the first district conference
following the election of representatives at the mines,
and are permanent for the year. Each consists of six
members, three of whom are elected from their own
number by the representatives of the miners and three
appointed by the president of the company. The
duties of the committees are as follows:

The Joint Committee on Safety and Accidents may
bring up, or have referred to it for consideration and re-
port to the president of the company, "any matter per-
taining to the inspection of mines, the prevention of
accidents, the safeguarding of machinery and dangerous
working places, the use of explosives, fire protection,
first aid. ..."

The Joint Committeeon Sanitation, Health, and Hous-
ing may deal in a like manner with " any matter pertain-
ing to health, hospitals, . . . occupational diseases,
. sanitation, . . . street cleaning. . . ."

The Joint Committee on Recreation and Education
may have referred to it, or bring up of its own initiative,
"any matter pertaining to social centers, club houses,
halls, . . . entertainments, . . . schools. . . ."

The Joint Committee on Industrial Co-operation and
Conciliation may consider "any matter pertaining to
the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes,
terms and conditions of employment, maintenance of
order and discipline in the several camps, company
stores. . . . "^

^ At the time of our inquiry in referring to the committee in min-
utes and discussion, the word "industrial" was usually omitted, and
in our report we shall usually give it the briefer title. Since our in-
vestigation was made the nartie of this committee has been changed to
"Joint Committee on Co-operation, Conciliation, and Wages."

THE REPRESENTATION PLAN

For each committee its function in dealing with "any
matter" and its jurisdiction is defined in the same
words: " For consideration and report to the president,
or other proper officer of the company at any time
throughout the year."

Supervision of Safety, Housing, Health,
Education, and Recreation

Working with these committees as experts in their
various fields are officials of the company — the chief
mine inspector, who is responsible for safety in the mines ;
the supervisor of housing and sanitation in the camps;
the medical director who supervises the camp doctors,
directs the Minnequa Hospital,^ and has general re-
sponsibility for the health of the miners and the steel
workers; and the supervisor of education and recrea-
tion, who has an advisory relation to the schools and to
recreational activities. The activities of these super-
visors in their relation to employes' representation will
be described in Chapter VI 11, The Work of Commit-
tees.^

The Joint Committee on Industrial Co-operation
AND Conciliation

This committee has its place at one stage in the pro-
cedure for adjusting grievances. An employe having a
grievance is to take it up, either in person or through
his representative, with the mine foreman or superin-
tendent. If he does not receive satisfaction he may
take it up with the president's industrial representative,
whose duties will be described later in this chapter;*

' See pages 129 ff. ^ See page 115. ' See page 69.
65

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

then successively, either in person or through his rep-
resentative with the division superintendent, assistant
manager, general manager, or the president of the
company. This guarantee that "every employe shall
have the right of ultimate appeal to the president of the
company concerning any condition" has been called by
Mr. Rockefeller "a fundamental feature of the plan."^
it is possible, however, to appeal even beyond the pres-
ident. If all other successive steps fail to give satisfac-
tion to the employe, he may have his case referred to the
Joint Committee on Industrial Co-operation and Con-
ciliation of his district. The decision of a majority of
this committee is binding.

Provision for Arbitration
Since the members of this Joint Committee on In-
dustrial Co-operation and Conciliation are equally di-
vided between representatives of management and of
wage-earners, they may have difficulty in reaching a
decision on a grievance referred to them. If so, an um-
pire may be selected as a third person "who shall sit in
conference with the committee and whose decision shall
be binding upon all parties." If members of the com-
mittee find it impossible to agree on an umpire, the griev-
ance may be referred to a board of three arbitrators, one
to be selected by the employes' representatives, one by
the company's representatives, and a third by the two so
chosen. Or the Colorado State Industrial Commission
may be asked to name all three arbitrators or to act as
an arbitration tribunal itself. The decision of a major-
ity of the arbitrators or of the commission shall be final

VRockefeller, John D., Jr.: Labor and Capital — Partners. In At-
lantic Monthly, January, 1916.

THE REPRESENTATION PLAN

and binding. Finally, employes' representatives are
guaranteed the same opportunity for redress just out-
lined, if they think themselves discriminated against
because of their activity on behalf of any employes. A
representative may appeal his case, after trying all the
other specified appeals, to the Colorado State Industrial
Commission, whose decision shall be final.

Joint Annual Meetings
An annual meeting of all representatives of employes
and the company in all districts is to be held each De-
cember at the call of the president of the company.^
Reports covering the work of joint committees in each
district during the year are to be read, and matters of
common interest considered.- The president, or some
official designated by him, presides.

Relation of the President to the Plan
From the beginning, the administrator of the plan has
been the president of the company. Annual meetings
and district conferences, as already noted, are called at
his direction and he, or any officer designated by him,
presides. The function of all joint committees is to "re-
port to the president or other proper officer of the com-
pany," and, of course, all executive officers of the com-
pany are responsible to the president. No separate de-
partment was set up in the beginning to administer the
plan or to deal with personnel problems. "We have
proceeded on the theory," said a prominent official in

1 Instead of one annual meeting of all representatives, tiie revised
plan provides for annual joint meetings "in places and groups to be
designated by the president." See Appendix B, page 429.

^ Provision is also made for the calling by the president of special
joint conferences. See Appendix B, page 431.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

explanation, "that the representation plan should be
part of the daily work of our officials in managerial
capacity. Every manager, superintendent and foreman
should have the provisions of the plan in mind in his
daily work and in his daily handling of men."

Until the summer of 1917, or during approximately
the first one and a half years' operation of the plan, an
executive assistant to the president, provided for in
the plan,' exercised a considerable degree of executive
power in administering it. He not only was chairman
of the Advisory Board of Social and Industrial Better-
ment, but he also helped in the organization of the vari-
ous committees and conferences provided for in the
plan. 2 With the resignation of the man who held that
office in the summer of 19 17, his functions were taken
over by the president of the company. In 1920 a vice-

' To supervise "the administration of the company's policies re-
specting social and industrial betterment" was the duty of the presi-
dent's executive assistant and he was to consult from time to time
the various joint committees "as to improvements or changes likely
to be of mutual advantage to the company and its employes." To
assist him an advisory board was appointed by the president of the
company, it consisted of "such company's officers as the president
may designate. " To this board " may be referred questions of policy
respecting social and industrial betterment." The employes had no
representation on it. The president's executive assistant was chair-
man. He was charged also with "general supervision over the sanitary,
medical, education, religious, social, and other like needs of the different
industrial communities, with a view of seeing that such needs are suit-
ably and adequately provided for, and the several activities pertain-
ing thereto harmoniously conducted." See Appendix A, page 412.

^ The first man to hold this office was Clarence J. Hicks, who was
formerly in various positions with the Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion and with the executive department dealing with welfare work of
the International Harvester Company, and, later, was assistant to
the president of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. After Mr.
Hicks left, M. J. Stickel, whose experience had been in the Young Men's
Christian Association and who subsequently became associated with
Community Service, Inc., acted as chairman of the Advisory Board of
Social and Industrial Betterment.

THE REPRESENTATION PLAN

president of the company was made responsible for in-
dustrial relations.^ An assistant to the vice-president
edits the Industrial Bulletin, a journal published by the
company and distributed gratis to its employes. Spe-
cial issues of the bulletin are devoted exclusively to the
reports of the various committees and conferences pro-
vided for in the representation plan.

The President's Industrial Representative
The president's industrial representative is field
agent for the plan. He visits each mine approximately
once every three months. He confers with the miners'
representatives. If they have any grievances, he also
confers with the superintendents to learn the facts as
the management sees them.^ He makes a written re-
port on the grievance. This report is signed by the
employes' representatives if they agree, and they retain
copies of it. Another copy goes to the general manager
of the fuel department, and one to the president of the
company. If the grievance is a minor one, the presi-
dent's industrial representative may attempt to settle it
on the spot. If it is a more serious one, he receives

1 The revised plan defines the duties of this official as follows: "A
vice-president or other executive officer, to be known as the Industrial
Relations Executive, shall, on behalf of the president, supervise the
administration of the Company's policies respecting social and in-
dustrial betterment and the administration of the Joint Representa-
tion of Employes and Management and Procedure in Industrial Re-
lations." See Appendix B, page 434.

^ The duty of the president's industrial representative, as defined
in the written plan, is "to respond promptly to any request from
employes' representatives for his presence," and to visit each camp
"as often as possible," — at least once every three months. He is
"to confer with the employes or their representatives and the super-
intendents respecting working and living conditions, the observance
of federal and state laws, the carrying out of company regulations,
and to report the result of such conferences to the president." See
Appendix B, pages 431-432.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

instructions to settle it from tiie general manager's
office, or a higher official may personally attempt to
adjust the grievance. This lack of authority for the
field agent has often resulted in delay.

In January, 1919, the office of the "president's chief
industrial representative" was created. This official
acts in addition to the industrial representative already
described. He has executive authority to make de-
cisions after his investigation. He is usually accom-
panied by a stenographer who makes a transcript of
the evidence and the decisions. Copies of these reports
go to the president of the company.

The man serving as the president's industrial rep-
resentative at the time of our investigation, and since
retired, David Griffiths, was formerly the superinten-
dent of a coal mine of the company. The president's
chief industrial representative, B. J. Matteson, was,
prior to his appointment, the assistant general manager
of the fuel department. Both officials were paid by the
company and were responsible to the president.

Expense of Administration
In the cost of administering the plan, the company
agrees to bear all expenses, because "the promotion of
harmony and good will between the company and its
employes" is "essential to the successful operation of
the company's industries in an enlightened and profit-
able manner."

A "Trade Agreement"
The above outline describes the machinery provided
in the first part of the written plan. This section
bore the title, "Industrial Constitution." In addition,

THE REPRESENTATION PLAN

when the plan was adopted, an "agreement respecting
employment, living and working conditions" was ap-
proved by the board of directors of the company and
by the vote of employes. It is an "addition to the
rights and privileges guaranteed the employes and the
company in the Industrial Representation Plan."
This agreement was to last until January i, 19 18, and
to "continue thereafter subject to revision upon ninety
days' notice by either of the parties."

This agreement contained seven sections: Four sec-
tions dealt with living conditions, (i) Rent was to be
charged at the rate of two dollars per room per month,
with a specified extra charge for electric lights. No
charge was to be made for water for domestic use
except where the company must purchase it. In such
cases the price would be substantial cost. (2) The
company agreed to fence, free of charge, each house
and the lot on which it stands. The company wished
to encourage employes " to cultivate flower and vegeta-
ble gardens." Garbage would be removed free. (3)
Suitable bath houses and social centers would be pro-
vided as rapidly as possible. (4) Domestic coal would
be sold substantially at cost, as would powder to the
miners.

So much for living conditions. Three sections con-
tained guarantees to maintain certain working condi-
tions. Eight hours would constitute a day's work for all
employes working underground and in coke ovens, and
nine hours for outside labor. All employes would be
paid semi-monthly by check with no deductions ex-
cept when authorized by them.

An important section was devoted to " Wage Schedule
and Working Conditions." No change affecting wages

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

or hours would be made without thirty days' notice, as
required by the law establishing the State Industrial
Commission. Present wages and working conditions
were to remain in force "without reduction," and the
management agreed to an increase if "a. general increase
shall be granted in competitive districts in which the
company does not conduct operations. ..."
At a joint meeting of the employes' representatives and
officials of the company, called within thirty days after
an increase should be effective in competitive dis-
tricts, an equitable basis for determining the new scale
would be fixed.

Fundamental Rights Recognized

It was the primary aim of the plan to prevent dis-
putes, and to this end certain basic agreements were
outlined as a modus vivendi. Both company and em-
ployes pledged themselves to a "strict observance"
of mining laws. The management agreed to post
"the scale of wages in a conspicuous place" near every
mine. It further guaranteed to post at each prop-
erty a list of the only offenses for which an employe
might be dismissed without notice. For other offenses,
employes must be warned once in writing before they
could be dismissed for repeating the violation. A copy
of this warning was to go to the president of the com-
pany. Employes would have the right to hold meet-
ings on company property and to purchase where they
pleased. They might select check-weighmen as pro-
vided by law, and the company would grant the check-
weighmen "every facility to enable them to render a
correct account of all coal weighed."

THE REPRESENTATION PLAN

One of the important features of this section was the
guarantee of "non-discrimination." Union member-
ship would not be reason for refusing to employ a miner
or for discharging him. "There shall be no discrimina-
tion by the company or by any of its employes on ac-
count of membership or non-membership in any society,
fraternity or union."

The company reserved "the right to hire and dis-
charge" whomever it chose. ^ "The management of
the properties, and the direction of the working forces,
shall be vested exclusively in the company, and, except
as expressly restricted, the right shall not be abridged
by anything contained herein."

^ A provision has been added to the revised plan to the effect that
"fairness of the action shall be a subject of review."

CHAPTER VI

THE EMPLOYES' REPRESENTATIVES

" ^ I ^O ACT on their behalf" is the duty of the
I representatives of employes at each mining
JL camp.* They are to be chosen by employes
"from among their number." No man who is not em-
ployed by the company is eligible.-

Subjects for Action by Representatives
The range of subjects in which a representative may
interest himself on behalf of the employes in the mine
where he works is broad. He is "to act on their behalf
with respect to matters pertaining to their employment,
working and living conditions, the adjustment of dif-
ferences, and such other matters of mutual concern and
interest as relations within the industry may deter-
mine."

Functions in the Written Plan
The specific activities of representatives as they may
be inferred from the outline, in addition to this general
statement, are these:

1 " Employes at each of the mining camps shall annually elect from
among their number representatives to act on their behalf with respect
to matters pertaining to their employment, working and living con-
ditions, the adjustment of differences, and such other matters of
mutual concern and interest as relations within the industry may
determine." See Appendix A, page 401.

^ Additional qualifications as noted have been added in the revised
plan. See footnote 2, page 61.

THE EMPLOYES REPRESENTATIVES

1. To call to order the annual meeting, which has
been convened by direction of the president of the com-
pany, for the election of representatives.

The meeting elects a chairman and a secretary, who
may also be representatives. The representatives are
instructed to retain "for purposes of future reference"
a copy of the " record of proceedings," which is made
by the secretary and certified by the chairman.

2. To attend district conferences at the call of the
president within two weeks after elections, and at least
every four months thereafter.

"The purpose of these district conferences shall be
to discuss freely matters of mutual interest and con-
cern to the company and its employes, embracing
a consideration of suggestions to promote increased
efficiency and production, to improve working and
living conditions, to enforce discipline, avoid friction,
and to further friendly and cordial relations between
the company's officers and employes." These con-
ferences include representatives of "the company"
(which always means, in the plan, managing officials
and never includes employes) and the employes'
elected representatives.

3. To serve on one of the "joint committees" if he
happens to be so appointed by his fellow-representatives
at a district conference.

4. To attend the annual joint meeting called by the
president of the company, where the joint committees
make their reports and "matters of common interest
requiring collective action" are "considered."

At this meeting it is the duty of representatives to
"discuss with the president and officers of the com-
pany" any matters on which employes at the annual
meeting have made recommendations.

5. To report to officials, in specified order of appeal
beginning with the mine superintendent, any grievance
which an employe may ask the representative to handle
for him.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Thus the duties specified have to do with — (i) at-
tendance at meetings; (2) committee service; (3) re-
porting grievances of fellow-workers.

Representatives' Share in Reporting Grievances
The responsibility of the representative in the hand-
ling of grievances is uncertain and variable, despite the
fact that the plan may be said to have originated in the
need to uncover causes of friction by giving employes
the right of representation as a means of voicing their
grievances to higher officials. The paragraph of the
plan relating to "complaints or grievances" does not
suggest that the aggrieved employe should always go
first to one of his representatives; nor is the superin-
tendent or any other official required to consult the rep-
resentatives before deciding how to settle a complaint.
"Employes," says the paragraph, "shall first seek to
have differences or the conditions complained about
adjusted by conference, in person or^ through their
representatives, with the mine superintendent." This
conference with the superintendent "shall" be had
"before presenting any grievance to the president, the
president's industrial representative, or other of the
higher officials of the company." The representative
may be called on, or not, as the employe chooses. It is
possible to present a grievance even to the president
without the participation of the representatives and,
despite the wording of the plan, in actual practice the
mine superintendent need not always be consulted
before an appeal is carried to higher officials.
^ Italics ours.

the employes representatives

Financial Status

As has been shown in Chapter V, The Represen-
tation Plan/ when a representative attends a confer-
ence or annual meeting the company pays his traveling
expenses and reimburses him "for the working time
lost in so doing." His livelihood is earned in the mines
of the company and when he acts as representative the
company pays him.

"But nothing herein," reads the written plan, "shall
preclude employes of the company from making such
payment to their representatives in consideration of
services rendered on their behalf as they themselves may
voluntarily desire and agree to make." We heard of
rare occasions when a representative was reimbursed by
an employe who had asked him, for instance, to weigh
his coal at the tipple as a check on the tonnage credited
to the miner by the "weigh-boss." These are isolated
instances, however. The practice is that the company
reimburses the representative for time lost in duties
definitely assigned by the company, such as attendance
at meetings or when a company official in a visit to a
camp calls him out of the mine for conference. One of
the most intelligent representatives of 1921 told us that
the fact that a representative was paid only for services
asked for by the company limited his activities. If he
should take the initiative in investigating the grievances
of fellow-employes, or if he should act at the request of
one of them, he must himself bear the loss of earnings
from his mining of coal. Employes have no treasury,
so that payment by them means payment by an indi-
vidual worker, and would naturally be unusual.
1 See page 62.
6 77

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

According to the written plan, then, the representa-
tive is a spokesman, elected by employes, and paid by
the company as one of its employes in coal mining. He
is to attend all meetings called in connection with the
representation plan. He helps to choose members of
joint committees and he may be chosen for this service.
He may or may not be called on by fellow-employes to
help in bringing their grievances before the superin-
tendent or higher officials. Neither the superintendent
nor any higher oificial is obliged to call on him to share
in adjusting a grievance or in considering any matter
affecting employes. The report made by the presi-
dent's industrial representative, however, when he
visits a mine, must be signed by the employes' repre-
sentatives of that mine, if they agree to the findings of
the president's representative.

This analysis of the office of representative has been
confined to the written plan. More important is the
question. What are the activities and powers of repre-
sentatives in the actual operation of employes' repre-
sentation in this company? Before describing in later
chapters their activities as we have observed them and
as they and the officials of the company have reported
them to us, it is worth while to outline also the status of
the whole group of employes in a camp as it is implied
or defined in the written plan. We emphasize the
written plan because it virtually constituted the com-
pany's oflfer to its employes of new relations through
the instrument of representation. Does it constitute
a partnership in accordance with Mr. Rockefeller's
analysis of the "four parties to industry"?^

' Quoted on pages 28 and 29.
78

the employes representatives

The Status of Employes
A "wage-earning" employe, as distinguished from a
"salaried" employe, has the right to vote both for
nomination and for election of representatives in his
own mining camp. He also participates in choosing a
temporary chairman and secretary for the meeting at
which nominations and elections take place. The plan
also guarantees him certain rights as an individual. He
has the right to appeal to higher officials, even to the
president of the company, and ultimately to the Indus-
trial Commission of the state, if he has a grievance; to be
cautioned or suspended before discharge; to belong or
not to belong to a union; to hold meetings; and to pur-
chase where he pleases.

The contact between employes in different mines of the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company is through their repre-
sentatives at a joint district conference, or a joint annual
meeting, or in a joint district committee where the official
staff of the company has always the right of equal repre-
sentation. The prescribed conferences are called, as we
have noted, by the president of the company, and he, or
someone designated by him, presides. Although the sub-
jects of possible discussion or consideration are extensive,
the participation of the miners' representatives in deci-
sions— as distinguished from complaints or suggestions
— in questions of production or employment relations is
nowhere explicitly defined or recognized. They have a
" voice " in any matter which may be brought up for dis-
cussion; the final decision can be made by managerial
officials without the vote of employes or their represen-
tatives.

In brief, the Industrial Representation Plan, as written,
79

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

introduces no radical change in the status of employes by
extending to them a share in any phase of management
or by defining terms of partnership.^ What it purposes
to do is to invite representatives of the workers into
conference with executives. The representatives are
channels of communication between management and
miners rather than partners, or even advisers to offi-
cials in employment policies. Nevertheless, the right
of conference is a distinct gain for the workers, and out
of the consistent practice of it might easily emerge a
new basis for co-operation in this company.

Elections
Arrangements for elections are made by officials of
the company and by superintendents. Every effort
is made to have as many workers as possible cast their
votes. In the elections of 1921, the number enti-
tled to vote in coal mines and coke ovens of the com-
pany in Colorado was 3,622 and the vote cast was i ,68 1 .
That is, of every hundred men in the mines who might
have voted, 46 actually participated in this way in the
choice of their representatives. When the representa-
tion plan was first submitted for adoption in October,
191 5, the total vote cast was 2,846 out of a possible
total of 4,41 1.2 The total vote cast at the annual elec-

1 Compare, for instance, the Partnership Plan of the Dutchess
Bleachery, which establishes a substantial basis of partnership by
guaranteeing a share in the profits of the business, over and above
wages, and by giving wage-earners representation in both the board of
managers and the board of directors, with a vote in all the decisions
of those bodies. See report on this plan by Ben M. Selekman, Shar-
ing Management with the Workers. New York, Russell Sage Foun-
dation, 1924.

^ The company did not have available the figures for the number
of men employed when the vote was taken. The figure given above

THE EMPLOYES REPRESENTATIVES

tion for 1916 is not now on record. The average vote
cast per year for the subsequent four years (1917 to
1920 inclusive) was 1,496, or a Httle over one-half the
original vote cast when the plan was submitted.

Whether the proportion, in itself, shows the men's
interest or an unusual lack of it depends upon the
standard which should be kept in mind. In every
organization, whether it be a plan for employes' repre-
sentation, a political party or a trade union, effort to
arouse the interest of those who should be most vitally
concerned in it meets with discouragement. Too much
significance cannot be attached, therefore, to the failure
to vote of more than half the men having the right in
these Colorado mines. But it is true that very active
efforts have to be made to get even this number of men
to vote, and it is unfortunate for the success of the plan
in stimulating the initiative of the wage-earners that
these efforts are made by officials rather than by the
miners themselves.

The written plan provides for "annual meetings of
employes for the election of their representatives."
Yet in 192 1, in the 20 camps in which we made inquiry
on this point, meetings had been held in only 10 —
representatives told us — while in eight the men had
voted in the "lamp house," where they always report
on their way to and from the mine;' and in two camps
the ballot boxes were carried through the mines to get

is the average number of men employed by the company during 191 5,
according to the annual report of the state mine inspector. This
official keeps a record, among other things, of the average number of
men employed by each coal mining company both in each mine and
in all mining properties. See third Annual Report of the State In-
spector of Coal Mines, Colorado, 191 5, p. 16.

1 Every miner must go into the lamp house to get his lamp and
check of identification prior to entering the mine.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

the votes of the men at their work. At first, elections
were held in buildings of the Young Men's Christian
Association or in schoolhouses. The men, however,
did not come to the meetings. That is why several of
the superintendents finally arranged to hold elections
at the mouth of the mine or in the lamp house. When
the miners come to work in the morning they find the
former. representatives with the ballot boxes. They are
given ballots and asked to nominate candidates for rep-
resentatives. The following morning they elect, in a
similar manner, the candidates who were nominated
on the previous day. In at least two of the mines the
superintendent sent the outgoing representatives into
the mine with instructions to visit every working place
to urge the men to vote.

Representatives explained to us that these methods
of holding elections were adopted because the men were
not sufficiently interested in the plan to come to meet-
ings after working hours. At one mine in the first year
after the plan was adopted the election meeting was
held in the kindergarten room of the school in the evening.
From a mine employing about 225 miners, only 30 at-
tended. The following year the superintendent trans-
ferred the election to the lamp house. He personally
stood outside and urged each man to vote, without,
however, electioneering for any one candidate. The
total vote cast was 200, of about 225 employed.

At another mine a representative told the following
incident: "About one year ago 1 resigned. The super-
intendent called a meeting for the election of a new
representative. The meeting for the election was to be
held in the Y. M. C. A. Club in the evening; but nobody
showed up. When the superintendent saw that no one

THE EMPLOYES REPRESENTATIVES

came to the meeting, he and the clerk and the foremen
called another meeting the following morning at the
lamp house. When the men came to work in the morn-
ing, they were given nomination ballots and in the even-
ing, when they came out of the mine, they were given
election ballots. Only in this way could an election be
held. The same thing was done last January when rep-
resentatives for 1920 were elected. If an election were
to be held in the Y. M. C. A. 1 doubt whether a handful
of men would turn out."

Superintendents agreed in explaining that their
reason for holding elections at the mouth of the mine
was to give every employe a convenient chance to vote.
It was found that at the Minnequa Steel Works a
large vote was obtained because the ballot boxes were
carried to the men at work. Some of the officials in the
fuel department, therefore, suggested that the same
method be adopted in the coal mines as a means of
stimulating interest. The energetic efforts of some
superintendents to secure a large vote were well illus-
trated in an incident at another mine. The superin-
tendent had called on the men in the mines and
urged them to come to the election in the evening.
"The election is just as important as your work," he
was reported as saying to them. That evening he sent a
messenger on horseback to the homes of the miners
urging them to come to the meeting. "The men
treated me coldly," declared this Paul Revere to us
subsequently. "One man told me to 'go to hell.' And
only 44 men out of over 100 eligible came to the meeting.
There weren't 10 diggers, the fellows who have most of
the grievances, in the whole lot. The men don't take
any interest in the plan."

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

In elections as in other activities each camp of the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company expresses its char-
acteristic attitude. In the incorporated towns in Fre-
mont County in the central part of the state, for in-
stance, where many miners own their own homes, their
spirit of independence and their consciousness of in-
terests divergent from those of managerial officials
have been characteristic for years; here in one mine in
1920 the men refused to elect any representatives, and
in 1 92 1 the votes were secured by carrying the ballot
boxes to the men at their work in the mines. ^ "The
miners in the north have always been fire-eaters," said
one man, long an official of the company. " Years ago
they were asked if they wanted to use the traveling
library which we were starting for all the camps. 'We
don't want to read any books bought by the company,'
was their reply."

In the southern counties, in the camps owned by the
company, the officials find greater willingness among the
men to co-operate, and less strenuous efforts are required
there to get the men to vote. In fact, in a few of these
camps in 1921 we were told by representatives that
interest in the elections of that year had been greater
than ever before.

Occupations of Representatives
The miners — diggers who use pick or machine and
loaders — constitute about 56 per cent of the employes
in the mines of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. ^

^ In 1923 the company reported that 87.7 per cent voted for repre-
sentatives in this mine.

* A statement given us by the company, of the number of men
on the payroll for December, 1920, showed 5,529 employed, and of
these the total numberof miners was 3,078. The proportion of com-

THE EMPLOYES REPRESENTATIVES

Not only are miners in the majority, but as piece
workers they are the ones who, through the nature
of coal mining, are likely to have the largest number of
grievances to be adjusted. We were keenly interested,
therefore, in finding out whether their group was in a
majority among the representatives. The facts about
the occupations of elected representatives showed that
the miners were not electing their proportionate num-
ber. Of the 35 representatives of 1921 questioned on
this point, only 13 were miners, elected in nine camps,
while 22 were day men. Three of these last were fire
bosses. In 1920 we found in 22 mines, having a total
of 42 representatives, that 28 of these, or more than
two-thirds, were day men, and not miners in the
exact sense. In 11 of the mines, one-half of all visited,
not one representative was a piece worker or digger.
Among the 28 representatives who were day men,
seven were fire bosses. These seven fire bosses were
distributed at seven different mines. In two of the
mines the weigh-bosses were representatives. There
were several other "straw bosses" or minor officials
who acted as representatives.^

Technically, fire bosses or other minor supervisors
may act as representatives, for they are paid by the
day as distinguished from officials who are paid by the
month. Miners told us, however, and our observations
confirmed the statement, that for all practical purposes

pany men, or "service men," in Colorado mines is larger than usual in
mining, because, as an officer of the company explained, the roof con-
ditions in Colorado require more work for mine maintenance than in
other states — Pennsylvania, for instance.

^ Since our investigation the following clause has been added to
the plan: "Inasmuch as the numbers of shift men and tonnage men
are about equal in and around coal mines, it is recommended that one
representative be chosen from each group." See Appendix B, page 423.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

the mental attitude of fire bosses, with few exceptions,
is that of the executive. Every fire boss has his eye on
his next advancement, that of mine foremanship. He
is not likely to do anything that may injure his chances
for promotion in the company. Miners in several camps
said that they did not look upon these men as their
representatives, and could not bring their grievances
to them any more readily than to a company official.
Their election as representatives, and the failure of the
miners to elect men of their own group, raise the ques-
tion as to whether the rank and file expect to use the
machinery of representation for the protection of their
own interests. Are they indifferent? Do they believe
that their representative has no power to act on their
behalf except with the approval of officials of the com-
pany? This was the explanation suggested by miners,
and we formulate it as a question to keep in mind in
subsequent descriptions of activities in the plan.

Meetings
The written plan for representation provides, as we
have said, that one of the duties of the representative is
to take part in certain meetings. He is to call to order
the annual meeting at the camp for the election of
representatives. Elections, according to the plan, are
to be held "the second Saturday in January." Here
"employes may consider and make recommendations
concerning any matters pertaining to their employ-
ment, working or living conditions, or arising out of
existing industrial relations, including such as they may
desire to have their representatives discuss with the
president and officers of the company at the Annual
Joint Conference. . . ." The annual joint meeting

THE EMPLOYES REPRESENTATIVES

is held in Pueblo or elsewhere at the discretion of the
president in the month of December.

The same kinds of subjects may be discussed at dis-
trict conferences, which are held in January, May, and
September. Unlike the annual meeting which delegates
from other mines attend, only the mines of the district
are represented in district conferences. Special joint
meetings for two or more districts may be called on
the initiative of the president, or at the request of
a majority of representatives in the mines of those
districts.

In addition to these meetings, provided for in the
plan, company officials have tried to encourage the
calling of special meetings in the camps, so that each
representative may be instructed by the men before he
goes to a district conference or he may give them in-
formation afterwards. In several of the camps visited
in 1921 we asked representatives whether they had ever
called special meetings. They had already told us, as has
been noted, that in half the camps the attendance at an-
nual meetings for elections was so discouragingly small
that ballot boxes were placed in the lamp house or in the
mine and meetings dispensed with. Evidently, special
meetings arouse no more interest. In one camp, where
nearly 200 are entitled to vote, a representative, who
was a fire boss, had tried to get the men to come once,
but only eight appeared and they were boys. In two
camps successful meetings had been held before district
conferences, and the representatives had actually re-
ceived instruction as to what subjects to bring up for
discussion at the conferences. In a few camps meetings
had been held after district conferences, when there
was something special to report. An officer of the com-

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

pany related an instance of recall by the employes of
their representatives in one mine because they had not
reported back to the men the results of a meeting; this
seemed to show vital interest.

Some representatives said that meetings of men at the
camps in advance of district conferences were not practi-
cal because they are given not more than a day or two's
notification of a district conference, and are never told
in advance what subjects will be discussed.^ The presi-
dent of the company sets the date, issues the call, and
presides. Lacking responsibility for the call or knowl-
edge ahead of the date or of subjects to be brought up,
representatives have no means of arousing interest
among their fellow-employes, it is always true that
with nothing specific assigned to do, men are never
particularly interested in doing it.

Incidents like the following were narrated to us:
When in December, 19 19, through the action of the
United States Bituminous Coal Commission, an increase
in pay was granted to miners, the contractor who de-
livered coal to the homes of employes at a particular
mine also wished an increase. He approached the
superintendent, who asked the representatives to call a
meeting of all employes to discuss the contractor's
request. "The meeting was called for last Sunday,"
said our informant, a former representative, " but only
three men out of over 200 came. All the time like this.
Lots of times I try to call meeting. Nobody come. If
1 see a fellow and tell him to come to a meeting, he will

' The revised plan names the months during which district con-
ferences and annua! meetings shall be held. The company reports
to us in November, 1923, that the practice now is to give one weeii's
notice before a district conference, and that the change was made on
the suggestion of representatives.

THE employes' REPRESENTATIVES

ask me what kind of meeting. 1 tell him meeting under
Rockefeller Plan to take up this and this. He answer
me, 'Go to hell/ and walk away." From our notes we
could multiply similar statements made by representa-
tives about the men's lack of interest.

The Need for a General Representative of
Employes

Said one employes' representative, "The average
miner who is elected as a representative doesn't have
the ability and the courage to present and thrash out
grievances with the management of the company. I
therefore suggested that the miners employ a repre-
sentative of their own, to be paid by them. The func-
tions of this official should be like that of the president's
industrial representative. He should travel from camp
to camp, investigate, learn the grievances of the men,
present them to the management, and see that a proper
adjustment is made. He should, in other words, be the
advocate of the men. As it is at present, the men do
not have complete confidence in the plan and won't
present their grievances to the representatives they
elect and they do not feel that the president's industrial
representative is their representative."

It was William C. Gilbert, a coal miner and repre-
sentative in 191 7 at Coal Creek, one of the mines of
the company in Fremont County, who expressed this
opinion. He had made the suggestion first in a hearing
before the Colorado State Industrial Commission in
191 7. He was examined by Mr. Weitzel, then the
general manager of the fuel department, who asked
him, " Do you believe the company is trying to live up
to . , . the Industrial Plan?"

employes' representation in coal mines
Mr. Gilbert replied:

" 1 think they are . . . but among the working
men or employes there seems to be a good deal of
dissatisfaction. 1 will tell you why: they claim that
they have a good many grievances, and under this
Industrial Plan they refuse to bring them before the
representatives. They claim that it is not successful,
but the grievances that have been brought up before
us have been settled satisfactorily. . . . They
claim on the basis of representation— and I must
agree with them . . . that if the president has
an industrial representative, appointed by him, and
if you fail to adjust between the superintendent and
the mine foreman, then appeal to him, that the miners
ought to have an industrial representative, elected
by them . . . and paid by them. . . . Then
this man would be on the job all the time, and he
could look into those things for himself. 1 know there
are people who . . . seem to be timid in a way
to bring certain things before those committees or
before the company officers, afraid, evidently, some-
thing might happen that they would get the worst
of the deal; but by the miners' representative, elected
by them — one of their own people, and that man to go
around to the different mines and investigate those
grievances for himself, and if anything occurs along
the line of a grievance, put it before one of their own
men — a man that has ability to follow this thing and
have a hearing at all the points along the line.

"Now, 1 will give you an illustration: Just a short
time ago a grievance occurred regarding caved-in
places. You weren't here at the time, but Mr. Matte-
son^ . . . and Mr. Beach^ came down and looked
at the grievance, and they decided to let the commit-
tee know that evening of their decision. The com-

1 Then assistant general manager of the fuel department and later
the president's chief industrial representative.

^Superintendent of Coal Creek mine, where Mr. Gilbert was em-
ployed.

THE EMPLOYES REPRESENTATIVES

mittee went on top and waited for a decision from the
assistant general manager. Now, we weren't called
into conference with those gentlemen to give us a
chance to argue our case. Mr. Matteson left word
that on account of impending strike ordered by the
United Mine Workers of America, the thing would
not be taken up until such a thing as that was found
out. Well, we thought it all a grievance, and it
affected men at that time, and the aggrieved parties
thought it didn't make any difference what was in
the future or couldn't be foreseen; they thought that
matter should be taken up. After consulting the
committee we decided to take the matter up before
the president of the company, which we did. Then
the committee on conciliation and co-operation were
called together and the grievance was then brought
up again, and I believe after the representatives had
a chance to discuss our grievances, 1 believe it was
admitted by Mr. Matteson and all concerned, that
those grievances asked by us were justifiable. . . .
1 will say . . . that we have brought up to Mr.
Beach locally a good many personal grievances that
have been settled, and parties aggrieved have ac-
knowledged that they have gotten a square deal."

" 1 think your suggestion about a general man is
the first 1 have heard of it," replied Mr. Weitzel,
"and thinking of it while you have been talking, it
seems to me that the proper time would be to take
that up at the December meeting, when the repre-
sentatives of all the men come together, but it seems
to me that a man such as you suggest would neces-
sarily have to be paid by the men in order that they
should feel confidence in him "

To this Mr. Gilbert replied promptly, interrupting:

"1 don't say that the men should hire a man and
ask the company to pay his wages."

"And," Mr. Weitzel continued, "in order to ac-
complish that, it would undoubtedly be necessary to
91

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

put the question, after it had been decided by the
representatives, back to the men as a sort of referen-
dum, and 1 hope that you will bring that matter up."'

As suggested by Mr. Weitzel, this matter was brought
up for discussion at the annual joint meeting of all
representatives held under the plan in December, 191 7.
A resolution was adopted at this meeting in which the
employes' representatives declared themselves in favor
of a paid representative to represent the interests of
employes. He was to be paid by employes, and to be
chosen from the group of representatives. He was to
go from mine to mine, listen to and investigate griev-
ances, and act "in conjunction with the president's
industrial representative in the adjustment and settle-
ment of any industrial disputes."^ This resolution was
adopted by the employes' representatives present by a
vote of 24 to 19. Mr. Welborn stated that the company

^ Hearings before Colorado State I ndustrial Commission, September
'3> '9'7« PP' 4'2-4i7. (Typewritten record.)
* The resolution follows:

" Resolved: That the Employes' Representatives may at any time
choose one of their own number to serve under their direction as
Employes' General Industrial Representative, who may be called upon
by one or more of the employes' representatives, to act in conjunction
with the president's industrial representative in the adjustment and
settlement of any industrial disputes which have been taken up by
such representative or representatives, and have not been satisfacto-
rily settled.

"He shall be paid by the employes for the time spent in this ca-
pacity, but shall not lose his status and rights as an employe of the
company.

"His term of office shall be until the annual joint meeting in
December, at which time his successor shall be elected, unless he is
recalled at an earlier date by a majority vote of the employes' repre-
sentatives. A vacancy in this position may be filled at a special meet-
ing of the employes' representatives which shall be called at the
written request of a majority of such representatives." — Industrial
Bulletin, January 10, 19 18, p. 2. Published by the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company.

THE EMPLOYES REPRESENTATIVES

"was entirely willing" that the employes should have a
paid representative.

The proposition was submitted to a referendum vote
of all the miners the following January, when they voted
for their regular representatives. It was overwhelm-
ingly defeated. In three camps only did the employes
vote for it. It was unanimously rejected in seven. Four
did not even consider it.

Various reasons are given by both management and
miners for the motives that prompted the defeat of
this proposition. The expense involved is given by
some. Others contend that superintendents and foremen
worked against it; still others that the representatives
opposed it as an implied criticism of them. No con-
crete evidence was offered to substantiate any of these
explanations. We questioned the rank and file closely
on their reason for voting as they did in the referendum.
They could give no reason. Their attitude was one of
indifference. Mr. Weitzel stated that he, personally,
was enthusiastic about the proposition and campaigned
in favor of it. It would have given the miners more
confidence in the representation plan, and would have
made the plan stronger.

In our interviews in Colorado in 1921 several of the
representatives referred again to the need for a " general
representative" to look after the men's interests, re-
sponsible to them because they would elect him and pay
his salary. "We no got high education," said one of
them. The company officials are educated, he added,
and the men need someone who can meet them better
than most of the miners now serving as representatives.

He explained that in his camp the men voted the sug-
gestion down because the resolution said that "the
7 93

employes' representation in coal mines

employes' representatives may at any time choose one
of their own number^ to serve under their direction as
Employes' General Industrial Representative." The
necessity for choosing one of their own number merely
repeated the weakness of the present plan, in his
opinion. They are not likely to find among their own
number a man experienced in negotiation, or in pre-
senting the case of a fellow-employe. The fact, more-
over, that he is an employe of the company creates the
impression that he cannot act as a disinterested advo-
cate for the men, since future security in his job as a
coal miner depends upon the company officials, and to
oppose them on behalf of a fellow-employe is an under-
taking which seems to the miners to require an unusual
disregard of consequences to himself and his family.

Union officials, who oppose the representation plan,
charge that active representatives are intimidated by
local superintendents. We found, however, that in the
five years of the administration of the plan, through
1920, only two representatives had been discharged
by superintendents. They were both aggressive repre-
sentatives and both were active union men. The dis-
charge of one of them was sustained by the higher
officials. He had violated a provision of the state min-
ing law. This is a posted offense for which any employe
is liable to immediate discharge.^ We do not think that
the representative can claim that he was discharged
because of his activity as a representative or as a union
man.

The second discharge, by a superintendent, was not
sustained by the management. The representative
involved was secretary of his local union. He went east

1 Italics ours. ^ See page 102.

THE EMPLOYES REPRESENTATIVES

on union affairs and overstayed his leave of absence.
The superintendent had had constant friction with him.
He saw a good opportunity to get rid of him. When
he came back, the superintendent told him that as he
had overstayed his leave of absence, he no longer had
his job in the mine. The representatives called the
miners together in the union hall. They voted to strike
until he was reinstated. The next day they did strike.
As soon as this was reported to the general manager, he
hurried to the mine and ordered the superintendent to
reinstate the representative. This was done, and the
men returned to work on the following day. Later this
representative resigned. He felt that he was not re-
ceiving the proper co-operation from the men and espe-
cially from the superintendent. But the incident shows
that higher officials actually did overrule a superin-
tendent in favor of a miner. These instances give
evidence that the company has not discharged repre-
sentatives for activities on behalf of employes, and the
interest of officials in the success of the plan would
make it safe to assume that they would avoid any such
damaging issue.

Yet in several camps the men spoke of the liability
to discharge as a weakness in the plan. " If 1 try to
look after the men's interests, 1 may be discharged. I
have no one back of me," said one man. Not whether
it had actually happened, but whether it would be pos-
sible, was to him the important point. The men, he
said, believe that their dependence upon company
officials for a job makes equality as a negotiator im-
possible.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Past Activities of Representatives
In 1 92 1 we asked the representatives in each camp
what specific action they had taken since their election,
about six weeks earher, and also what illustrations they
could give of past activities. Every group interviewed
included not only present representatives, but also men
who had served as representatives in previous years.
in only five of the 23 mines visited did representatives
state that fellow-employes had reported any grievances
to them during the six weeks since their election. These
were Frederick, Segundo Coke Ovens, Fremont, Rock-
vale and Coal Creek. Yet a number of specific causes
of complaint were known to the representatives in these
and other mines, where they had not been called upon
to act. Said one of them, " I'm a driver [in the mine]
and 1 hear the men kicking all the time, but they won't
bring their grievances to the representatives." We
gained the impression that at that date, at least, the
men serving as representatives were not kept busy in
adjustments of difficulties. This, however, was merely a
straw without conclusive importance. The illustrations
given by them of their past activities were more in-
teresting.

Through efforts of representatives such gains as the
following had been secured for the men in different camps :
The Young Men's Christian Association clubhouse and
the wash-house had been built. Porches had been
screened. "Next we're going to have cellars." "We're
getting a new doctor's office." The loss of miners' tools
through the flooding of one of the mines had been made
good by the company. A superintendent was induced
not to dispossess a woman with little children whose

THE EMPLOYES REPRESENTATIVES

husband was in the hospital.^ A camp doctor, who was
charging dishonestly for services already paid for by the
monthly medical charge to each employe, was transferred
by the company on complaint of representatives; the rep-
resentatives were then asked to meet the new doctor and
to decide whether he would be satisfactory to the men.
Complaint was made of the rate charged for household
coal sold to miners in the camp, and when this was ad-
justed the representatives had to investigate the claim
that the coals sold were too small. Higher wages paid
to the contractor who delivered coal to miners' house-
holds required that the men pay a higher rate for the
coal and representatives were called upon to settle this
difficulty. A Mexican woman, wife of an employe at
the Segundo Coke Ovens, did not fancy any of the colors
offered her by the company for a coat of paint in her
kitchen, and the representative, also a Mexican and
member of the committee on housing, persuaded her
to like one of them, chiefly by convincing her that she
was fortunate to have her kitchen painted at all when it
already looked better than his own. From a fellow-
worker and a neighbor, as well as a fellow-countryman,
these arguments were more convincing than from an
official of the company. These are details of improve-
ments in housing conditions, or the straightening out
of difficulties in the life of the camp, in which repre-
sentatives had had part.

Naturally, many grievances center about earnings,
and in every group interviewed in 1921 we discussed
the actual share of representatives in determining wages.

^ This incident is not typical, in our opinion, of the policy of the
company. The superintendent involved was tactless and unsympa-
thetic in relations with the men, and subsequently he was transferred
to different work for the company.

employes' representation in coal mines

A fundamental test as to whether a representation plan
protects the interests of the workers is to be found in
the share which it gives the workers' representatives
in determining rates of pay. We learned from the men
that grievances about rates for special work by individual
workmen in a particular mine had been brought to the
attention of officials. Just how these complaints were
adjusted and how wages have been determined are such
important subjects that they require separate chapters
for discussion.

CHAPTER VII

RESPONSIBILITIES OF LOCAL MINE
OFFICIALS

IN EVERY camp we asked the miners with whom
we talked, " Have you noticed any changes here
since 191 5?" The response was unanimous. They
would speak of better houses, better sanitary care of the
camps, better schools, and the building of clubs and
bath-houses, which they did not have before. Then
one of them would say, "The superintendent used to
say to a man, 'You can take your tools and go.' He
wouldn't have to tell him why. A man had no redress.
Now they can't discharge us that way."

Throughout the camps this was repeated in varying
expressions. "If a superintendent didn't like you, he
used to say, ' Down the canyon with you.' Now they
can't discharge you without a reason." Or as one
Italian put it, after talking enthusiastically about the
tearing down of adobe shacks built by Mexican miners
and finally purchased by the company, which built
attractive houses in their place: "Another t'ing. You
have griev'nce. You go to super. Old days he say,
'You no like? Skidoo!'" And the group about him,
all employes of many years, joined in chorus: "That's
right; he's right."

They told stories, too, as proof of men discharged
without warning. And discharge for a miner meant
not only the loss of a job but the loss of his home; no

employes' representation in coal mines

other is to be had in a mining camp, and the company
expects a man 's house to be vacant for the next employe.
Fundamentally important, therefore, was that feature
of the plan for representation which was intended to give
the miners assurance that, except for certain offenses
clearly specified and posted in a printed list for all to
see, no man might be discharged without being given
a chance to try again, and that any man would have the
right to a hearing by another official of the company if
he felt himself unjustly treated by foreman or super-
intendent.

The Power of Discharge

The overwhelming importance to the workman of the
just or unjust use of the power of discharge is not pecu-
liar to the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, nor have
we reason to suppose that even in "the old days" this
company was more arbitrary or more thoughtless in
this respect than many companies are today in many
industries. But the subject is so fundamental to
human relations in industry that it deserves emphasis
and discussion. It is not too sweeping a generalization
to say that the status of the workman is more directly
affected by the power of discharge than by any other
single factor in industry. Without security in the job,
"democracy in industry" becomes a will-o'-the-wisp.

Probably nothing else in the experience of workers is
less vividly realized by employers than the influence of
insecurity on a workman's happiness, his standard of
living, or his freedom to act or to express his views. If
workmen are slow to take advantage of opportunities
offered through plans for employes' representation, the
habitual fear of discharge can be assumed to be at least
one of the controlling influences which suppress them.

100

RESPONSIBILITIES OF MINE OFFICIALS

Salvatore, a carpenter in one of the mines of the Colo-
rado Fuel and Iron Company, wanted to go home to
Italy. The company permits a leave of absence of one
year to visit the home country. Salvatore asked the
manager of the fuel department to promise him that he
could have his job back when he returned. The man-
ager had been discussing with a visitor this matter of dis-
charges; he was inclined to think that students of in-
dustrial problems exaggerated the workman's anxiety
for steady work. So Salvatore, entering the conversa-
tion as a living illustration, interested him. "See here,
Salvatore," the manager said. " You're a husky young
man. You've got a trade — you're a good workman.
Why should you ask me to save your job? You could
get one anywhere." But Salvatore only smiled. The
reason seemed to him too obvious for explanation. "I
no go to Italy," he said, "if you no promise me 1 have
my job when 1 come back." The manager remarked
that perhaps students and investigators were right,
after all.

The printed plan of employes' representation in the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company contains the following
paragraph:

"The right to hire and discharge, the management
of the properties, and the direction of the working
forces, shall be vested exclusively in the company, and
except as expressly restricted, this right shall not be
abridged by anything contained herein."'

By "the company" is meant the officers of the company
and their administrative staff.

See footnote, page 73.
lOI

employes representation in coal mines

Limitations on the Power of Discharge
The right of the administrative officers, or "the com-
pany," to discharge is voluntarily limited in two ways.
The first limitation is the list of offenses for which alone,
the company agrees, a man may be discharged at once
without warning by a superintendent; for all other of-
fenses he must be reproved once, at least, and not dis-
charged unless he repeats his fault. The second limita-
tion on the right to discharge is that a man has the right
to be heard and he may ask the elected representative
to act for him in bringing his grievance before those
who have the power to remedy it.^

In addition, the whole plan of organization of repre-
sentatives and joint committees constitutes a check
on management, in so far as employes, through their
representatives, may give advice to administrative
officials in conference with them, and, in turn, the offi-
cials have opportunity to explain their views and pol-
icies to the employes in these conferences. How this
advisory right granted to employes affects their status
and the conditions of their work will be shown con-
cretely in later chapters. The purpose here is a defini-
tion of the powers of administrative officials, particu-
larly superintendents and foremen, who have the im-
portant power of hiring and discharging the workmen
whom they direct.

' Since our investigation the plan was revised, as already noted, to
provide that "the fairness of any action" in discharging an employe
"shall be a proper subject for review according to the general pro-
visions" of the plan. See Appendix B, page 431.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF MINE OFFICIALS

Superintendents and Foremen in the Representa-
tion Plan

No plan for employes' representation can be developed
without changes, gradual or rapid, in the relation of em-
ployes to those supervising officials who are closest to
the wage-earners — the superintendents and foremen.
In the plan adopted by the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company, definite responsibility for administration is
placed on them. A grievance is to be discussed first
with the foreman or superintendent, and appealed be-
yond him only if he fails to adjust it satisfactorily.^ in
each camp the superintendent is the agent for the com-
pany in the exercise of those responsibilities which
are declared in the plan to be "vested exclusively in
the company" — "the right to hire and discharge, the
management of the properties, and the direction of the
working forces." Understanding of the functions of
superintendents and foremen, and supervisors of lesser
authority in the mines, is essential in a discussion of
the plan for representation.

The duties of superintendents and foremen inside the
mines have been briefly outlined in Chapter IV, Coal
Mining as an Occupation.^ In that chapter we have tried
to show how the nature of coal mining gives rise to un-
avoidable grievances, because of the uncertainties of the
day-to-day changes in physical conditions encountered
as the miner's work-place is advanced along the vein of
coal ; the effect on the miner's earnings of having to work
in a place where rock intervenes in too large quantities;

1 Company officials state that in practice an employe may take his
grievance first to any official, and need not go first to foreman or
superintendent.

^ See page 41.

103

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

the miner's suspicion that the foreman is responsible
for his troubles because he has assigned him to a bad
working place in the mine when he had the power to
give him a better one; the isolation of the digger who
works alone, or with only one or two near enough for
conversation, and the effect of this upon his mind as he
broods upon his difficulties; and the suspicion of many
miners that foremen will capitalize their power by forc-
ing a man to pay for a good place in the mine, or, in
more subtle ways, exercising control by autocratic and
domineering language.

In none of the coal mines operated by the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company did we hear a single complaint
that foremen were selling jobs, though we visited them
all. Apparently even the suspicion of this serious evil
has been practically eliminated. Nor was there any
general complaint that foremen were abusing the men,
or ruthlessly discharging them without giving any
reason. We heard, of course, plenty of complaints that
some foremen still used abusive language, that some
were arbitrary and unreasonable, but again, we found
no evidence that this was a general and uncontrolled
condition, as it was in the old days.

Perhaps the grievance of former days which the men
recall with most bitterness is the arbitrary and brutal
manner in which foremen and superintendents used to
speak to them. One incident was told by a foreign-
born miner. "They had a foreman here once," ran
his story, "who was very bad. All the time swearing at
us and calling us bad names. We had to push uphill
big cars full of coal, maybe two or two and a half tons.
Sometimes 200 and 300 feet, sometimes 500 feet. One
day we hold a meeting, about 25 Austrians, and we go

104

RESPONSIBILITIES OF MINE OFFICIALS

to the foreman. We say to him, 'Mr. Joe, you got
lots of mules around here. Too hard for us to push
full car 200 feet uphill. Why you no give us mule to
pull car?' He laughed and say, 'Go to hell. I won't
give you mules. Franz Joseph, he got lots of mules
for me. If you no like, you know what you can do,'
and he walk away. We mad like anything. He call
us Austrians mules, but what can we do?"

The Superintendent a Community Organizer
The responsibility for directing men in their work the
mine superintendent has in commorv with superinten-
dents in other industries. In addition, in mining he is
virtually town manager in those camps which are owned
by the company. He is usually a member of the school
board, has general oversight of the company store, is
influential in the activities of the clubhouse which the
Young Men's Christian Association maintains, and is
responsible for carrying out all the details of the labor
policy of the company. To him representatives are to
report first any grievances which the miners ask to have
adjusted. The camp marshal, who is the local police
officer, reports to him. The superintendent is directly
responsible to the general manager of the fuel depart-
ment. In all questions of policy or standards which
must be applicable to all mines of the company, such
as wage rates or the length of the working day or types
of houses to be built, the superintendent has no power
of decision, but he, with the assistance of the foreman,
is responsible for the daily interpretation to the miners
of a policy or a standard which has been adopted by
the company.

105

employes representation in coal mines

Changes Through Employes' Representation

The first big change in the relations between super-
intendents and miners was achieved through limitation
on the power of discharge already described. Closely
connected with this was the new recognition of the right
of workers to deal individually, or through their rep-
resentatives, with higher oificials. Officials of the com-
pany say that the men have always had this right, but
clearly without organized means of exercising it, it was
practically non-existent.

Opening up the channels of communication between
employes and higher officials of the company had at
once the effect of letting in the light on the practice and
policy of superintendents, and from this form of public-
ity within the company would naturally flow a whole
stream of influences. The superintendent, no longer
believing that the grievances of miners were small
matters which would never become known to his supe-
rior officers, gained a new conception of his responsi-
bility for keeping his relations with his men harmonious.
A company which adopts a plan of erriployes' represen-
tation cannot afford too many blunders by foremen or
superintendents. A mistake which once affected only
one employe may soon become common knowledge for
all workers when the employes' right of conference on
grievances through their representatives is recognized.
Therefore, with the introduction of employes' repre-
sentation, officials of the company gained a new realiza-
tion of the necessary qualifications of a superintendent.
He must be not merely a practical miner^ and a good

' Experience in securing safety in a mine is very important for
both superintendents and foremen and cannot be sacrificed to other
qualifications. The mines of the company, especially in southern

1 06

RESPONSIBILITIES OF MINE OFFICIALS

business man: he must be a community organizer; he
must know how to secure efficiency not by authority
conferred upon him by virtue of his office, hke the divine
right of kings, but by leadership recognized by the men
as the result of fair dealing.

The Problem of Developing Local Officials

Not all the old superintendents could measure up to
the new standards of this changed conception of how to
get men to mine coal. Some were still trying to get
results by authority, and doubtless employes' repre-
sentation seemed to some of them a mere weak conces-
sion to the men, impairing discipline and enfeebling the
red-blooded spirit of management.

Many miners who complained of ineffectiveness in
the representation plan put the blame for its short-
comings on local executive officials of the company, in-
cluding superintendents and foremen. "The 'Rocke-
feller Plan' is all right as it is written," was a frequent
statement by miners and their representatives, "but
the trouble is that local officials won't live up to it.
Read the plan from beginning to end and nothing sounds
better. If local officials would live up to it there would
be no trouble." Another representative thought that
the company ought to open a school where it could train
superintendents and foremen in the meaning and spirit
of the plan.

A prominent executive official of the company, who

Colorado, offer a peculiarly difficult problem in safety. The dry air
and inflammable dust are dangerous. This necessity for unusual ex-
pert knowledge of how to keep the mines safe has affected the choice
of superintendents and of foremen. A foreman, according to the
state mining law, as already explained, must always have had experi-
ence inside a mine, but a superintendent may have gained his ex-
perience in other ways.

107

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

has played a conspicuous part in establishing and as-
sisting to administer the plan, admitted that there was
ground for the contention. Its success, he stated, de-
pended entirely on the fairness of the management.
The president of the company is the administrator of
the plan, with local officials acting for him. He also
regretted that some of the superintendents were not
of the type that makes for the best administration of
employes' representation. They were brought up in
the old school. If a man expressed a grievance, the
thing to do was to give him his "time." Some of the
superintendents, moreover, had been heavy drinkers.
This was a problem when the present management of
the company came into office. This condition has
been eliminated. Considerable progress in other ways
had been made with superintendents, this official stated.
They are not so arbitrary as they used to be, and will
listen to grievances. Moreover, a number of new super-
intendents, with more modern ideas, have displaced old
ones.

Systematic training of superintendents and foremen
had not been undertaken by the company, although the
possibility of courses for them was under consideration in
1 92 1, and steps are being taken toward that end as this
book goes to press in 1924. The president pointed out
that the general manager of the fuel department had
practically conducted a school, since he took every
opportunity in his visits to the camps and in monthly
meetings with superintendents to interest and instruct
them in the purposes of the company in the representa-
tion plan. Young men in the company are watched and
trained for future vacancies. Sometimes an ambitious
man will not accept a position as superintendent because

108

RESPONSIBILITIES OF MINE OFFICIALS

of the comparative isolation of a camp and the lack of
congenial environment for his wife or opportunities for
his children. A superintendent's wife, it should be
stated, is an important influence in determining his
success in a camp.

Superintendents, in talking with us, convinced us
that they were impressed with the fact that the company
insists upon the miners' being given a square deal.
"The management is protecting the miners better than
it protects its superintendents and foremen," declared
one superintendent. "The repVesentation plan has less-
ened the authority of superintendents and foremen.
It is pretty hard to discharge a miner now unless a super-
intendent has a very good reason. Rules, for the viola?-
tion of which an employe may be discharged, are written
and posted. We must limit ourselves to them."

Several said that they knew that the management
wanted the fair thing done by the men. They, there-
fore, made every effort to keep grievances from arising,
and when these did arise settled them locally. They
did not want grievances taken over their heads to higher
officials of the company.

The subject is not exhausted by showing that the
superintendent is, himself, a problem in employes'
representation. It is necessary to add that he, also,
has a problem. A plan of employes' representation
cannot be introduced by order in a finished form. Any
change in human relations in an industrial establish-
ment must be regarded as a living, growing spirit. The
place of the superintendent must be thoughtfully de-
veloped. He will continue to be responsible for pro-
duction. In the past he has often been almost solely
responsible for relations with the employes. The first
8 109

employes' representation in coal mines

tendency in developing a new plan of relationships is to
curtail his authority in theory, if not in practice.

In the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company both the
written statement of the plan and the practice of the
officials have given the superintendent a definite place
by making him, in effect, the local administrator of
employes' representation. Grievances are to be dealt
with first by him. He is to be kept informed of all the
dealings of higher officials with the miners. "The
superintendents should never be ignorant of what we
have said to the workers or of the policies which we
have expressed to them," said the president in discussing
the relation of superintendents to the plan. " It should
never be possible for a miner to say to a superintendent,
' Officers of the company have said so and so to us,' unless
the superintendent had also been informed by the offi-
cers."

Dangers in Superintendents' Authority

Evidently, however, the danger of thus safeguarding
the authority of the superintendent is that the practice
will gradually introduce the old condition of autocratic
power. While officers of the company visit each camp
more or less frequently, they are not present all the
time as is the superintendent.^ He is the real admin-
istrator of the policy of the company.^ Each superin-

1 Even after the introduction of the representation plan no super-
intendent was required to keep a record of grievances dealt with by
him either through the representatives or directly with the men.
Only one superintendent had ever recorded any of these complaints.
Grievances when appealed came to the notice of higher officials, but
there was no other check on the practice of superintendents, in 192 1
the general manager of the fuel department was planning to have such
a record kept in every camp.

2 See pages 154 and 155 for cases in which the president's indus-
trial representatives have overruled superintendents and foremen in
accordance with the plan for employes' representation.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF MINE OFFICIALS

tendent is likely to put a different interpretation upon
a policy. Inside the mine and in the community he
has large responsibilities, and he cannot always with-
hold decisions for the advice of his distant superiors in
authority. The isolation of a mining community, and
the fact that mining is the only industry in it in which
a man can earn a living are likely to give great power
to a superintendent; while the constant danger of ac-
cident makes rigid discipline necessary for the very life
of the miners, and this, also, makes for concentration
of power in the local managers.

In a situation like this the idea of employes' represen-
tation is more important than in most industries.

Ill

PART IV
THE PLAN IN PRACTICE

CHAPTER VIII
THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

THE bitterness of the 191 3 strike is probably the
one outstanding fact which the public in the East
still associates with the name of the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company. Probably few know that long
before 19 13 the company had been a pioneer in cer-
tain forms of welfare work for employes. The present
chief surgeon, Dr. R. W. Corwin, went to Colorado in
1 88 1 and took charge of the welfare activities, which
were called "sociological work," for the old Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company. The point of approach was
medical, but added to the medical service of the hos-
pital and the physician was an interest in the schools,
including education for adults through lectures and
libraries.^

Paying tribute to President Kebler in 1904 in Camp
and Plant, which was then the bulletin of the company.
Dr. Corwin described its welfare activities. He did not
add that he himself was primarily responsible for carry-
ing them on, though they could not have been under-
taken without the backing of Mr. Kebler.

"In the Medical and Sociological Departments of
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company," he wrote,

' The unit plan for school buildings which Dr. Corwin has been ad-
vocating in Colorado was designed not only for the convenience of the
children, but was adapted, through its central assembly room, as a
social center for working men in the evening. — The Modern Model
School House on the Unit Plan, by R. W. Corwin, M.D., third edition,
1913, p. 10.

115

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

"Mr. Kebler always took the keenest interest. . . .
To this end it was his desire that the Minnequa Hos-
pital should be the best equipped in the land, and the
camp schools and kindergartens equal to the most
improved institutions in our country. These are his
monuments.

"... 1 always found him a close student of em-
ployes' welfare institutions; especially in Germany
and France, where such institutions have received
much attention."^

Thus we find, antedating the Industrial Representa-
tion Plan, the medical service and the interest in the
camp schools which have since become subjects of com-
mittee activities, with the employes now sharing in
them. These committees, as already outlined, have an
advisory relation to: (i) Sanitation, health, and hous-
ing; (2) safety and accidents; (3) recreation and educa-
tion.2 It will be recalled that the membership of each
committee is composed of three men elected by the
employes' representatives, and three appointed by the
president of the company. As has been noted, each dis-
trict has its own committees, but the same men usually
serve as the company's representatives in all districts.
The employes' representatives serve only in their own
district.

We have already spoken of the high standards main-
tained by this company in living conditions in its camps.
Not since 1910 has the company found it necessary to
employ labor agents to recruit men for their mines or to

1 Camp and Plant, April 23, 1904, p. 362. Published by the Socio-
logical Department of the Colorado Fuel and iron Company.

^ The fourth joint committee established in the representation plan,
as already outlined, is the Joint Committee on industrial Co-operation
and Conciliation, whose work will be considered in the discussion of
grievances.

i 16

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

pay railroad transportation to the camps, as is the prac-
tice of many coal companies, in some years the out-
lay for housing, including a considerable item for re-
pairs, has exceeded the income from rents. The deficit,
however, is probably no greater than the outlay of
companies of equal size who must continually seek new
employes to take the places of those who leave in dis-
content. The miners appreciate these living conditions,
and more than one told us that they constituted one of
the chief reasons why they prefer to work for the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.

An official in the State Department of Education told
us that the company was far ahead of any other coal
operator in the state in school equipment and teaching
staff; it is willing to tax itself an adequate rate for edu-
cational purposes in the communities which it owns. As
to working conditions, the chief coal mine inspector of
Colorado, James Dalrymple, testified before the Colo-
rado State Industrial Commission in 191 7 that his
office had "less trouble with the Colorado Fuel and Iron
mines than any mines," and " the fact that we have had
less trouble, and have had our recommendations carried
out promptly, would leave the inference that their mines
are in better condition than other mines. "^

Housing
A mining camp may be a place of beauty, but usually
it has been otherwise. In the clear sunny atmosphere
of Colorado, with majestic mountain ranges visible for

^ Hearings before the Colorado State Industrial Commission, in the
matter of the United Mine Workers of America, District 1 5, Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company Employes vs. Colorado Fuel and Iron Com-
pany, p. 28. Typewritten record. Also printed in Findings and
Award in this case, pp. 19, 20.

117

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

long distances, and picturesque hills and canyons, no
difficult planning is required to create an attractive com-
munity for the miners' homes. Mining companies in
the past, however, and not a few in the present, in Colo-
rado and in other mining regions, have given scanty
attention even to the elementary standards of sanitary
housing. Ideas of town planning, with an eye to civic
beauty, have had no weight with them. The life of the
camp may be brief, and investment in the town is un-
likely to yield a lasting return. In contrast, the pleas-
ing aspect of many of the camps of the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company is a demonstration, more than ordi-
narily significant, of the ambition of the company to
provide homes, and not mere "housing," for the miners.

Picture one of them in southern Colorado. It is
situated on a hill. Before you climb to the top you are
impressed by the freshness and soft color of the paint on
the roofs, which appear through the foliage of ever-
greens, and you notice that the spruces and pinyons, low,
scrubby, but thick-branched evergreens, have been re-
tained in building the camp. Only in recent years have
builders of mining camps thought of retaining the trees
already fotind on the site, or of planting new ones. From
the top of a distant hill, the trees and the cottage type
of house give this camp the appearance of an attractive
summer resort in the Colorado hills.

On entering the main road, you notice first a band-
stand, neat, well-kept, freshly painted in gray, in the
center of a " village green." On one side of the green is a
Young Men's Christian Association building, or miner's
club, a two-story concrete building with a graceful,
almost classical approach. On the other side is a school-
house, also of gray concrete. Beyond the school is the

ii8

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

miners' bath-house. Before long you notice a symmetri-
cal relationship between the band-stand, the "Y" club-
house, the school, and the bath-house, and you exclaim,
"A civic center in a mining camp!"

In the distance, among pinyons and spruces, and
apart from the main camp, a two-story boarding house
has been dignified by being called a "hotel." It is a
small thing, perhaps, to call the house where the bach-
elor miners live a hotel instead of a boarding house, but
the psychological value of the name is unmistakable.
It appeals to one's pride and dignity.

From the civic center you look down the main street
of the camp. It has sidewalks and is a street in the real
sense of the word, well graded, with a layer of cinders
placed on the softer adobe. New concrete houses, and
some old frame ones that have been remodeled, line it
on either side. Their design is uniform. Each is a
separate cottage of four or five rooms, with a small front
porch. One might wish that the architecture of the
houses had been varied, but a visitor cannot but admire
the neat and comfortable appearance of the homes, the
trim wire fence around each plot of ground, and the
graceful gates. All the houses have lawns in front and
gardens in the rear. In one part of the camp stand three
community garages, long, gray stone structures where
the miners keep their cars. Further down the hill is an
outdoor swimming pool. Altogether this group of build-
ings affords a pleasant picture of a substantial com-
munity living up to American standards of comfort,
cleanliness, and even of beauty.

To have attained these standards has been a gradual
growth to which great impetus was given by the change
in policy stimulated by Mr. Rockefeller and Mr. King,

119

employes' representation in coal mines

with the introduction of the Industrial Representation
Plan in 1915. Before that year, although many .of the
houses had been built which now appear so attractive,
and the spruce trees native to the place had been per-
mitted to remain, the care of the housing was not pro-
vided for as it was after 191 5. The superintendent in
each camp was responsible for its upkeep, with no con-
tinuing central supervision and hence no uniform policy.
In earlier days there had been no fences, no yards, and
therefore no scope for the pride of each miner's family in
the care of its own plot of ground.

The most important change made in the housing
policy in 191 5 was the appointment of a superintendent
of housing, to supervise the construction and care of the
houses and other buildings in all the camps. His first
task was to inspect all the properties of the company,
and upon the results of this inspection he based his
future action. Excepting Starkville, the camps in Fre-
mont County, and part of Sopris, the company owns the
entire site of the camps and all of the buildings. Control
of design, arrangement, and care could, therefore, be
easily centralized. The centralized administration of
housing was not only important as a plan of organiza-
tion, but it reflected a new policy and a new interest by
company officials and by stockholders in the living con-
ditions of the miners. They were willing to spend
money to increase the comfort of living in the camps.

A good illustration of their change of attitude is the
building of bath-houses. The first bath-house on the
properties of the company was built at Morley in 1908,
seven years before the adoption of the representation
plan. The money for it was secured by the general
manager of the fuel department as a result of saving in

120

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

connection with some other camp expenses. He was
eager to build a bath-house because he had brought with
him to Colorado from New Mexico the memory of his
own hardships in living in a camp which had no wash-
house for the miners. He had worked as a miner there
and lived in a house of four rooms with no bathroom.
The difficulties of getting a bath — a necessity after the
day's work in a mine — in a small house with a kitchen
stove as the only place for heating water, while a hard-
working and discouraged wife tried to prepare the dinner
and keep the house clean, can easily be imagined. When
he became general manager of a large company and had
a small margin of money to spend, he built a bath-house
at Morley mine.

Nevertheless, he was not able to convince his superior
officials, especially the chairman of the board of direc-
tors, who appears to have thought a job and his wages
were all that a miner should expect of a corporation.
No more bath-houses were built in any other camps of
the company until, with Mr. Rockefeller's coming in
1915, the company made it a definite part of its policy
to authorize expenditures for greater comfort in the
camps. To the miner's wife who wants to keep her
home clean and in order, the wash-house is quite as
great a boon as it is convenient and healthful for the
miner.^

To this greater care by the company the tenants
responded. At the annual meeting of representatives

1 The iron mine at Sunrise, Wyoming, was not included in our in-
vestigation, but tiie company's efforts to provide comforts there are
noteworthy. No water is available for either domestic purposes or
irrigation. It is brought in tank cars from a point six miles off, and
its use is permitted not only for households but for bath-houses and
for small lawns and gardens of the miners' homes.

121

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

in 192 1 the Joint Committee on Sanitation, Health, and
Housing of the Trinidad District made this comment:

"The committee has noted that in those camps
where the management has kept the streets and alleys
clean; ash cans emptied; leaky hydrants repaired;
and maintained good surface drainage — There will
be found the best kept lawns, the best gardens, the
cleanest back yards, and the cleanest front porches."'

in some camps, in the early days of the company,
ground was leased to the miners and the Mexicans put
up adobe shacks, which were hastily constructed huts of
railroad ties and adobe mud. Vestiges of these can still
be seen in many parts of Colorado, but the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company began, ten or fifteen years ago,
to purchase those on its properties and to build new
houses in their places, and the last of them had been thus
replaced by 1921.

As camps were acquired from other companies
changes had to be made to bring housing up to the
standard adopted by the company. For example, when
the mine at Toller was acquired in 191 6, the superin-
tendent of housing made a thorough canvass. The
miners' wives in that camp had had no easy life. No
water whatever was pumped into the houses and it all
had to be carried from a long distance down the canyon.
The superintendent of housing, Mr. Risher, and the
chairman of the Committee on Recreation and* Educa-
tion, went from house to house to find out what was
needed. A mass meeting was called in the evening to
discuss what the tenants wanted in improvements in the
houses. Water was piped to the camp. As in the other

1 Industrial Bulletin, January 21, 192 1, p. 12. — Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company.

122

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

camps, a hydrant was located in each yard, near the
back porch. Porches were added, the yards cleaned up,
rooms calcimined, and fences built.

A house of four rooms had been the recent standard
type at the time of our inquiry in 1920. In earlier days,
houses were built with three and sometimes two rooms.
The four-room house cost, in 19 19, about ^1,175. At
that time some houses of five rooms had been built as an
experiment, and a few of six rooms had been designed.

A uniform rent of ^2.00 a month per room was
charged and had remained unchanged, but additions to
this basic charge were made as improvements were
added. A change in standards has been noteworthy,
and the miners' families are demanding more comfort in
housing and are willing to pay for it. First, closets were
added to the rooms, with no extra rent. For a sink in
the kitchen, ^2.00 a month more was charged, and for
a bathroom $3.00. In 1921 cellars were being con-
structed for the houses in several camps, and a dollar a
month was to be added to the rent of these houses. The
company was paying a rate of a dollar and a quarter per
cubic foot to the miners who wished to dig their own
cellars on days when the mine was idle.

With these facilities, a man could rent a house of four
rooms for $14 a month. ^ For electric lights in the houses
a charge of 25 cents a month was made for each outlet,
with a porch light free as it lighted the roadway. With
the cellars finished, screened porches were to be the next
improvement. The windows and doors were already
screened. To add to the comfort of the camp, garages,

Mn a camp like Walsen, where an adjoining town is near enough to
enable some of the miners to live in it, a comparison of rents is possi-
ble. We were told by the miners that the rents in the camp were
distinctly lower than for similar housing in the town.

123

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

wash-houses, and Young Men's Christian Association
clubhouses have been built on all the properties which are
owned by the company. A new design of sanitary toilet,
a coal shed, and — during the war to encourage contribu-
tions to the nation's food supply — a chicken house, with
fence and yard, were supplied without additions to rent.^

Crowding has been lessened, as is shown in a tabular
statement of the average number of occupants in houses
of various sizes in August, 1920, as compared with
August, 19 1 6. In the four-room houses the average
number living in each house had decreased in 1920 in
every camp except Morley and Coal Creek. Only at
Morley was the average occupancy of a house of four
rooms as high as five persons, while at Frederick,
Segundo, Cameron, Lester, and Walsen it was less than
four, in the houses of three rooms more serious crowd-
ing was shown. In only two camps, Rouse and Walsen,
was the average occupancy of three rooms less than
three persons, while at Berwind and Tabasco it was
more than five, and the congestion was greater in 1920
than in 1916 in this type of house at Berwind, Tabasco,
Cameron, Lester, and Fremont. It seemed to be the
general testimony, however, that higher wages had
created a demand for larger houses and more of them,
since families were less willing to take lodgers.

The response of the miners' families to higher stan-
dards of care of the camp, and of each house in it, has
been stimulated by the award of prizes, amounting to
between two and three thousand dollars a year, for the

1 The charge for a stall in a garage is a dollar and a half a month
with light, and one dollar without it. For a hanger in the wash house,
the charge is 50 cents a month; the men provide soap and towels.
The locker has been abolished, as the hanger, which can be drawn to
the ceiling, has been found to be much more satisfactory.

124

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

best garden in each camp and for the most attractive
camp in the company's property. The miners are
proud of the attractiveness of their homes when the
vines, the flowers, and the vegetables in the gardens
are growing luxuriantly. The award of prizes — of ^lo,
^7.50, ^5.00 and ^2.50 — for the best garden in each of
four classes is one of the functions of the Joint Com-
mittee on Sanitation, Health and Housing.

In general, the committee, acting in an advisory ca-
pacity to the superintendent of housing, is charged with
oversight of all matters relating to housing, health and
sanitation, including the houses of miners, the mainte-
nance of the Young Men's Christian Association build-
ing, and the care of other buildings for common use, hke
garages or wash-houses; the care of the streets, the
planting of trees, and the disposal of garbage, its ac-
tivities in relation to medical service can best be dis-
cussed in that connection. Our immediate concern here
is with the relation of the men to housing, since we are
studying employes' representation, and not primarily
conditions of living which the company might have
improved without consulting employes. Are they shar-
ing in this function of mine management?

The district committee which, of course, includes em-
ployes, accompanies the superintendent of housing in his
tour of inspection in its district three or four times a
year.^ This seems to have been the principal activity
of the committee. The journey of inspection gives an
opportunity for the miners' representatives to make sug-
gestions to the superintendent of housing, and he in turn

1 The revised plan provides that "at the coal mines a local em-
ployes' representative shall accompany the committee on inspection
trips." This applies to all of the joint committees when making
inspections. See Appendix B, page 429.

9 '25

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

finds them helpful in gaining the co-operation of the
tenants. The committee, however, has no executive
function, and no power of decision. It may be a pur-
veyor of complaints or suggestions, or its membership
may be quite inactive. Nor is it given the primary
responsibility for making or receiving suggestions or
complaints relating to housing. Housing may be dis-
cussed at the annual meeting, at a district conference,
or by the Joint Committee on Industrial Co-operation
and Conciliation. The president's industrial representa-
tive may be asked to deal with complaints about it
when he visits a camp, or employes' representatives,
not members of the committee, may be called upon to
report for a fellow-employe.

As an illustration of the way company officials con-
sult employes we were told in 1921 about the problem
which had arisen at Walsen when some miners had put
sinks in their kitchens at their own expense. Others
wanted them. Should the company supply them, charg-
ing thereby an addition to rent? If no additional rent
were charged, when the company installed a sink, would
it not be an injustice to the men who had paid for their
own sinks? It was not a matter that the superintendent
of the mine could settle, for it would establish a pre-
cedent for other camps. Therefore, the superintendent
sent for the president's chief industrial representative.
He called a meeting of miners. The final decision was
that the company would pay the cost to the men who
had put them in, would install them for others desiring
them, and would add $2.00 a month to the rent of each
house having a sink. The desirability of having a form
of organization to make possible full discussion of a
detail of this kind is evident.

126

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

The reports of the president's industrial representa-
tive show that not a few of the requests made to him on
his tour through the camps have related to living con-
ditions. In the camp at Pictou, recently acquired by
the company, housing conditions had been a constant
source of complaint. "The representatives stated," the
report reads, "that there was a general complaint in
regard to house lighting. Some of the houses are
lighted by electricity, but they are scattered over the
camp. There is some complaint in regard to the con-
dition of the houses and nothing at present is being done
to better the conditions."^ The company's superinten-
dent of housing is asked to inspect and to remedy these
conditions. After a later visit the report reads that the
women appreciate the improvements. In November,
1916, the president's industrial representative made a
special visit to a mine because the wife of an Italian
miner complained about the delay in having an addi-
tional room built in her dwelling. The material was
ordered. In another mine the chief cause of complaint
during 19 19 seemed to be the quality of the water sup-
plied for domestic use. New wells were sunk and a
pumping system established to provide an adequate
supply.

Some aspect of living conditions is occasionally
brought before a district committee on conciliation and
co-operation as a grievance for adjustment. Sometimes
complaints are registered against the food served in a
boarding house. Thus, in one of the district conferences
in the Trinidad District, held in 1918, the division super-
intendent reported these complaints: " I am a little bit

^ Report of the President's Industrial Representative, on Pictou
mine, June i, 19 18.

127

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

surprised that none of the representatives know any-
thing about this," he declared. " 1 want to say that I
have eaten meals at that boarding house pretty often,
and 1 get better grub there than 1 get at home some-
times. 1 do not believe that there is any room at all for
an\'one to complain about the boarding houses in the
camp."

The price at which coal is sold to employes is at times
a subject for discussion. At one of the meetings of the
Joint Committee on Co-operation and Conciliation in
1918, for the Canon District, it was decided through the
suggestion of a miners' representative to investigate the
price of coal to local consumers at the three properties in
Fremont County. As a result of this investigation the
price was reduced to meet the rules of the Fuel Adminis-
tration. Widows of former employes, and miners who
had become incapacitated for work, were given the same
reduction as present employes. These rules were made
effective throughout all of the districts. Complaints are
also registered occasionally against the prices charged in
the company stores; investigation and explanation or
adjustment by the management follow.

Employes have also been consulted before a new
design of house is accepted, especially when the com-
pany is in doubt as to whether the employes are likely
to be willing to pay the higher rent for a larger, more
expensively constructed dwelling. At the district con-
ference in Trinidad in 1918 the president requested the
chairman of the Advisory Board of Social and Industrial
Betterment' to ask the advice and help of the employes'
representatives in deciding whether houses should be
built with more than four rooms.

1 This board was abolished prior to 192 1, as already explained.
128

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

" I wish that you men on the committees," he said,
"and representatives of the employes would talk this
matter over among the employes and get an idea
whether there are men in your camps, and how many
of them there are, who would like to have larger
houses, so that when the time comes for us to extend
our building program we would know what proportion
of the number wanted are to be larger houses.

"... The four-room houses will include bath-
room, toilet, screened back porch, front porch, and
cellar. Of course, these will demand a higher rent
than the men ordinarily pay for their four-room
houses. The amount of the rent will be determined
from the cost of the houses; we do not know how
much that will be. My guess . . . would be,
not less than ^12.50 a month. . . . We are also
planning five-room houses. ... If you will
think this matter over and talk it over with your men
and your superintendent so that we can arrive at
about how many of these houses will be wanted in
your community, then we will have a basis upon
which to work."^

Unquestionably, housing is a large section of the
"zone of agreement," in which co-operation between
managers and employes in planning has yielded satis-
faction to both sides.

Health and Medical Service
The same committee which has housing conditions
within its jurisdiction has, also, oversight of the conduct
of dispensaries, and the service rendered by the Min-
nequa Hospital and by camp physicians. The hospital
is located at Pueblo, and in it are the headquarters of the
chief surgeon, Dr. Corwin. Physicians whose salaries

1 Minutes of the Trinidad District Conference, held at Starkville,
September 27, 1918. Remarks of M. J. Stickei.

129

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

are paid b\' the company from funds to which employes
contribute are assigned to the various camps and live in
or near them. Buildings especially designed for dispen-
saries have been erected in some camps. A few visiting
nurses have been employed, but the growth of this work
was checked by the difficulty of securing nurses during
the war when they were so urgently needed abroad.

The policy of the company in its medical department,
and the relation of employes to it, are defined in a
printed pamphlet entitled, "Information, Rules, and
Instructions Regarding Physical Examination of Appli-
cants for Employment," and in the Industrial Repre-
sentation Plan.^ Employes' representatives are given
a voice in the selection of camp physicians and this
right has actually been exercised. As has been shown,
the services of an unsatisfactory physician have been
discontinued on complaint of employes' representatives,
and the qualifications of his successor passed upon, also,
by them.

The "Information, Rules and Instructions" for
the "Medical Department — Minnequa Hospital" are
printed with place and date designated as " Pueblo,
Colo., August, 1881," an interesting bit of evidence that
the medical work begun by Dr. Corwin in that year
preceded by eleven years the incorporation of the pres-
ent company. The rules have been revised from time

^ The plan contains the following paragraphs (Section IV, par. 9) :
" In camps where arrangements for doctors and hospitals have al-
ready been made and are satisfactory, such arrangements shall con-
tinue.

" In making any new arrangement for a doctor, the employes' rep-
resentatives in the camps concerned, the president's executive assis-
tant, and the chief medical officer shall select a doctor, and enter into
an agreement with him which shall be signed by all four parties."
See Appendix A, page 414.

130

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

to time. The following paragraphs, addressed "To all
employes," are quoted from the issue of May, 1920.

"The Medical Department is maintained and its
activities are directed to protect you from sickness and
disease, and to cure you when preventive measures
fail, as well as to relieve you and to assist your re-
covery in case of injury.

"The expenses of the Medical Department are paid
from a. fund which is credited with the dues which you
pay and with the/^^5 paid by hospital patients. The
company does not charge any rent or interest on the
Medical Department properties which it owns and it
pays for the treatment of cases which come under the
Workmen's Compensation Law.

" No earnings or profits are drawn from the Medical
Department /m« J by the company, the entire amount
being used for expenses and maintenance and for
treatment, care and service for your benefit, or held for
that purpose."^

The medical charge to each employe is $1.50 per
month, which is deducted from earnings. It entitles
him to medical and surgical treatment and to hospital
care and service for sickness or injury, without further
payment. Employes who work or live where the
medical department does not maintain a local surgeon
are not required to pay the monthly charge unless they
choose to pay the dues in order to be entitled to hospital
service. Members of the families or dependents of the
employes in the camps "who live with them and are
supported by them" — although not entitled to hospital
treatment — have the right to medical and surgical

1 Medical Department, Minnequa Hospital. Information, Rules
and Instructions Regarding Physical Examination of Applicants for
Employment, revised to May, 1920, p. 3.— Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company.

131

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

treatment by the local surgeon at his office or at their
homes if they live not further than two miles away.

If an injury occurs in the course of employment, the
company is financially responsible for the injured
workman's care in accordance with the Colorado
Workmen's Compensation Law. The company pays
the cost of medical and hospital service up to the maxi-
mum amount of money or period of time required by
the law. This amount, like the monthly medical pay-
ments of employes, is credited to the hospital fund. If
the injured man should stay longer in the hospital, he
is cared for without charge to him as though he had
entered for a cause other than an occupational injury,
with his expenses provided through employes' monthly
payments. Special rates are made for the families and
dependents of employes. Officers of the company
making use of the hospital are charged the unit cost
for meals. When beds are vacant, patients not con-
nected with the company are admitted and charged
the full cost. All these payments are credited to the
"Hospital Fund." The company makes no charge
upon the fund for general administration or for interest
on its investment of ^400,000 in the hospital.

The monthly medical charge to employes, which was
formerly $1.00, was increased in 1920 to ^1.50. The
minutes of the Trinidad District Conference held at
Soprls on January 16, 1920, show that President Wel-
born then explained to the employes' representatives
the need for the increase:

"The salaries paid hospital doctors, and expenses

that have entered into the operation of hospitals and

[are] needed by the local doctors, have increased at

least as much as, or much more than, the increase in

132

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

the cost of living. The result is that it is costing us
considerably more to operate the hospital department
than ever before, and much more than the income
derived therefrom. Over a long term of years there
has been a small surplus accumulated, but this has
been used up within the last two years. In addition
to the ^i.oo per month which the employes pay to
that hospital fund, the company pays into the fund
the amount that the workmen's compensation law re-
quires. . . . The company paid something like
^50,000 into that fund last year. 1 do not think that
the charge of ^1.50 per month will quite meet the re-
quirements, but we have in mind to change the rate
from $1.00 to $1.50 per month. 1 wanted to tell you
about it. The matter has been taken up with the steel
departments at Pueblo and the representatives said
they felt sure the employes would be quite willing to
pay the increased amount for the service they are
getting."

The minutes do not record a vote on this subject at that
conference, but the incident illustrates the procedure of
the president in bringing the question before the em-
ployes' representatives and explaining the facts before
announcing a decision.

In all the camps we found employes well satisfied with
the medical service. " I have nothing against Minnequa
Hospital," said a representative who was a motor
driver in one of the mines. He was one of a group whose
conference with us revealed many causes of discontent,
but the hospital and the medical care were not among
them. " 1 will say it is a good place," he added. " I have
been there and 1 don't mind giving my money to it."

The hospital, indeed, appears to a visitor to be a
"good place." Of its medical equipment a lay visitor is
not qualified to speak, though it is said that United

133

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

States army surgeons have ranked it as second in equip-
ment and maintenance of all hospitals west of the
Mississippi River. What interests the lay visitor is the
careful thought and ingenuity exercised for the comfort
and pleasure of patients. Not a stair is there to be
climbed anywhere in the building. Dr. Corwin's in-
genious thoughtfulness has substituted the "incline,"
which causes no strain for the tired or crippled backs or
legs of convalescents.^

Complaints, of course, there have been, and for these
the machinery of the representation plan has been use-
ful. The activities of a special committee of the steel
workers, appointed at their suggestion to investigate
the hospital, will be discussed in the report on the Min-
nequa Steel Works. In the reports of the president's in-
dustrial representative and the minutes of conferences
appear a number of complaints relating to the service of
camp physicians. In one the president's industrial rep-
resentative recommended that the physician be trans-
ferred; in others, misunderstandings arose which the
representatives attempted to adjust.

Employes' Objections to Physical Examination
The most serious complaint relating to the medical
service was the objection of a number of miners to the

^ "If the good Creator intended man to climb stairs," wrote Dr.
Corwin in 191 1, "He would have put steps in the rocks and left the
inclines out of the fields and mountains." — Sanitary and Sociological
Bulletin, November, 191 1, p. i. Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.

His inventiveness has given the patients also the comfort oi^ spe-
cially devised window curtains, to regulate the light, and the pleasure
of looking at pictures on the bedroom walls, and curios on shelves
along the hallways, including numerous helmets, sign-boards and other
relics brought back by Dr. Corwin from the battlefields of Europe. He
had gone there to study the new discoveries of surgery in the experi-
ence, of the war, that he might use the knowledge in his work in
Colorado.

134

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

requirement that a new employe should pass a physical
examination. Beginning in 1912, each applicant for
employment has been required to "sign an application
and record card and to pass a physical examination, by
a company surgeon, before he will be recorded as an
employe. The physical examination will be made, with-
out expense to the applicant, by a company surgeon."^
The rules specify that an applicant will be disqualified
for employment if he is found to have certain specified
physical disabilities, including, for instance, the loss of
an eye, a hand, or a foot, tuberculosis, heart disease, "or
any defect which would make it impossible for him to
render regular and efficient service."^

The objections of some of the men who complained to
us of this provision were based upon their suspicion that
the physical examination is used at times to refuse em-
ployment to men who may be active in the trade union.
These men could not offer any concrete evidence and
probably their suspicions are significant only as showing
a state of mind among those who believe that the com-
pany is opposed to their activities in the trade union.

One representative, in whom the company officials
have full confidence, told us that if the company had
a plan for sickness insurance it would be all right to
have a physical examination, but that it should not be
required otherwise, and if it were required at least men
should be allowed to choose their own doctor. The men
in the same group with him cited the experience of one
man who was rejected by the company doctor and

^ ibid., p. 5.

J35

employes' representation in coal mines

afterward accepted for the Army. They said that the
representatives had no control over the physical ex-
amination preceding employment, as their function
is limited to the complaints or conditions affecting those
already employed.

In another camp we were simply told that "the men
do not like the physical examination." Their idea was
that, " You have got to work even if you are sick," and
the men in this group of representatives could not be
dissuaded from their conviction that physical examina-
tion keeps men out of work if their illness is only tem-
porary, when otherwise they might get work.

The company officials state that the physical exami-
nation has been made necessary by the workmen's com-
pensation law. Occasionally, however, a superintendent
may hire a man who has been rejected by the physician,
or the physical defect may be remedied by an opera-
tion or treatment. This frequently happens when the
trouble is hernia. The man may be at once employed
and treatment provided later.

We asked whether the Industrial Representation Plan
has any relation to physical examination; for instance,
is there any provision for giving the men some control
over the rejection of applicants, so as to allay the suspi-
cion of those who believe that men may be rejected for
other than physical reasons? The reply to us was that
the employes have control over the medical service in
that the chief surgeon confers with the employes' rep-
resentatives before appointing a camp physician, and,
as has been noted, he may be removed on complaint of
men in the camp.

136

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

Safety and Accidents

In 1910 a number of disastrous explosions occurred
in Colorado mines, some of them the property of the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. These accidents
led to a determination to make the mines safer. The
company employs a chief mine inspector, who formerly
worked in the mines and who is an expert in safety.
The dry air, especially in the southern mines, creates
a safety problem which is very serious.

With the introduction of the Industrial Representa-
tion Plan a joint committee of officials and employes
was associated with the chief mine inspector. With him
they inspect the mines in their district three times a
year. They look at the air courses, the main haulage
way, the pumps, the working faces, and all the machin-
ery. Recommendations are made at once to the super-
intendent, and a report sent by the secretary to the
Denver office. The policy is to keep the standards as
high as possible and to maintain them ahead of the legal
requirements made by the state.

According to the chief mine inspector, the employes'
representatives on the committee have been useful in
urging recommendations upon the superintendent. Ap-
parently, however, it is the condition of the mine, rather
than the training of men to be careful, which is the
primary concern of the committee. We visited one
camp the day after the district committee had been
there and noticed that although a report of the state
mine inspector on conditions in this mine was posted on
the bulletin board, no record appeared of the report of
the employes' own committee. We were told that no
reports of this kind were made to the employes in the

137

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

camp at the conclusion of an inspection. The result is
that the men do not know what their representatives on
the committee are doing to prevent accidents. On the
other hand, the representatives are given a liberal edu-
cation in the opportunity to go with the chief mine in-
spector while he examines a mine.

In our discussion with the officers of the company
concerning the lack of participation by the miners in
preventing accidents, the general manager of the fuel
department (then Mr. Weitzel) explained that the
company had intended at one time to organize a safety
committee at each mine, but " someway or other we fell
down on our scheme on that line." The question of
authority was one difficulty, since, as has been ex-
plained, the mine foreman is held legally responsible
for safety in the mine, and a committeeman without a
state's certificate might be accused of giving directions
without authority. To overcome this difficulty badges
were printed, headed "Safety Committee," and em-
ployes were asked to elect the safety committees them-
selves without having the management take any part
in it. The plan was to'have the committees report to
the foreman any evidences of carelessness by employes
in the mines. The committee was to meet at stated
times and make recommendations in writing to the
superintendent, to be held by him if desirable for con-
sideration of the Joint Committee on Safety and Acci-
dents on their next visit. Mr. Weitzel added, " It was
really left to the employes to carry the thing through,
and 1 don't think they have done it."

The safety work relates to mine management, while
the other committees which we have been discussing
deal more directly with community life. In the safety

138

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

committee we have an example of possible participation
by employes in determining conditions aflFecting pro-
duction. Closely related to this subject, therefore,
would be the work of the committees on production,
appointed during the war. These were not joint com-
mittees. They were composed entirely of employes, and
it is said that their work was very successful in securing
the co-operation of the men for increased production.
These committees were discontinued after the war.

Education and Recreation
The issue of Camp and Plant, the former weekly bul-
letin of the old Sociological Department, for December
26, 1903, was a "Camp School Number." It opened
with these sentences:

" Education has been the keynote of all of the work
done by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
through its Sociological Department . . . the
principle constantly kept in mind being that no inno-
vations or improvements can be made with any
security of ultimate success or permanence unless
they are made with the co-operation and as a result of
the earnest desire of those who are most affected.
. . . The work done in co-operation with the
schools in the several camps has been by far the most
important and has consumed by far the largest pro-
portion of the very considerable sums which the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company has spent for the
betterment of its men."

Then, as at present, the conduct of the schools was in
the hands of state and county school authorities. Even
in camps where the property is owned by the company
and where it pays 90 per cent or more of the taxes, it is
the local school board and not the company which is

139

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

responsible for such undertakings as the erection of a
school building. Often the company has purchased the
bonds issued for a building, not always with the hope
of repayment, and has supplied the force of men for
erecting it if no contractor was available.

The interest of Julian A. Kebler, the first president of
the company, in the schools and kindergartens — an
interest reinforced by that of Mrs. Kebler — has been
mentioned. We made no attempt to study the history
or the organization of the schools, as our immediate con-
cern was with the present activities of the employe
members of the Joint Committee on Recreation and
Education. The head of the educational work, who
formerly was a mine clerk in one of the company's camps
and had been successful in conducting the Sunday school
there, was appointed in February, 191 5, several months
before the inauguration of the Industrial Representa-
tion Plan. His first interest, he has said, was in the
children. One of his aims was to bring about closer co-
operation between the schools and the religious instruc-
tion in the camps. While he was developing his plans,
Mr. King came to Colorado and discussed with him the
educational work as a part of the plan for industrial rep-
resentation which was then being considered.

When the plan was adopted, a Joint Committee on
Recreation and Education was appointed in each dis-
trict, composed of three officials and three miners. Their
procedure, like that of the other committees, was to
make inspections three or four times a year in their
districts, inquiring into the schools, classes for adults,
lectures, and entertainments. Gradually, the program
has developed to the point of regarding the public school
as the center of the educational work of the camp.

140

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

The essential task of the committee, therefore, is to
win the co-operation of the local school board. The
board is locally elected and, naturally, the superinten-
dent of the camp and other employes of the mine are
often members.

Through co-operation of the local school boards,
backed by the willingness of the company to be gener-
ously taxed for school purposes, improvements have
been made in school buildings and furnishings, and in
equipment for playgrounds; junior high schools have
been established; the teaching of domestic science and
manual training^ has been encouraged, and as evidence
that the relation of the school to the parent is not for-
gotten, mothers are invited to receptions for which their
children cook and serve the refreshments. The "all-
year" school has been promoted, and in the summer of
1920 five schools were giving supervision to the children
in "formal studies," in nature study, folk dances and
games, "hikes," swimming, fishing, domestic science,
and the planting and care of gardens. Exhibits of gar-
den products and of the needlework of the women in
the camp have interested the adults. Local organiza-
tion of the Boy Scouts and of the Camp Fire Girls has
been stimulated.

In co-operation with state and federal boards of voca-
tional education, courses have been offered for the
miners; these have appealed especially to men who
were preparing for examinations for mine foremen's cer-
tificates. In the winter of 1920 to 1921 about 300 men

^ In one school we found that the boys have domestic science as
well as manual training, and the girls manual training as well as cook-
ing and sewing — a bit of evidence of progressive thinking about
women's work!

10 141

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

in ten or twelve camps were enrolled in vocational
classes.

Most important of all has been the effort to help the
local school board to secure competent teachers, "not
only qualified to do the work of the public school
teacher," as the chairman of the committee on educa-
tion said, "but interested in the social development of
the community." Educational conferences have been
arranged with the twofold purpose of stimulating the
interest of the public in the schools and increasing the
efficiency of the school teachers and the members of
local school boards.

In housing and medical service the miner has a direct
personal interest. The affairs of the schools in the
camps concern him personally only through his children,
if he has any. The work of the committee on education
is likely to appeal, therefore, only to the most public-
spirited of the employes, and it was difficult to find in-
stances of active participation in it by employes' repre-
sentatives.^

One man, a Mexican, who digs coal in the mine at
Morley, seemed to have a special interest in this com-
mittee. Before coming to Colorado he was a member of
the local school board in a town in New Mexico. As an

1 To be sure, the written plan lists in its duties a more entertaining
agenda than that of any other committee. The "joint committees on
recreation and education" may consider "any matter pertaining to
social centers, clubhouses, halls, playgrounds, entertainments, moving
pictures, athletics, competitions, field days, holidays, schools, libraries,
classes for those who speak only foreign languages, technical educa-
tion, manual training, health lectures, classes in first aid, religious
exercises, churches and Sunday schools. Young Men's Christian Asso-
ciation organizations, etc." In many of the camps, under the leader-
ship of the superintendents and the Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion secretaries, the program of entertainments seems to be lively and
interesting. See Appendix A, page 407.

142

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

instance of work which a miner can do for the school in
his camp, he told of a Mexican girl of thirteen at Morley
whose parents were keeping her out of school. They
were going back to Mexico some day, and why should
she need to learn English? In their own language, he
not only explained the law for compulsory education but
convinced them of the desirability of sending the child
to school. He believed, however, that the committee
on education has a difficult task, because it is always
hard to interest adults in the schools; the best way to
reach them is through the children.

In the camps which the company does not own we
found some opposition to the very existence of a com-
mittee on education. The local school board in these
towns, we were told, has no money for the committee's
recommendations and why, anyway, should the com-
pany have anything to do with the work of a board
which is independent of it and elected by the citizens
of incorporated towns? These are the towns, to which
reference has been made, where many of the men own
their own homes. To the eye they present no such
attractions as do the company-owned camps, but the
insurgent spirit manifested for years by the men in
them is significant in a discussion of employes' repre-
sentation as an instrument of democracy.

Employes' Representation in Community Life
The high standards maintained by the company in
housing, in medical service, and in the schools, have
been fully described not only because they are part of
the Industrial Representation Plan, but because they
are distinct, practical achievements in themselves,
worthy of emulation by other coal operators. More-

143

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

over, the experience in Colorado seems to show that
the adoption of employes' representation vitaHzed the
interest of the managers and the stockholders in all
these practical aspects of an employe's life in a mining
camp. As accompaniments of the representation plan,
these really excellent living conditions that prevail
can fairly be said to be results of the plan.

This is not to say, however, that these achievements
are the result of new powers of initiative on the part of
employes. Good conditions exist where the company
is the owner and can purchase what it wishes the men
to have. In towns not owned by the company, as has
just been explained, employes who are part of the
same plan of representation are not using the plan as
a means of initiating similar improvements, either
through co-operative efforts of their own or through
asking the company to aid or to advise.^

To us it seems rather that the motive power for
initiating and maintaining high standards in health,
housing, and education is to be found partly, at least,
in the effect of the representation plan on the attitude
of officials. They are conscious of the interests of the
men, as they were not before the representation plan
brought them regularly face to face with them in con-
ferences and committee meetings. In turn, the repre-
sentatives of the men know and respect the officials as
they did not before they had opportunity to meet and
confer with them. Through them the officials not only

^ At Coal Creek the offer of the company to build a wash-house was
rejected because the town of Rockvale would not give permission to
use its water, it was in this same county, years ago, that the miners
refused the loan of books because they were "bought by the com-
pany."

144

THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

consider, but understand better, the state of public
opinion in each camp.

Within the limits of the new status of the employe
as an adviser, opportunities of enlisting the interest of
the rank and file are frequently overlooked.^ When, for
instance, the Joint Committee on Safety visits a camp, it
does not make an immediate report to the men in the
camp.2 Nor, as has been pointed out, is this done by the
other committees, whose reports and recommendations
on housing or on recreation might have a very vital
interest for the miners. Reports of committees are
made at annual meetings and published in the bulletin,
but this appears too long after the trips of inspection.

In the written plan, as has been shown in Chapter
V,^ the wording for all committees is that besides being

1 It is not captious to point out that tbe terms used in the plan are
not inspiring or, even, quite intelligible. The miners themselves have
given a human touch to the terminology of "representation" by calling
it invariably the "Rockefeller Plan," but they do not seem to have
invented yet for the men whom they elect any less difficult name than
" representative." Moreover, the periodical published by the company
for the information of its employes is called the Industrial Bulletin.
The name of the periodical published years ago was Camp and Plant.
The phrases, the names, the publications bear little resemblance to
the speech of men in the mines and the steel works; they do not signify
that employes' representation has been made to stir the men's imagina-
tions and hence to profit by their ideas.

Early in 1921 a committee was appointed to revise the repre-
sentation plan, its membership at that time included two vice-
presidents, the president's chief industrial representative, the general
manager of the fuel department, and one or two others, but, until
later, no representative of the coal miners. For consideration of the
plan as it applied to the steel works, the committee included represen-
tatives of the workers.

^ At the time of our first investigation we found that the Joint
Committee on Safety did not make a practice of consulting the em-
ployes' representatives when they visited a mine. We called the
company's attention to this fact. Later the practice was changed,
as stated in footnote, page 125.

^ The Representation Plan, page 59.

145

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

able to "bring up for discussion at the joint conferences,"
tiiey may "have referred to them for consideration and
report " any matter at any time throughout the year;
but the report is to be made "to the president or other
proper officer of the company." Nowhere in the plan is
there any statement about reporting to the workers, ex-
cept that provision is made for the reading of reports of
all committees at the joint annual meeting of represen-
tatives. The responsibility of management to employes
does not include, in the plan, the specific obligation to
make reports or give information of a particular kind
at any specified time.

The development of initiative among the men to
take part in formulating and maintaining standards
would be difficult, even if their powers and responsi-
bilities had been more specifically extended by the plan.
Many of them have come from other mines where they
worked under a union contract and they are accustomed
to unionism, and not to a plan of employes' representa-
tion. Still others have come from plants where scant
attention has been given to human interests, and they
carry with them an antagonism to all companies and
all "bosses."

As in many other industries in the country, numerous
nationalities are represented. Among the miners in
Colorado are. found native-born Americans, including
Negroes (who are employed in largest numbers at Wal-
sen and Rouse), Mexicans, Welsh, Scotch, Irish, and,
among the comparatively more recent arrivals, the
Italians, Slavs, Austrians, Greeks, and Bulgarians.

Changes in the force are frequent enough to make
education in a new plan of industrial relations very
discouraging. It must be done over again for each new

146

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

employe.^ Of 5,170 men on the mine payrolls in De-
cember, 1920, as reported to us by President Welborn,
only 2,687, 01* 52 percent, had been employed the entire
year in the same mine.^ As many as 2,483 were new
employes taken on some time in 1920. On the other
hand, the group which has been more stable includes a
number having a very long service to their credit.

The plan itself guarantees two fundamental rights in
the life of the camp-community: "The right to hold
meetings at appropriate places on company property or
elsewhere, as they may desire, outside of working hours
or on idle days" (Sec. Ill, par. 6); and "perfect liberty
to purchase goods wherever they may choose to do so"
(Sec. Ill, par. 7). Abuses through compulsory buy-
ing at company stores are things of the past. The inevit-
able complaints against prices are dealt with promptly
and frankly through the representation plan. The old
influence of the company in county and state politics
which was much discussed in 191 3 is no longer exercised.
Life in the camps is happier and more healthful. Oppor-
tunities for schooling are greatly improved. These are
great gains. But our analysis of the work of the joint
committees has revealed the fact that these changes are
due primarily to the initiative of management. Neither
in the written plan nor in practice do the employes'
representatives have responsibility for decisions.

1 The representatives told us that many employes were quite
ignorant of the Industrial Representation Plan. Others, they said,
scoffed at it. "Why for 1 need representative? I represent myself,"
one foreign-born miner was quoted as saying one day in the mine.
"The trouble is," said the representative, "that the others who hear
him talk that way get the idea there's nothing in it. They all get
copies when they are hired, but they don't read them."

^ Some of those employed less than a year had worked in other
mines of the company, but the records do not show how many.

•47

CHAPTER IX
HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

UST it not be, then, that an age which can
bridge the Atlantic with the wireless tele-
phone, can devise some sort of social X-ray
which shall enable the vision of men to penetrate the
barriers which have grown up between men in our
machine-burdened civilization?"^ That the Industrial
Representation Plan might be "some sort of social
X-ray" in revealing to management the grievances and
the needs of the coal miners was thus expressed by Mr.
Rockefeller as his hope in 1916.

To deal "promptly and justly" with "the petty fric-
tions of daily work" was one of the primary purposes
of this plan of employes' representation. Indeed, when
we discussed with President Welborn the tests of suc-
cess which, in his judgment, the investigator should
apply in studying the results of the plan, he replied that
he would look for results to be shown in three main
points: (i) Grievances adjusted and recorded in re-
ports of officials or minutes of committees or confer-
ences; (2) grievances adjusted at the mine and not re-
corded anywhere; (3) grievances existing among the
men but not brought up for adjustment through the
representation plan. In other words, it was agreed
that the methods of adjusting grievances constitute at

1 Rockefeller, John D., Jr.: Labor and Capital — Partners. In
Atlantic Monthly, January, 1916.

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

once a distinctive feature and a test of the success of

this plan.

Procedure

Both the plan and the practice of carrying it out pro-
vide that an employe having a grievance should, first
of all, make complaint, on his own behalf or through
his elected representative, to the mine foreman or the
superintendent. If he is not satisfied, he may appeal
to the president's industrial representative.- He then
has the further right of appeal to the division superin-
tendent, assistant manager or manager of the Fuel De-
partment, general manager, and the president " in con-
secutive order."! If these fail, the difference may be re-
ferred, "upon request to the president by the employes'
representatives or upon the initiative of the president
himself," to the Joint Committee on Industrial Co-oper-
ation and Conciliation of the district in which the miner
works. The decision of a majority of this joint commit-
tee shall be binding.^ To enable it to reach a decision the
committee may select an umpire to "sit in conference"
with it, and his decision shall be binding. If the com-
mittee fails, an arbitrator or a board of arbitration may
be appointed. Finally, the Industrial Commission of
the state may be asked to arbitrate a difference.

Adjustments by the President's Industrial Rep-
resentatives

In the year 1920, according to a chart prepared by
the company, the total number of "industrial ques-

1 In the revised plan the word "preferably" precedes the phrase
"in consecutive order." See Appendix B, page 432.

^ To insure equality on this committee, the committee "shall not
proceed with any important part of its duties unless both sides are
equally represented."

149

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

tions," "including suggestions, recommendations, and
complaints," presented by employes at coal and iron
mines to the president's industrial representatives for
their consideration was 84, or seven a month. The
daily average number of employes on the payrolls of
these mines was 5,556. Employes on the Colorado and
Wyoming Railway were included in this number, as
were also some salaried employes. Table i shows the
subjects to which the questions related.

TABLE L— NUMBER AND TYPE OF QUESTIONS BROUGHT
UP BY EMPLOYES, IN COAL AND IRON MINES AND
ON COLORADO AND WYOMING RAILWAY, OF THE

-COLORADO FUEL AND IRON COMPANY, FOR CON-
SIDERATION BY THE PRESIDENT'S INDUSTRIAL REP-
RESENTATIVES, IN 1920

Subject of question

Number

Per cent

Living conditions

Working conditions

Wage adjustments

Employment (reinstatement, etc.)

Medical treatment, doctors and hospital

Stores

Miscellaneous a

■7
16

13
8

4
9

21.2
20.0
18.8
15.3
9-4
4-7
10.6

Total

100

a Includes personal controversies, loss of tools in flooded mine, poor
sanitary conditions in one Young Men's Christian Association build-
ing, purchase of property, and charity.

The most obvious comment to make on Table i is
that the number of grievances or suggestions in the
whole year is very small for so large a number of em-
ployes. The explanation given by the officials is that
most difficulties are settled locally by the mine foreman
or the superintendent. Of these, no record was kept

150

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

when we were in Colorado;^ and no report was required
by the company. Subsequently, a change was made in
this practice, and company officials tell us that "super-
intendents are now required to keep records of griev-
ances they settle and to make a monthly report of them
to the President's Industrial Representative."

Table 2 shows for coal mines only the number of
questions adjusted in 1922 by the local management,
the president's industrial representative, and joint
committees or conferences. It will be seen that in this
year a much larger number of questions were presented
than in 1920.

The procedure of the president's industrial represen-
tatives in dealing with questions like those counted in
the tables can best be shown by typical instances ap-
pearing in the reports which they made to the president.

The grievances cover a very wide scope — from in-
creasing wages for a whole group of employes (a subject

^ The superintendent of Cameron has kept an informal record of
grievances adjusted by him. It is his practice to go regularly to the
lamp house when the men are there and to encourage them to tell
him about their difficulties. His record shows how he settled a " row"
between the women of four families which " threatened to result in the
loss of four employes"; how he adjusted complaints about payments
for "dead work" in entries, and alleged discriminations in distributing
mine cars; and how he dealt with ill will and personal difficulties be-
tween miners. The general manager of the fuel department told us
that practically all grievances in this camp were settled satisfactorily
by the superintendent, and are never appealed beyond him.

That the need for a record has been recognized in other mines was
shown in the annual report of the Committee on Co-operation and
Conciliation of the Walsen District for 1919. The committee reported
that "in order to stimulate interest in the plan and to have a better
understanding between the local officials, men and representatives, it
was thought advisable to keep at a convenient place at the mine a
book in which was entered a complete statement of the grievance of an
employe and the disposition of his case." Apparently this suggestion
was not carried out, for up to 192 1 Cameron was the only mine in
which any such record had been kept.

•51

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

which will be discussed in Chapter XI, Grievances
over Compensation' to settUng a personal quarrel be-
tween two miners.

TABLE 2. -NUMBER AND TYPE OF QUESTIONS AD-
JUSTED UNDER THE INDUSTRIAL REPRESENTATION
PLAN AT THE COAL MINES OF THE COLORADO FUEL
AND IRON COMPANY IN 1922a

Decision

reached by

Subject of question

Local

President's

Joint

man-

industrial

conference

Total

age-

representa-

or jomt

ment

tive

committee

Working conditions

124

Living conditions

1 1

lOI

Wages

Employment

I I

Education

Recreation

Medical department

Stores

Miscellaneous

»4

Total

201

333''

a From the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company's Industrial Bulletin,
January 15, 1923, p. 18.

b Not including 3 questions on which decision was pending at the
end of the year.

At one mine, in 19 16, an employe complained that
"he had not been treated fairly in the matter of a
working place, and that it was necessary to bribe the
foreman in order to get fair treatment." The presi-
dent's representative, Mr. Griffiths, "offered the com-
plainant ^100 in cash if he could produce any proof
that bribes of any kind had been received by officers at
1 See page 204.
152

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

the mines during the last year, with the further guar-
antee that the person producing the evidence would not
be dismissed from the service." Mr. Griffiths further
explained "this matter of bribery as being a violation of
the statutes and that the general officers of the company
were determined to put an end to the pernicious practice
of offering or receiving bribes." The upshot of the in-
vestigation was that "no tangible evidence could be
secured from the discussion, nor was anything presented
to show that an injustice had been done to the com-
plainant." Grievances against the same foreman, how-
ever, continued during the year. Two men accused
him of using abusive language to them. The colored
men, on one occasion, accused him of discriminating
against members of their race. The foreman in each
case denied the charges, nor did Mr. Griffiths' investi-
gation substantiate them; but he was finally trans-
ferred at the end of the year to another mine "to re-
lieve the tension existing," as Mr. Griffiths put it.

Discrimination against Mexicans by the superinten-
dent in another camp in 191 8 was charged by the em-
ployes' representatives. "The superintendent treated
Mexicans uncivilly and ignored their complaints."
The superintendent denied the charge. Mr. Griffiths
reported that a "full investigation failed to bring out
any proof of the general charge of discrimination and
incivility. . . . One specific complaint showed
that unintentional injustice had been done. Pedro
Blasquez testified that he had been promised pay
for loading about 40 cars of rock which fell from the
roof and blocked the roadway, but had never received
anything for the work. The superintendent remem-
bered being in Blasquez' working place with the mine

153

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

foreman, whom he had directed to make allowance for
handling the rock. Blasquez had never brought the
matter to the superintendent's attention, but the latter
"promised to see that proper credit was given Blasquez
on the next measuring day."

There were several cases of drivers who were dis-
charged for beating or causing the death of mules
through carelessness or accident. The drivers thought
in some instances that they were discharged unjustly
because the accidents were unavoidable. A typical
case occurred in one mine. The driver thought that the
"charge of abusing a mule was a subterfuge used to
discharge him for an argument he had had with the boss
driver." The superintendent stated that this was the
second time in about a month that a mule driven by
the discharged miner had showed signs of abuse. He
had, therefore, asked the foreman to transfer him to
other work than driving. The miner refused to accept
a transfer, and "asked for his time." The latter con-
tended that the mule was injured because he kicked
over the traces. Mr. Griffiths decided that the "pre-'
ponderance of evidence, however, was against this
claim." His decision was that the discharged driver
should be transferred to another mine.

" It was also announced that a rule requiring that a
driver be suspended pending investigation when a mule
under his care was killed, even when he was clearly
blameless, had been changed. Under the new regula-
tion the driver is not suspended when it appears that
he was not to blame for the death of the animal." This
new regulation was adopted as a direct result of settling
grievances through the plan. Because of complaints
of the men, representatives brought up the question at

'54

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

one of the district conferences and requested the
change.

Reports show that a number of men who were dis-
charged for various reasons appealed to the president's
industrial representative. Here is a typical statement:
" Investigated, in the presence of representatives, mine
officials, and Division Superintendent Thomas, the
dismissal of John Holcomb and George Savage on the
charge of attempting, by intimidation, to force two
Greeks to join the union. The evidence did not prove
that threats of any kind had been made, but on the
morning of Holcomb's discharge he used profane lan-
guage toward a fellow-employe whom he accused of
being responsible for his dismissal. This being a posted
offense, he was dismissed. George Savage was rein-
stated."^

In two of the mines representatives complain that
the "man-way" is in a wet condition and the walk in
and out of the mine is, therefore, unpleasant. One of
these instances occurred in 1919. The representative at
one of the mines reported to Mr. Griffiths that the man-
way was in a wet condition ; that he " had complained to
the foreman but it had not been remedied." Mr.
Griffiths agreed to call a meeting of representatives and
management. He did this a few days later. At the
meeting the superintendent reported that the wet condi-
tion had been remedied. The complaint occurred again
for a different section of the same mine. Again, how-
ever, the report read that "the man-way has been
drained and corduroyed."

1 In reading the first draft of the manuscript, the president ques-
tioned whether this should be considered a typical case, as it was the
only one he knew of involving unionism.

•55

employes representation in coal mines

Joint Committee on Industrial Co-operation and
Conciliation^

A reading of the plan would lead one to suppose that
in relation to the adjustment of disputes the Joint Com-
mittee on Co-operation and Conciliation acts as a court
of appeal, having questions referred to it by the presi-
dent on his own initiative or at the request of employes'
representatives. As a matter of practice, the minutes
show that the committee acts on complaints very like
those handled by the president's representatives. The
procedure is informal, and does not require that a
grievance shall be considered first by the superinten-
dent or by the president's representative before being
considered by the committee.

For instance, in the report of this committee in the
Trinidad District for the year 19 19, appears this para-
graph:

"Mr. Dennison [an employes' representative] re-
ported that a seam of rock had made its appearance
in the middle of the seam in the Fourth Entry in
Tabasco mine, that some of the miners had spoken ■
to him about it, and that he had not as yet had time
to take the matter up with Superintendent Parker.
On motion a subcommittee, consisting of Mr. J. P.
Thomas [division superintendent], Mr. T. N. Den-
nison, and Mr. E. H. Weitzel [the general manager
of the fuel department], were appointed to investi-
gate and adjust the matter. This investigation was
later made and a rate established for handling of the
rock in question."

The other questions considered by this same district

1 At the annual meeting in December, 1921, the name of this com-
mittee was changed to "Joint Committee on Co-operation, Concilia-
tion and Wages," as pointed out in a previous reference. Industrial
Bulletin, January 19, 1922, p. 7. — Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.

156

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

committee in 19 19 were the need to relieve an over-
worked fireman at Morley by employing an additional
man during the heaviest hours; a difficulty between the
boarding-house keeper and the storekeeper; reduced
rates for coal to teachers in the camp schools; a com-
plaint about the sanitary condition of the boarding
house at Morley; the rate for setting up cross-bars at
Frederick; and the reinstatement of a returned soldier
who was a former employe at Morley.

A fire occurred in the mine at Coal Creek, one of the
mines in the Canon District, on October 31, 19 17. On
the same day a special meeting was called of the Canon
District Committee on Co-operation and Conciliation
to discuss how to find jobs in other mines for the Coal
Creek miners who were " thrown idle by the fire." The
superintendents and foremen of Fremont, Rockvale,
and Coal Creek were invited to be present and it was
decided that the employes' representatives on the dis-
trict committee, in company with the mine foremen,
should canvass the mines at Rockvale and Fremont
for places for the Coal Creek men. The secretary of
the district committee on co-operation, who was one of
the employes' representatives at Coal Creek, reported
that " results of this canvass were very satisfactory, and
employes were transferred from Coal Creek to the other
two mines without loss of time. The assistance of the
representatives in this matter resulted beneficially to
both the employes and the company."^

The following report of the Joint Committee on Co-
operation and Conciliation for the Canon District for

1 Joint Committee on Industrial Co-operation and Conciliation in
the Canon District, 191 7. The report was signed jointly by an em-
ployes' representative, W. C. Gilbert, as secretary, and a representa-
tive of management, E. H. Weitzel, as chairman.

II 157

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

1919 describes how all of the miners in Rockvale were
asked to discuss rules for the use of the man-trip i^

"This committee held its organization meeting on
January 27, and the first regular meeting on April 1 1,
at Rockvale.

"There was no business of importance taken up at
the April meeting.

"The second regular meeting was held July 3.
Jesse Penny, one of the committee, reported at this
meeting that there was still considerable discussion
at Rockvale in regard to the installation of a man-
trip. The committee decided the best way to handle
this matter was to have a mass meeting of the miners
with the representative of the State Inspection De-
partment present. This mass meeting was arranged
by Mr. Penny and Superintendent John, and was
held at the Rockvale club house July 28. Mr. Weit-
zel presided, with practically all of the Rockvale
miners present, and Mr. Harry King representing
the State Inspection Department. During about
two hours' discussion nine rules were agreed on and
accepted by a vote of the majority, and the man-trip
was put into operation immediately thereafter, and
it has been operating satisfactorily since that date.

"The last regular meeting of the committee was
held October 23 at Rockvale club house, with all
members present, at which time a report of the man-
trip settlement was made. There were no grievances
reported at this meeting, and there was a general dis-
cussion by the committee of safety regulations for
man-trips on slopes. A number of suggestions were
made, which are still being considered."

Other grievances recorded in the minutes of joint
committees on co-operation and conciliation grow natu-

^ A "man-trip" is a special trip of cars to take miners to and from
the main parting from the mouth of the mine, it is usually provided
in well-advanced and deep mines, to save employes from walking long
distances.

158

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

rally out of sub-surface conditions in the mines. The
underground employes at Coal Creek in their first meet-
ing had expressed their desire for a man-trip. The
annual report of this committee for 1917 explains that
the installation of the man-trip had been delayed be-
cause of necessary improvements in the mine, but it was
planned to start it soon.

Complaints about lack of a sufficient supply of mine
cars to be loaded by miners as they dig are presented
by the men at different times. For instance, minutes
of the meeting of the Joint Committee on Co-operation
and Conciliation for the Trinidad District in 1916 show
that the general complaint of a shortage of mine cars
was discussed by the division superintendent. He had
investigated a number of these grievances and had found
that they arose largely from the fact that "these
miners try to complete their day's work between one
and two o'clock p. m." If they stayed in the full eight
hours required, there would be no ground for complaint.
They would get the necessary cars somewhat later.

These joint committees on co-operation and concilia-
tion, composed, as has been stated, of three miners'
representatives and three company officials, depend
very largely upon the activity of the employes' repre-
sentatives to make sure that the grievances of the
miners in their district are considered. The representa-
tives are, so to speak, the photographic film for the
social X-ray which is to reveal the difficulties of the
men in the mines.

Take, for instance, the district of Trinidad. It had
nine mines, employing over 2,000 men, being the larg-
est coal-producing area in Colorado.

In 1918 employes at the Segundo Coke Ovens in
159

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

the Trinidad District elected as their representative
John Tafoya, who was very active in their behalf. At
the district conference he was also elected a member
of the Joint Committee on Co-operation and Concilia-
tion by the other representatives of the district. All
the grievances presented to the committee in the year
19 18 were brought up by Mr. Tafoya, who, by the
way, was also a local official of the United Mine Work-
ers of America. The annual report submitted by Mr.
Weitzel, who was secretary of this committee, contains
a summary of all the grievances presented and ad-
justed.

The committee held four regular meetings and one
special meeting in the year — in February, March, April,
July, and October. At the first meeting the committee
was organized, with a representative of the employes
as chairman and a representative of the company as
secretary. The program of the year was discussed, and
a report received from Mr. Tafoya about grievances
among the "larry" men at the Segundo Coke Ovens.
This led to a decision to hold a special meeting two-
weeks later at the mine. The complaint was that the
men had been required to work overtime without pay.
The committee conferred with the employes, who had
referred this grievance and had secured actual records of
the hours worked during a period of five or six weeks.
in accordance with these facts it made a recommenda-
tion which proved to be satisfactory. Other grievances
also brought to the attention of the committee by Mr.
Tafoya in the course of the year related to long hours
of work, the difficulties of handling one of the trucks at
the coke ovens, a definition of the duties in a certain job,
the reinstatement of men past the age limit of forty-five

160

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

years, and the transfer of an employe from one job to
another.^

' Joint Committee on Co-operation and Conciliation of the Trinidad
District, annual report for 1918. The following quotations from the
report show the procedure of the committee: "All of the employes
affected were invited to the meeting; about half of their number were
present, and each one heard separately. The burden of their complaint
was that they had been required occasionally to work overtime, for
which they were not paid. An accurate record had been kept from
February 2 to March 7 of the time worked by the larry men each day,
and it was found that during this period the larry men hauling coal
from No. i washer had worked an average of seven hours thirty-six
minutes; No. 2 washer, seven hours twenty-four minutes; and on two
occasions chargers had been required to stay on the works a total of
nine hours forty-five minutes; and on one occasion a period of ten
hours. After hearing the statements of all the men the committee
went into executive session, and decided on a recommendation in
accordance with the request of the chargers, that they be paid over-
time when required to work more than nine hours thirty minutes.
This recommendation was accepted by the company, and no further
difficulty has arisen over this matter during the year."

Another grievance related to long hours of work:

"At this meeting of March 14 the committee also listened to a
complaint from employes on No. 2 machine, where it was claimed
that, on account of delays due to hand-pulled coke being dropped
out on the same track as the coke from this machine, the employes
on this machine were working from nine hours to ten hours every
day. The committee decided that inasmuch as no accurate record
had been kept of the time worked, it would be best to have this
done before deciding what remedy should be applied."

A problem of equipment gave rise to another grievance. Note that
the committee's decision gave promise of making a change in the
design of the truck which might prevent recurrence of the difficulty.
"Complaint was also made at this time in regard to the work of
leveling, it being claimed by the levelers that work was harder on the
No. 2 machine than on any of the others, due to the fact that there
was greater distance between the oven door sill and the top of the rail of
the machine track. The secretary of the committee agreed to get
accurate measurements and to attempt to design a truck of the right
height to overcome the difference between this track and the others
at the plant."

Unfortunately, the promise did not prove practical, and

"At the meeting on April 11 the secretary reported that the
attempt to design a truck for No. 2 track had been unsuccessful;
that this would require a truck only six inches in height above the
rail, and that a truck of this height would necessarily have such low

161

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

These proceedings show the type of subject discussed,
but perhaps the most important point requiring further
inquiry is that, although the representatives of employes
on the committee worked in three different mines in the
district, only one camp, the Segundo Coke Ovens, out of

wheels and so small a clearance that it would be impracticable to
move it up and down in front of the ovens."
Concerning hours and overtime:

"A report was had at this meeting [April 1 1] of the actual time
worked by the different machine men. The records showed that be-
tween March 1 5 and April 9, both inclusive, the average time worked
by No. 1 machine was six hours and twenty-four minutes; No. 2
machine, from which the complaint came, had worked eight hours
six minutes; No. 3 machine, six hours forty-eight minutes; No. 5
machine, six hours forty-eight minutes; No. 7 machine, six hours
thirty-six minutes. When this report was presented, showing that
the machine men, who had claimed to be working between nine and
ten hours every day, were actually working eight hours six minutes,
Mr. Tafoya, representative from Segundo, said that it was not the
fact that these men were working overtime, but the fact that they
were working longer than the men on the other machines was caus-
ing dissatisfaction; since all the machine employes were being paid
an eight-hour shift, the committee felt that there was little real
ground for complaint and passed a resolution recommending that
the company pay men on No. 2 machine for any overtime. This
recommendation was accepted by the company and put into effect
at once."
Concerning the duties of a job:

"At the meeting on April 1 1 Mr. Tafoya brought in a complaint
from three machinists' helpers whose duties were to prepare coke
machines and place them in position to begin work the following
day. It was found, after discussion, that on two days each weel<
the machinists' helpers were required to push the levelers' trucks up
the tracks ahead of the coke machines, and at some time the trucks
became derailed, requiring the machinists' helpers to work over-
time in replacing them. The matter was referred to Mr. John P.
Thomas for further investigation and adjustment."
Concerning reinstatement of employes past the age limit:

"At the meeting of the committee on July 17, Mr. Tafoya re-
ported that he had taken up a certain question with the president's
industrial representative and was waiting for a reply. After hear-
ing the nature of the complaint, the committee felt that the matter
was likely to come before them and decided to take it up at this
time. This complaint referred to old men who were past the age
limit, and who had at one time been employes of the company, but

162

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

the nine in the district, presented any grievances during
the entire year. Did this show contentment in the other
camps, or lack of activity on the part of employes'
representatives?

Local Settlement

The general manager of the fuel department, who in
that year was secretary of this committee, told us that
the explanation was to be found in the fact that at all
the other mines in the district satisfactory settlements
had been made locally, so that the committee had not
been called upon to act. Representative Tafoya had
made it his practice to bring all grievances directly to
the committee instead of attempting to have them
settled by the foreman or superintendent. President
Welborn, commenting on this statement, said that
local settlement was the natural procedure and that it
was more satisfactory to everybody concerned if a
grievance was adjusted at the time of reporting it and
in the place where it occurred.

who were not now eligible to employment, either on account of their
age or physical condition. The committee discussed this matter
and it was referred to the secretary with the request that he bring
it to the attention of the president."

Concerning transfer from one job to another: " Mr. Tafoya also
brought up the case of the employe at Segundo who wished to be
transferred from machine runner to night watchman. This case
was referred to Mr. Weitzel for investigation and adjustment."

The last meeting of the year is thus described:

"At the meeting on November 4 there was no matter in the way
of grievance or dissatisfaction brought up. The committee dis-
cussed the influenza epidemic and decided to recommend the quar-
antine of all the camps in the district to prevent persons from com-
ing into and going out of the camps and spreading the contagion.
Notices to accomplish this were gotten out and ordered printed and
the matter of advising superintendents of the district was left in
the hands of Mr. John P. Thomas. There were no complaints of
dissatisfaction brought to the attention of this committee during
the year except from Segundo."

163

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

The reports of the president's industrial representa-
tives reflect the same impression that grievances are
usually adjusted by the superintendents. For instance,
after visiting Walsen, one of the larger mines in the
Walsen District, the president's industrial represen-
tative reported that there were no grievances. "The
representatives attribute the small number of griev-
ances," Mr. Griffiths explains, "to the fact that the
local officers are always ready to adjust all troubles
satisfactorily." And again, at a later date, "There
were no grievances of any nature at Walsen and the
representatives felt confident that they could adjust
locally any differences that might arise." For another
mine he reports in a similar manner, "The safety and
comfort of the workmen is watched very carefully by
the management, and grievances of every nature, so
far as the representatives can ascertain, are readily ad-
justed. The mingling of superior officers of the com-
pany with the employes at the opening of the Young
Men's Christian Association resulted in a feeling of
closer relationship." These are typical statements, and
in the reports of the year 1 9 1 9 representatives from most
of the larger mines have no difficulties whatever to
record. Altogether, the president's industrial repre-
sentative had made 424 visits during four years up to
and through 1919. In 225, or 60 per cent, of these visits
he found no grievances or disputes to settle.

The importance of local adjustment of difficulties
should not be ignored. These committees on concilia-
tion and co-operation, and to a less degree the president's
two representatives, are boards of appeal; and in a
sense it is true of these bodies that "happy are they if
their annals are brief," provided — and this is the essen-

164

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

tial point — that the lack of cases to adjust really means
that complaints have been adjusted locally or that no
complaints exist. Genuine co-operation of the local
officials and efficient work by the men's representatives
should have just such a result. One of the district com-
mittees said, in its annual report: "When recommenda-
tions have been made by the committee, they have been
complied with by the local management. It has been
noticeable in this county, particularly, that the repre-
sentatives have relieved the committee of a great deal
of work, due to the successful handling of certain
matters brought up from time to time at the various
mines."

If, however, local initiative is weak, and co-operation
between the men, their representatives, and superin-
tendent not active, it must devolve upon the joint com-
mittees and the president's industrial representative to
uncover the difficulties that exist. Negative reports
by committees or by the president's representative,
under these circumstances, may be danger signals rather
than evidences of satisfaction. Therefore, we were in-
terested in closer acquaintance with the men in the'
camps that we might discover whether they believed
that their complaints were satisfactorily settled under
the plan. The results of our inquiry on this point will be
more fully discussed in the next chapter.

Some Adjustments Unsatisfactory to Employes
We encountered considerable dissatisfaction among
the men because of certain conspicuous instances in
which public opinion in the camps had not supported
the management in final decisions. These cases bring
out some difficulties of administration.

165

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

A widely discussed dispute, involving what to the
men appeared to be an unfair discharge of a mine fore-
man by a superintendent, occurred in 1919. The rank
and file of miners were not involved, but the confidence
of subordinate officials, like foremen, assistant foremen,
and fire bosses, in the administration of the plan was
weakened. A thorough investigation by the president's
chief industrial representative, Mr. Matteson, showed
that the discharge of the foreman "was not justified."
Yet the superintendent remained in his position. The
foreman who had been unjustly dealt with was trans-
ferred to another mine as an assistant foreman, which
meant a reduction of some twenty-five dollars a month
in his wages.

When we saw the foreman three months after his
transfer, he was at first very reluctant to talk. Finally
he stated that he had never been satisfied with the de-
cision of the management. "Why, I had been dis-
charged even without any warning, and this was a direct
violation of the representation plan. 1 should have
asked for reinstatement in accordance with the plan,"
he said. "I was a great believer in the plan, and worked
hard for it, and wanted to see it successful, but 1 thought
that even if 1 was reinstated, things would be very un-
pleasant, so 1 decided to take the assistant mine fore-
manship." He was hurt and discouraged at the injustice
to a loyal employe of many years. " 1 am probably one
of the employes with the longest service in the company.
I am fifty-six years old, and in a few years 1 expect to
get my pension. I don't want to lose it. If I were a
younger man and could move around more, I probably
would have fought my case, even up to Rockefeller.
I was transferred at a loss of salary. Frank still remains

166

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

as superintendent and no punishment at all has been
meted out to him, although he was to blame, and the
investigation shows that not a single grievance which
he had against my work as mine foreman could be
substantiated. 1 don't think that either Welborn or
Weitzel knows anything about my case. That is where
the plan falls down. The superintendent is never
punished."

This case is much more important than the manage-
ment, in our opinion, suspects.^ Several of the minor
executives of the company mentioned it as an indica-
tion that an employe had to be careful, that there was
little recourse from the arbitrary acts of old-school
superintendents.^

1 President Welborn suggested that as a foreman and a superin-
tendent are both of managerial rank, and that as the representation
plan relates to wage-earning employes, a case involving the relation of
a foreman and a superintendent is not really pertinent to a discussion
of the plan. We describe it, however, because it actually affected the
attitude of employes toward the plan. Moreover, it was handled by
the president's chief industrial representative in the course of his regu-
lar duties in administering the plan.

2 We describe fully from our notes, therefore, the interview with
this foreman:

One day, in the fall of 19 19, the superintendent met the foreman at
the mouth of the mine and said, " 1 have decided to cut down my
expenses and get along with one mine foreman. [He had two, as this
was a large mine.] 1 therefore won't need you any more, beginning
with the first of the month. But you will get something just as good,
if not better than what you have had so far."

The foreman was taken by surprise. "Does this mean, Frank,"
he inquired of his superintendent, "that I have been unsatisfactory
and you are letting me out?" The superintendent replied, " Yes, you
have disobeyed my orders." The foreman walked away, declaring
that there was no use discussing the statement.

In accordance with the superintendent's instructions, the foreman
did not report for duty on the following Monday, which was the first
of the month. He waited several days to see what the superintendent
would offer him in place of his former position. On the fourth day he
telephoned to the division superintendent, Mr. Thomas, who, after
interviewing the superintendent, decided that it would be best for

167

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Difficulties in the relations between foreman and
superintendent and the possible effect upon the miners
are illustrated in another incident which has become
important because of the continued dissatisfaction of
the workers with the decision rendered by the manage-
ment. The incident occurred in 1918. in 1920, and
again in 1921, we were told about it in every detail,
as though it had happened yesterday, so deep was the
impression of it in the minds of the men.

Two miners working at Coal Creek were discharged
by the superintendent, and on the same day, at the

the foreman to wire the president's industrial representative, Mr.
Matteson, and demand investigation.

Mr. Matteson came on the following day and arranged a meeting of
the two men involved. He pointed out to the superintendent that he
had discharged one of the oldest employes the company had. He asked
for the specific reasons leading to the discharge of the foreman. After
some hesitation the superintendent charged that the foreman had left
one of the mines in bad condition when the decision was made to close
it after the armistice was signed. "How about it, Jim?" Mr.
Matteson asked of the foreman. " I can only refer you to the reports
of the safety and accident committee," replied the latter, "to the
report of the deputy mine inspector, and to the report of our own
inspector. You will notice that the safety and accident committee in
its last bulletin commented upon the tidy condition of the mine. You
will also notice that neither of the inspectors made a single adverse
recommendation, or suggested anything that should be done."

The second charge, that of employing a motorman contrary to
orders, also had no foundation. According to the foreman, Matteson
turned to the superintendent; "Evidently your first charge has not
been proved. What is the second charge which you have against
him?" The superintendent replied, "After Jim went over to the first
north mine we decided to put on a night shift. Jim kept an extra
motorman on when I didn't want him on." Matteson asked the fore-
man to answer this charge. He replied, " To show you that he doesn't
know what he is talking about, you can get the time books and sec
that there never was a night motorman on my shifts." The superin-
tendent would not believe this, but the books were produced and the
foreman's statement was substantiated.

I'he third incident which the superintendent described to Mr.
Matteson related to an over-cast which the foreman supposedly had
failed to build when instructed to do so. (An over-cast is a passage
built over the air course to deflect the circulation of air.) After the

168

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

request of the miners' representatives, the president's
industrial representative came to the camp to make an
investigation. He conferred at once with the superin-
tendent, Ben Beach, and the two discharged miners,
Mr. Weir and Mr. Ratkovitch. The mine foreman,
Mr. Johnson, could not be found and, therefore, was
not present at the conference.

The superintendent explained that several days
earlier he had visited the working place of Weir and
Ratkovitch, who were "buddies," and told them, in
the presence of the mine foreman, not to "brush" any
more until he could determine in what direction the
roadway should be "driven," as it was running too close

deputy state mine inspector had recommended an over-cast in one
section, the superintendent had given orders to the foreman to pro-
vide for it and it had not been done. The foreman's reply to this was:
"When 1 was transferred to the first north mine, I accompanied the
state mine inspector on his first visit. When we came to one entry,
he said to me, ' 1 ordered an over-cast put in here some time ago. The
superintendent promised that he would attend to it, but he has not
done so. Now I want it in damn quick or I will report it to the chief
inspector.' I replied to him that 1 would try to get it in as soon as
possible, but that I had better see the superintendent first and get
his authorization. We did, and he authorized me to go ahead. I im-
mediately— the same night — got some men started to work on it, and
to show you that the superintendent doesn't know what he is talking
about, the over-cast has been completed for some weeks. My weekly
report will show that some time ago I made a full report giving the
measurements of air coming through it."

After considering the evidence presented, Mr. Matteson repri-
manded the superintendent for unjustly discharging the foreman, and
a position as assistant foreman was offered the foreman at another
mine. "Frank," said Mr. Matteson, "you have let out one of the
oldest employes the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company has, a man who
has been with the company thirty-seven years, and what is more you
have let him out without any notification to the management. We
don't have any foremanships open to give him just now. if you had
warned us, we might have tried to find an opening for him." Then
the division superintendent turned to the foreman and said, "Jim, we
have no foremanship open now, but there is an assistant mine fore-

manship open at . Would you care to take it until we can

find a foremanship for you?"

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

to an adjoining room. Several days later Beach visited
the same v/orking place and found that, contrary to his
orders, they had "taken down a shot of brushing";
he discharged them for "insubordination," which is one
of the stated offenses for which an employe may be
dismissed without warning. The two miners contended
that they were obeying the orders of the mine foreman.
The foreman confirmed this, and walked out of the
mine, declaring that he, also, would quit, as the men
had been discharged.

Mr. Griffiths, the president's representative, con-
cluded that the men had been unjustly discharged, due
to friction between the superintendent and foreman,
and referred the question to the manager of the fuel
department. "From the evidence thus obtained," he
reported, "I was satisfied that the men had been
unjustly discharged, and that there was friction and
discord between Mr. Beach and the mine foreman. So
I did not give my decision on the matter, but arranged
with all present to have Mr. Weitzel come to Coal
Creek and have matters adjusted. This was agreed on
by all concerned."

On the following day, after a telephone conversa-
tion with Mr. Weitzel, Mr. Griffiths interviewed Mr.
Johnson, the foreman, after which he reported that he
was "fully convinced that the men had been unjustly
discharged." He further reported his efforts to have
Weir and Ratkovitch reinstated: "1 called up Mr.
Beach on the phone and suggested that he reinstate
the men, and he asked me if that meant Johnson also.
1 replied, 'No,' that it simply meant the reinstatement
of Weir and Ratkovitch and that the trouble between
him and Johnson was a matter to be taken up with

170

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

Mr. Weitzel. Mr. Beach protested against my de-
cision, but finally consented to reinstate them, but [said]
that he would stop the place, and give them another
place in the mine. 1 then made the proviso that if the
place in question should be worked again within the
next two or three months, the men be entitled thereto."

A few days later a conference was held in the Pueblo
office of Mr. Weitzel, the general manager of the fuel
department. This official, after hearing the evidence,
"told Mr. Beach that under the circumstances Weir
and Ratkovitch should be reinstated." The superin-
tendent did not agree. He argued that even if the fore-
man had told them to continue the room as they were
driving it, they had disobeyed his (Beach's) orders,
and he was, therefore, justified in discharging them.
Mr. Weitzel asked Mr. Griffiths to visit Coal Creek
again and make another report within a few days.

Mr. Griffiths postponed the drafting of his final re-
port because, he said, the superintendent had resented
his decision that the discharged men should be rein-
stated. He wrote:

"My reason for postponing my final report was
based on Mr. Beach's attitude to my decision of
having the men reinstated. He keenly felt this de-
cision to be an injustice to him, hence he was not in
a conciliatory and submissive mood, and under these
conditions 1 felt sure that the men would not get a
square deal and courteous treatment, but thought a
few days for due consideration would help to adjust
matters."

Meanwhile the representative again called Mr.
Griffiths on the telephone, asking him to come to the
camp as " matters were not satisfactory." Mr. Griffiths
visited Coal Creek again and found Weir and Rat-

171

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

kovitch dissatisfied with the new working places which
the superintendent had offered them. They were not
as good as the one which had been stopped. One place
had less coal — the seam was narrower. Another place
was so steep that it took the two men and the driver
to help push the empty car. After some discussion
Ratkovitch decided that he would take a transfer to
Rockvale, an adjoining mine operated by the company.
He had been promised work there by Mr. John, the
superintendent. Weir did not wish a transfer. He was
not certain that Mr. John would give him work; be-
sides, he preferred working at Coal Creek, but he was
willing to take "pot luck" at Coal Creek if Mr. Beach
would give Ratkovitch a transfer to Rockvale.^ Mr.
Beach refused to give Ratkovitch a transfer to Rockvale
unless Weir would also take one. " Thus the conference
ended in confusion," reported Mr. Griffiths. "I then,
under the circumstances, told the men and the repre-
sentatives that 1 would turn the matter over to Mr.
Weitzel for settlement. 1 went to Rouse on Thursday
and put the whole affair before Mr. Weitzel, and he
stated that as soon as possible he would go to Coal
Creek and that it would be advisable for me not to be
present."

Mr. Griffiths' entire report was signed by the two em-
ployes' representatives, George Scollick and James Hay.-

^ The men in both mines were paired as "buddies"; hence the
difficulty of separating them.

^ in summarizing the case, Mr. Griffiths criticized the superinten-
dent for unjustly discharging Weir and Ratkovitch and for violating
the state mining law, which places the mine foreman in full charge of
underground operations. He recommended that the two men be rein-
stated— "in justice to the men and in the interest of peace and har-
mony." The concluding section of the report reads:

" From the evidence obtained it was very evident to me that
172

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

When Mr. Weitzel went to the camp, only one of the
employes' representatives, Mr. Hay, was present as
it was the day of the funeral of Mr. Scollick's father.
Had Mr. Weitzel known of this, he would have post-
poned his coming. Mr. Scollick was keenly interested
in the case, and was always dissatisfied, thereafter,
with the outcome. Mr. Weitzel did not demand the
reinstatement of the men. He felt that after so much
friction it would be better for them to work in another
mine. He therefore decided that they should be trans-
there was considerable friction and discord betv/een Mr. Beach and
Mr. Johnson, the mine foreman, and in my opinion this arose from
Mr. Beach's lack of confidence in his ability and his unceasing
activity and desire to obtain results. On the other hand, with a
specific clause in the mining law, placing the mine foreman in full
charge of underground mining operations, it was perfectly natural
for Mr. Johnson to think that Mr. Beach's purpose was to dis-
courage and ignore him. Be that as it may, it is my unbiased
opinion and decision that Weir and Ratkovitch were unjustly dis-
charged and that the room they were working in was arbitrarily
stopped and that it was a practical proposition and good mining
practice for the room to proceed. If Mr. Beach had given instruc-
tions to the mine foreman to stop the place and not have discharged
the men, this very unpleasant affair would have been averted. In
justice to the men and in the interest of peace and harmony 1 think
Mr. Beach should be submissive enough to place the men back in
their working place."

We discussed at length with the officials of the company, and
separately with the chief mine inspector of Colorado, the statement in
Mr. Griffiths' report that the state mining law placed "the mine
foreman in full charge of underground mining operations," and that,
therefore, by implication, the action of Superintendent Beach in giving
orders directly to the employes, instead of through the mine foreman,
was a violation of the law. The chief mine inspector of the state
agreed with this interpretation. He explained, as already noted in
this report, that when the law was passed the Colorado operators did
not wish to place this responsibility upon the superintendent, because
this would bind them to the choice of a man for that position who was
technically qualified in accordance with state requirements, but
might not measure up to the executive and business responsibilities
of his position. Hence the law does not mention the superintendent,
but requires a certificate for a mine foreman, and places upon him the
"full charge of all the inside workings and of all persons employed

12 173

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

ferred to Rockvale, since Mr. Ratkovitch's father lived
there anyway, and meanwhile, with the agreement of
the two men themselves and the one representative
present, they were to be paid for three days of the time
lost waiting for a decision. A month later, at Mr.
Welborn's suggestion, they were paid for eleven days
more, to make up their entire loss of fourteen days.^

The representatives at this mine were so dissatisfied
with the decision of the management in this case that
they asked Mr. Griffiths to state in his report (as he did
in these words), "that they wanted to resign and did
not want to get tangled in any such affair again. "^

The two miners were finally transferred to Rockvale.
In February, 1920, almost two years later, we visited

therein" (see previous discussion, page 46). The general manager of
the fuel department disagreed with this interpretation, holding that
the company placed upon the superintendent full responsibility for the
management of the mine, including the mine foreman. The attorney
for the company was also inclined to believe that the law would be
interpreted to hold a superintendent directly responsible for negli-
gence in the mine. No case has arisen in Colorado, however, to prove
this point. Mr. Beach himself, the superintendent involved in this
case, acknowledged to us, in a conference in 1921, that good mining
practice would require that the superintendent should give orders to
the men in the mine only through the mine foreman. In answer to
our question as to whether, "if this had happened in a mine in Illinois,
a Colorado superintendent would not have said that clearly things
had gotten badly twisted between the superintendent and the fore-
man, and that two innocent men had been unjustly discharged be-
cause of it?" he replied that this was true, but he thought, neverthe-
less, that Griffiths should not have called him "arbitrary." More-
over, he reminded Mr. Weitzel, in our conference with him, that in the
first conference with Griffiths he had said that if Griffiths thought he
had stopped the work for "arbitrary" reasons he would reinstate the
men; he held that this was an offer to reinstate, but Griffiths did not
so interpret it and neither did the representatives.

1 The same representatives, serving iri 1921, thought that it was
Mr. Rockefeller who had advised payment for the full fourteen days.

2 Mr. Griffiths added, to show that there might be other reasons for
resignation, "Mr. Scollick also stated a few days ago that if the miners
continued to load dirty coal, he would resign."

'74

HOW GRIEVANCES ARE ADJUSTED

Coal Creek, the mine where the difficulty had arisen.
There were then three mines in the Canon District.
The representatives, the miners who were hostile to the
representation plan, and those who were its friends, all
spoke repeatedly of this case. Their chief argument
was that the superintendent, who was agreed by higher
officials to be in the wrong, had not been overruled.
He was still superintendent in the same mine, while
the two miners, the victims of friction between him and
the foreman, had been transferred to other mines. They
pointed to this case as illustrating a fundamental weak-
ness in the plan. They thought that it meant that
company officials would sustain a superintendent against
a miner. How could the miners have confidence in the
plan, they asked, when the only protection they have
under it is the fairness and impartiality of the decisions
made by the management? The vote of the two rep-
resentatives had no weight against its decision in this
case. Indeed, they themselves reiterated in 1921 their
protest in these words: " It made us feel that the plan
could not protect the men."^

Talks with the miners and incidents like this have
made us wonder whether superintendents and higher
officials understand well enough the point of view of the
men, and why the representatives are not able to make
them comprehend. With better understanding the
affair at Coal Creek could not have grown to the magni-
tude it did. Why did not the management profit more
by the judgment of the employes' representatives, who
were fearless and energetic in their action, but quite

* They finally decided to continue as representatives and they were
again elected in 1921, but they have never been reconciled to the
settlement of the Weir-Ratkovitch case.

175

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

powerless to influence the decision? Is it the lack of a
definite sharing of powers of decision with representa-
tives which prevents the development of such leader-
ship among the men as is necessary to make their
representation count more genuinely as a factor in the
policy of management?

A high official of the company said that the miners
had not, as yet, the necessary confidence in the Indus-
trial Representation Plan and, therefore, did not bring
their grievances to the attention of the management.
"Do you think," we asked him, "that unless some
radical change is madfe in the present plan, the miners
will ever be fearless in taking grievances over the heads
of their local officials?" " Yes," he replied confidently.
"Gradually, as they take grievance after grievance to
the higher officials and see that they are fairly adjusted,
the miners will become convinced of our fairness and
sincerity. We have not reached perfection yet, but we
have made progress."

176

CHAPTER X
SOME UNREPORTED GRIEVANCES

TO FIND out whether the men used the machin-
ery of employes' representation to relieve "the
petty frictions of daily work," we interviewed
men in their homes, in the mines, and in the Young
Men's Christian Association clubs of the camps. Much
of the information which we were seeking was not
to be found in the records. We expected to find causes
for complaint; these are characteristic of coal mining,
and the mere existence of grievances was not to us the
significant fact. What we wanted to test was whether
the men turned with confidence to their own representa-
tive or to the president's representatives or to the joint
committees for redress when they felt that they were not
being fairly treated, or when they were unnecessarily
hindered in their work by some apparent bungling in
management. Having talked with the men, we ques-
tioned the superintendent or foreman, and we observed
conditions for ourselves to check the validity of the
men's statements. The statements, however, were im-
portant not merely because they gave information, but
because they revealed the men's state of mind, whether
or not the facts justified it.

Grievances Not Reported
With the exception of two mines, we found grievances
among the men in every camp of the company. In
almost every camp some miner or group of miners made

177

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

definite complaints about underground working condi-
tions, alleged partiality in the allotment of desirable
and undesirable working places, inadequate payment
for dead work, and suspected attempts of superinten-
dents to discriminate against active union men. With
those talks with the men clear in our memory, we ex-
amined carefully the available reports about conditions
in the same mines. For example, we secured an ab-
stract of the report of the president's industrial repre-
sentative for Starkville, one of the mines in which we
found the greatest number of grievances to exist. In
the six visits made by the president's industrial repre-
sentative to this mine during an entire year, not a single
grievance was recorded.

A Report on Starkville

Oct. 31, 19 1 8. — Representative Wilgolz stated that
the only trouble at Starkville was with regard to
miners loading dirty coal. In order to secure better
results in this respect he has been called upon by the
management in every instance to inspect the coal
where employes were discharged for this offense.-
Whenever employes have been dismissed on this ac-
count, Mr. Wilgolz believed the management was
justified in its action.

Jan. 15, 1919. — No disputes. Representatives
would assist in preventing loading of dirty coal.

Apr. 2, 1919. — No disputes.

Apr. 30, 1919. — No disputes.

June 24, 1 9 19. — No disputes. Representatives
stated that agitation for strike emanated from the
outside.

Aug. 5, 1919. — No disputes. 1

1 Abstract of reports of David Griffiths, President's Industrial
Representative for Coal Mines, Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.
Period October, 1918, to November, 1919, inclusive. Starkville mine.

178

SOME UNREPORTED GRIEVANCES

Our notes of interviews with men employed at
Starkville show that they had many grievances, in
the course of the investigation the camp was visited by
us six times and the mine entered twice for interviews
with the men at work.

Miners' Grievances at Starkville
The lack of necessary suppHes seemed to be a general
grievance. "This is the worst mine the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company has," declared a former representa-
tive. "We are always short of rails and spikes." A
present representative was quite discouraged. "There
seems to be no system whatever," said he, "in dis-
tributing materials to the miners. 1 have taken this
up with the foreman several times, but he has done
nothing about it. I don't want to go over his head."
One day, in the interior of this mine, a group of miners
were found in one working place. One of them, the
spokesman of the group, said: "The men don't get
their rails, spikes, and ties. We don't have trouble in
getting props for the roof. But we have trouble in
getting the other materials. We have to rustle about
ourselves many times for our rails. We go to abandoned
working places, tear up the rails, and carry them a
couple of hundred feet."

There was a reason for the lack of necessary supplies
in this mine. It is an old one, and part of it is "on re-
treat," which means that the pillars and stumps, the
last remains of coal, are being taken out. For its supply
of rails for the section in which the men are advancing
into new coal the management of the mine depends on
those which can be pulled from the abandoned working
places. There is nothing wrong with this procedure.

'79

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

It is efficient and money-saving. The difficulty, as it
was explained to us, was that an insufficient number of
day men were assigned to pull the rails and carry them
to the miners who needed them. An expert observer
said that the real trouble lay in a conflict of authority
between mine foreman and superintendent. The fore-
man, as already indicated, has sole charge, under the
state law, of managing the interior workings of a mine.
In this particular mine, however, as well as in others,
the superintendent would not delegate responsibility to
the foreman. He wished to keep down his overhead
expense and, therefore, would not permit the foreman to
employ a sufficient number of day men for the delivery
of necessary supplies to the miners. 1 n fact, the foreman
said he had difficulty in managing the mine because the
superintendent kept constantly interfering with his
directions and going "over his head."

The superintendent denied any shortage or lack of
system in distributing necessary supplies. He con-
tended that the foreman could use any of the day men
in the mine to bring supplies to the miners. The
general manager of the fuel department knew nothing
about this grievance because the men had not brought
it to their representatives nor told the state mine in-
spectors about it. The one representative who knew
about their discontent did not wish to antagonize the
foreman by complaining to the superintendent or to a
higher official. The men did not ask their representa-
tives to act for them.

On another day in this same mine, Starkville, five
miners were found sitting in one place waiting for their
next turn of empty cars. They were at first reluctant to
repeat their grievances in the presence of two men who

1 80

SOME UNREPORTED GRIEVANCES

were not employes of the mine. One younger man
finally broke the ice. He had had six hours of brushing
previous to last pay day. He turned the account in to
the foreman, who had promised to give him credit for
the work in the office. The foreman failed to do so.
The m.iner had repeatedly requested the foreman to
give him credit for the work, but had received no as-
surance that this would be done. He had another
grievance. On a previous day he had had to threaten
the foreman twice that he would go home before the
rails which he needed had been delivered to him. An-
other miner spoke. He and his buddy had spent a day's
time handling rock. They asked the foreman to pay
them extra for the work. So far he had laughed at them.
All the other men in the place then voiced their com-
plaints, almost in unison, about their difficulty in se-
curing necessary supplies, such as rails, ties, and spikes.

The miners' representative was one of this group and,
strange to say, he also stated the same grievance.
There was no system in distributing necessary supplies
to the men. Only one company man was assigned to the
work and he could not properly do it all. The mine
was too large. Consequently the men were always
short of materials. They had "to rustle" about for
supplies. Some of them had to go to abandoned work-
ing places (not always the safest thing to do), tear up
rails, and carry them, themselves, to their working places.

Not one of these men mentioned the Industrial
Representation Plan. They told their grievances and
then stopped. So we said to them, "Now all of you
have grievances. You are not getting your rails, ties,
or spikes. You say also that you are not adequately
paid for brushing, putting up cross-bars, and doing

i8i

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Other dead work. But right here among you is your own
representative, whom you elected under the representa-
tion plan. Why don't you take these grievances up
with him and ask him to present them to the manage-
ment?"

An embarrassed silence followed. Presently one
miner spluttered out in a heated voice, " You might as
well take the grievances up with this prop!" and he
pointed to one of the timbers supporting the roof. The
other men all nodded their heads in acquiescence.
"What can he do?" continued the spokesman. "He
can't do anything. He has no power." Then we in-
quired, "What's the matter with the industrial plan?
Isn't its purpose to help you bring your grievances to
the superintendent and the general management in
order to have them adjusted?" The spokesman re-
plied, "It is no good. We can't accomplish anything
with it." The other men smiled as if the question were
a foolish one.

Presently the representative spoke as if in self-de-
fense. " I have taken up this grievance of not getting
enough materials with the foreman a number of times.
But he hasn't done anything about it. 1 hate to go over
his head." We pressed this representative with the
question as to why he did not bring the matter to the
attention of the higher officials of the company. We
reminded him of the various channels provided by the
representation plan for the consideration of grievances.
We also pointed out that we had seen no record of the
specific grievances voiced by these miners in the reports
and minutes for 19 19 of the various bodies created
under the plan. The only reply we could get was that
he "hated to go over the head of the foreman."

182

SOME UNREPORTED GRIEVANCES

That this fear of antagonizing the officials in charge
of the immediate work was real we soon saw in a quite
dramatic form. We presently heard a voice at the
opening of the room. "What is this, a meeting?"
"That's the mine foreman," said some of the miners in
subdued voices. They began to shuffle about uneasily.
The foreman was invited in by one of the men who had
accompanied us on the inspection tour. "These men,"
my friend explained to the foreman, "complain about
not getting paid for dead work and about not getting
enough rails, ties, and so on. How about it?" "Who
is it?" demanded the foreman in a loud but somewhat
nervous voice. " All of these men are complaining about
the lack of materials and some about not getting paid
for dead work," was the reply. The foreman explained
that he had one company man who visited every work-
ing place once a day, inquired whether supplies were
needed, and delivered them. Then one of the visitors
pointed to the young miner who had complained about
not receiving pay for six hours of brushing. The fore-
man turned to him. " Didn't 1 tell you," he demanded,
"that 1 forgot to turn it in, and that 1 would pay you
next time?" In answering, the miner did not talk as
forcefully and as freely as he had to us prior to the
coming of the foreman. He said quietly but hesitat-
ingly, " You know very well that I spoke to you several
times about it and that you didn't promise me anything
definite."

" Here is another man," said one of the visitors, "who
contends that he didn't get paid for a day's dead work."
We looked around, and lo! all the other men had dis-
appeared, swallowed up in the darkness of the mine.
Even the miners' representative had left us, mumbling.

1S3

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

" 1 told you that we weren't getting our supplies," and
before we knew it he was busy sinking his pick into the
coal. We were left alone with the foreman.

Company officials were skeptical about this fear of
the foreman, especially this one. They commented on
his personality and his ability to keep the mine safe.
The point, however, is that not the man but his position
inspires a sense of caution, at least, among the men.
This is the weakness in encouraging the miners first to
take up their grievances with the foreman or superin-
tendent. However fair-minded these men may be, the
fact is they hire and discharge — with safeguards, to
be sure, but, nevertheless, the power is theirs to repre-
sent the management — and it is they who assign men
to work-places and direct their work. This is the reason
why the company would be wise to provide as active
and detailed a supervision over all the human relations
in the camp as they do over safety conditions — a sug-
gestion which will be discussed later in this chapter.
With no records of grievances required of the superin-
tendents^ and merely a visit from the president's rep-
resentative three or four times a year, many causes of
discontent may be unknown to higher officials.

The reports for this mine for 19 19 made by the presi-
dent's industrial representative have already been
quoted. In six visits no disputes or grievances were
voiced to him. The grievances about which the men
complained were, also, not recorded in the minutes of the
district conferences, the annual conferences, or the Joint
Committee on Co-operation and Conciliation. A former

^ As already noted, since our investigation, a change lias been made
and superintendents are now required to write out reports of griev-
ances and their settlement.

184

SOME UNREPORTED GRIEVANCES

representative, who had been in office several terms and
had had extensive experience with the plan for repre-
sentation, was asked for an explanation. He had
worked in unionized mines and the differences were
in his mind. "When Griffiths came here," he broke out
eloquently in foreign dialect, " 1 have to tell him every-
thing is all right. If 1 go to the men, they say they have
grievances, but when I ask them to come and prove it
to the superintendent or Griffiths, they say they are
afraid. So 1 tell Griffiths everything is all right."
When asked why he did not take the grievances up to
the district conferences or to the Joint Committee
on Co-operation and Conciliation, he replied, " Repre-
sentative elected by the miners, he no educated man.
Company officials good, smart, educated men. The
representative, he only one man, he got no backing,
he got to fight everybody, superintendent, Griffiths,
manager. Under union, miners have educated men
who no work for the company, but give all their time to
take up grievances. Pretty hard for man who works
for the company to take up grievances because he afraid
that if make the boss mad, maybe he be fired, or given
bad place." He admitted that as far as he knew "the
boss" had not yet disciplined any representative for
taking up grievances, "but all the same," he said with
emphasis, "the representative afraid he might."

He added that for selfish reasons, representatives
would not be active. " If representative got good place
and make good money, what he care about other men?
He won't take grievances up or fight. Under union if
pit committee no fight any case, next meeting of local
we take it off and elect new committee."

He cited the following incident, which showed how
185

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

the superintendent felt about criticism of conditions
in this mine. Some time prior to our visit a committee
from an Indiana steel plant came to Colorado to learn
first hand how the representation plan was working.
Most of the representatives praised the plan. This man,
on the other hand, had expressed to them an unfavor-
able opinion. He spoke of the grievances at this mine
and pointed out that the plan did not correct them.
Two days later the superintendent came to his working
place. He was very angry and asked the representative
if he did not get paid for rock he had handled. " 1 an-
swer yes," concluded the miner, " I get pay for rock but
always somebody don't get paid. No pay for cross-
bars either. Superintendent he then say, 'Indiana
long way off. If you have any complaint you come to
me. And if anybody comes and asks you about the
Rockefeller Plan, you tell them it is all right.'"

Unreported Grievances in Walsen District
Starkville mine is in the Trinidad District. In the
adjoining district of Walsen, also, where the company
employs some 1,400 miners, we found similar grievances
which had not been disclosed through the representa-
tion plan. At one mine the men complained that they
were not paid for rock in the coal; "How can a man
pick rock when he get no pay?" that they got nothing
for loading rock on cars; that the rate paid for taking
down the top rock, 60 cents a yard, was not enough;
that the scale did not vary with a different height of
seam, although the greater difficulty of mining in a low
seam should require more money per ton.^ Two men

'See page 206 for discussion on a grievance of this kind which
was settled through employes' representation.

186

SOME UNREPORTED GRIEVANCES

with whom we talked complained that a foreman at
Ideal had sworn at them and had not carried out his
promise to give them good places in the mine. The
miners wanted a check-weighman, but their representa-
tives had taken no action to help them to get one.

Several miners complained that although the seams
of coal in Huerfano County vary from three to six
feet in height, the rate of pay for mining was the same
for the low as for the high veins; that the men were not
guaranteed "an equal turn of cars"; that the diggers
themselves had to lay the track from the entry to the
working face;^ that on several occasions they had had
to separate rock from coal without receiving extra pay,
although it takes much longer to mine coal which has
boney in it than to mine it from a clean seam.^

At Pictou about a dozen men showed us their pay
statements, complaining that they were not itemized
to show number of tons loaded, number of yards
brushed, etc., and that only the lump amount of money
was given for each type of work so that the men sus-
pected that they were not paid for all that they had
done, and when they had asked the clerk to give them
itemized statements he had refused. The superin-
tendent told us that he had known nothing of this
grievance. Others in this mine complained of the re-
fusal of a foreman to pay for four feet of brushing in
May, 1919 (the mine foreman said that the miners had
not brushed high enough), in one instance a miner
and his wife suspected that they were being discrimi-
nated against, as their house had not been repaired.

^ Although this is a general practice in mining, it causes discontent.
^ See page 156 for a similar complaint which was settled for Ta-
basco mine.

187

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

These items are selected at random from the notes
on some of the mines in this district, and do not include
all the complaints that the men had to make. Yet
not a single grievance was on record in the minutes of
the Joint Committee on Conciliation and Co-operation
for this district for four years. The annual report for
19 1 9 for the Walsen District showed that the commit-
tee had considered such important questions as the
equal distribution of work in slack seasons, with pref-
erence in employment to married men; methods of
stimulating interest in the representation plan; the
establishment of confidence; the relation to other com-
mittees; and the importance of local adjustment of
grievances, but no specific grievance or dispute in any
mine in the district was mentioned in its report, and
presumably none had been referred to it for considera-
tion in the course of the year.

The Weakness of Representatives
It did indeed seem to us that many of the miners'
representatives were timid, untrained, and ill-prepared
to present and argue the grievances of the miners, and
that their experience as representatives was not de-
veloping initiative or leadership in them. The repre-
sentatives themselves were of the same opinion, and
so were most of the miners whom we interviewed.
Usually the representative who said anything unfavor-
able about his foreman, superintendent, or the manage-
ment in general would pledge us not to quote him. Of
all the representatives who spoke unfavorably or who
told us of grievances, only one gave us his permission
to quote him. " Now be sure not to mention my name,"
was the constant request. A representative caught one

SOME UNREPORTED GRIEVANCES

of US in the act of taking some notes. He immediately
stopped. "What are you doing there?" he demanded.
" You're not going to show that to any one?" His wife
also was alarmed. " Old scout," said she to her husband,
" I can see where you will have to march down the
canyon now." We protested that under the representa-
tion plan the employes' representatives were granted
immunity. They could not be discharged for per-
forming their duties. "They might not discharge
him," said the wife, "but they can make it mighty
unpleasant — so unpleasant he might be glad to move."
" You bet," was the comment of the representative.

Another representative refused, at first approach, to
help us to test the basis for grievances told us by his col-
league in the same mine. "Say, friend," he said, " I've
got a pretty good job. 1 make pretty fair wages and
don't have to work very hard. 1 have built myself a
little home here. 1 have a family and 1 can't afford to
move. 1 don't want to lose my job. No, they might
not fire me" — this in answer to quoting the section of
the plan protecting the representatives — "but they
might take me off day work and put me to digging
coal." This man refused to talk until we had given him
a solemn promise that we would not use his name.

The fact that the employes' representatives are ill
prepared to be advocates for the miners was pointed
out by a number of men. They explained that they had
to work hard in the mines; many of them were unedu-
cated; they had no time to read. What match were
they for the educated, experienced executives of the
company before whom they must advocate the interests
of the men? The more intelligent representatives had
recognized this fact in 191 7, and started the movement
13 189

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

already described for the employment of a permanent
miners' representative who would act in the same
capacity for the men as the president's industrial repre-
sentative acts for the company. They regret exceed-
ingly that the rank and file of employes were not suffi-
ciently interested to put this proposal into effect. "It
would have cost each miner only a few cents," said
a former representative regretfully, "and they would
have had an independent and experienced official to
take up their grievances and thrash them out with the
company."

The timidity of the employes' representatives, their
lack of training, their fear of going "over the head" of
the foreman or superintendent, have resulted in a condi-
tion that does not promise successful leadership among
the miners themselves in making the representation
plan a vital factor in their relations with the manage-
ment. The fact is that representatives do not take the
initiative in discovering, investigating, and presenting
grievances.

In one camp we were interviewing about fifteen
miners. Among them was their representative. There
was much discontent in this mine. The forty-five-year
age limit, established in connection with a pension
plan,i came in for a good deal of bitter comment. One
miner contended that he had not been paid for four feet
of brushing, and when he expressed a wish to take the
matter up under the representation plan, the foreman
told him that "the representatives have got nothing
to do with this." A general complaint was that the
management did not deliver coal to employes who lived
outside the camp, and as in this camp there were not

^ For discussion of the pension plan, see page 197 ff.
190

SOME UNREPORTED GRIEVANCES

enough houses for all the miners, the men thought the
policy unfair; they were even talking about striking
because of it.^ One miner complained that he had not
been employed since the strike on November i, 1919,
because he was then over the age limit. He was inter-
viewed a few weeks later. He had worked, he said,
until the day of the strike, and after it had applied three
times for employment, but was refused while other men
had been taken on.

The men spoke with feeling and ended by condemn-
ing the representation plan in vigorous language.
Their representative had previously praised the plan.
But throughout the narration of the grievances de-
scribed above he sat and listened as if they did not con-
cern him at all. We said to him, " Here, listen to all
these grievances! Why don't you report them to the
company?" He answered with some indignation,
" How can 1 take their grievances up when they never
come to me? 1 am not supposed to run around the
camp and look them up. If they came to me, 1 would
take them up." When we asked the men why they did
not take their grievances to the representatives, they
answered with even greater indignation that it was
useless, the representatives did not amount to any-
thing; they would not risk their jobs or antagonize their
foreman; they had no power, and so on.

Yet one more illustration to show the mutual lack
of confidence between representatives and miners.
This was in a mine in Fremont County, a strongly

^ In February, 1921, when this point was discussed, the general
manager of the fuel department said that the company had never
delivered coal outside a camp, and he could not recall any complaints
for this cause.

191

employes' representation in coal mines

unionized district. All the men kept criticizing the
representation plan. We believed that much of their
bitterness and condemnation of the plan was due to
their strong loyalty to the United Mine Workers. We
therefore pressed the miners here to an almost unpleas-
ant degree for any instances arising in their actual
experience that made them feel unfavorable to the plan.
We pointed out that their hostility was perhaps unfair.
They had been indifferent to the plan. They had not
tried it out. It might have proved very successful for
them had they given it a chance. Finally a spokesman
broke forth into a long narration of one of his ex-
periences :

"The representatives are no good/'^ he declared
vehemently and quickly. " 1 will show you. At one
time we had the custom here that on measuring day
representatives should come along with the foreman in
order to decide what dead work was worth. 1 had just
come back to work in this mine. After the 1913 strike
I couldn't get work here, although I tried repeatedly.
They wouldn't take back men who had been active in
the strike. But when the war came and the country
was short of men and the fuel administrator threatened
to investigate why some of us were not given work by
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, 1 was finally

1 Company officials pointed out that some of the representatives at
this mine had been among the ablest employes of the company, and
they could not see how any one could call them "no good." One of
them was at one time a member of the state legislature. His testi-
mony before the State Industrial Commission regarding the need for a
salaried representative of the employes has been quoted (page 89 ff).
We also were impressed by the ability of many of the miners whom
we interviewed. But we leave the text as it stands because it reveals
the point of view of the men themselves. Again, the criticism is
against the limitations of the office of representative, rather than
against the personalities of the men who have held the office.

192

SOME UNREPORTED GRIEVANCES

given a job.^ But they gave me a pretty bad place.
There was so much dead work that I couldn't make
wages. On a certain measuring day the foreman and the
representative came into my place. I had a lot of dead
work. The foreman asked the representative, 'What
do you think this work is worth?' He answered, 'I
don't know. It's up to you to decide what it is worth.'
Now that was wrong. The representative didn't know
his business. If 1 was on a pit committee on work of
this kind 1 would have immediately asked whether
the miner had made 'company wages.' If he hadn't, 1
would have suggested to the foreman that the miner's
earnings should be made up at least to average the
earnings per day of company or day men. But in my
case the representative left it to the foreman. Finally
the foreman named a certain amount for my dead work
and asked the representative whether it was enough.
The representative said it was satisfactory to him.
Then 1 protested. 1 told the foreman how many hours
1 had put in on that dead work. 1 told him that the
amount he named was entirely too small. The foreman
gave me a larger amount. Again he asked the repre-
sentative whether he was satisfied, and he answered
that he was."

" 1 had another incident of the same kind a little

' On this point President Welborn said that, as long ago as 191 ^j,
he had made the announcement to the men that "bygones were by-
gones" and that the future and not the past record of a man would
be the test for employment. Men, he said, have been given positions
and advancement in the company who have been active in the union;
for instance, the assistant foreman at Starkville was secretary of the
local union when the assistant foremanship was offered to him. This
policy of the company will be described later. The men's statements,
which we have quoted, seem to us necessary, however, for a true un-
derstanding of tfieir attitude. They are thoroughly convinced that it
is "not healthy" for them to be active in the union.

193

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

later," he concluded. "That just shows that the repre-
sentatives are no good. They are afraid to open their
mouths. 1 personally would rather have the foreman
settle any grievance for the men than the representatives.
They [the representatives] have no backing. There is no
union behind them to protect them. They are afraid of
losing their jobs or of getting a bad working place."

These incidents illustrate the attitude of the majority
of the miners with whom we talked. They lacked con-
fidence in the effectiveness of their representation.
This was not so much directly expressed as implied in
almost every instance in which they failed to act under
the plan. Other factors entered in, such as the inertia
which prevents men from taking their part in group
action, even when it is to their interest to do so, and
their sense of inadequacy to argue the men's cases with
educated superiors because of their own slight educa-
tion. Also, it was clear that difficulties had been due to
the need for more continuous supervision of the policies of
superintendents in hiring, discharging, and other aspects
of so-called "personnel problems"; the lack of whole-
hearted, intelligent co-operation on the part of some of
the superintendents and foremen and the timidity and
ineffectiveness of some of the men's representatives.

Representatives' Views
Most of the miners' representatives whom we inter-
viewed were friendly to the industrial Representation
Plan. Many, however, said that, although the plan
was excellent in principle, local officials — the superinten-
dents and foremen — were "not living up to it." We
asked almost all the representatives to explain the
reason why the miners did not take a keener interest

'94

SOME UNREPORTED GRIEVANCES

in the plan; elect representatives from their own num-
ber (i. e., diggers); and take their grievances up with
the management. A number, like some of the superin-
tendents, laid the responsibility for indifference to the
activity of union organizers or "agitators," as they
called them. These agitators went about telling the
men lies and instructing them to have nothing to do
with the representation plan. The miners believed
them and followed their instructions.^

Some of the representatives were indignant because
the men were not more appreciative of what the man-
agement had conceded to them since the plan had been
introduced. "The men won't give the plan a chance,"
complained one former representative. "They won't
work with it. They won't bring their grievances up.
Regardless of what they think of it, I believe in giving
the plan the credit for what it has done. For instance,
prior to the time that I became representative the com-
pany owned the, lots on which the houses were built.
The houses belonged to private individuals. The com-
pany used to charge us a ground rental of ^i.oo a
month.- The other representatives and 1 took this up
with the management and got them to give warranty
deeds for the lots to all the owners of the houses. Thus
we abolished the rental. We also got a man-trip. It
took us quite a while to get it, but the company finally
installed one. We also got the management to pay a
minimum of day wages to miners who worked in very
deficient places."

^ That the union is actively opposing the plan will be shown in
Chapter XI II, United Mine Workers in Colorado, page 269.

" President Welborn explained that this ground rental had been
charged only at Coal Creek and not in the other camps.

195

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

"I'll tell you what 1 think killed the plan in this
district," continued this miner. "We were getting
along very well for the first two years. But in 19 17 the
Victor-American Fuel Company, which has two mines
near here, signed an agreement with the United Mine
Workers. The men here immediately began to ignore
the representation plan. They thought that they also
could get a contract. If our next-door neighbors can
get a contract, they argued, why can't we? With the
signing of the contract by the other company there
came at the same time a number of union organizers
into this district. They constantly advised the men
against co-operating with the plan."

Most representatives were of the opinion that if the
miners would only work with the plan they could ob-
tain splendid results. But they all said that the men
did not care for it. " 1 have often remarked to my
friends," said one representative, "that the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company was very foolish to try to have
the representation plan when the men don't want it.
It must cost the company a lot of money to administer
it. It would cost them much less to have a union con-
tract and they wouldn't have to concede as much to
the men as they do under the plan."

"What's the use of being a representative," re-
marked one miner who had held that office, "when
you don't represent any one? The men won't come to
meetings called by us. They won't bring their griev-
ances to us, but they will go all around the place and
grumble. They don't appreciate anything we do for
them. They want a union contract and won't be satis-
fied until they get one."

196

some unreported grievances

. Possible Supervision of Employment Policies
One safeguard against the concealment of grievances,
because of lack of confidence in the representatives and
fear of antagonizing foreman or superintendent, might
be the development of a personnel department. The
reluctance of the company to departmentalize its rela-
tions with its employes, and its insistence upon having
responsibility for the success of the plan rest upon
every executive as part of his day's work, have been
noted. This would seem to be sound policy, as far as it
goes. Moreover, a centralized personnel department,
having charge of hiring, passing upon all discharges,
and in other ways supervising conditions of employ-
ment, has seemed to the company to be impracticable
in the widely scattered coal mines. Nevertheless, it
would seem to be feasible to appoint men to give their
full time as experts in human relations, just as a chief
mine inspector acts for the company in insuring safety.
The foreman and superintendent must be responsible
for safety day by day in each mine, just as they are
responsible for hiring and discharging miners; but
their work in safeguarding the men against accidents
is subject to regular inspection by the chief mine in-
spector. In an exactly analogous procedure their func-
tions in hiring and discharging and in adjusting griev-
ances could be subject to more frequent inspection.

The Age Limit in the Pension Plan

The history of the age limit for employment, which

was made a provision of a pension plan adopted by the

company, shows how easily dissatisfaction could develop

without the company's knowledge and without em-

197

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COALMINES

plo\es' voicing it through the representation plan. After
our preHminary report had been read by the company,
and after we had discussed the pension plan with em-
ployes' representatives, this matter was taken up at the
request of employes' representatives and modified in
accordance with their views.

On March 22, 1917, the company established a "ser-
vice retirement plan." This provided that employes at
the age of sixty-five, after twenty years of service,
should be retired from their positions and should receive
a payment equal to " 30 per cent of the average pay per
month of service during the ten years next preceding
retirement, with a minimum of ^20 per month. "^ The
announcement of the plan made this statement: "So
that all new employes may have an opportunity to
render twenty years' service before the age of sixty-five,
at which time they will be retired, the age limit for
new employes has been fixed at forty-five. "^ The length
of service required need not be continuous, as "credit
is given for all the time employes have actually been on
the payroll." Administration of this pension system is
in the hands of a Service Retirement Board, consisting
of five officials of the company, appointed by the presi-
dent and approved by the board of directors. Wage-
earning employes are not represented on the board.

In our talks with the miners we discovered many
evidences of bitterness against the forty-five-year age
limit. In fact, the disadvantages of this regulation,
in the minds of the men, seemed to outweigh the bene-

1 For women employes, the retirement age was sixty, after thirty
years of service.

^Service Retirement Plan, p. 11, revised to May, 1920. The
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company and Subsidiary Companies.

iq8

SOME UNREPORTED GRIEVANCES

fits of a pension system'. We met no coal miner who
was in favor of the age limit. " It makes a slave of a
man after he is forty-five years old," exclaimed a number
of the miners bitterly on one occasion. "He is afraid
to express his opinion. He is afraid to join or be-
come active in the union. For, if he loses his job, what
should he do? He can't work for the company any
more."

In going about from mine to mine we noticed that
the men in the late forties were taciturn. The younger
men talked more freely and fearlessly. In one mine
several older men with whom we discussed the Indus-
trial Representation Plan immediately jumped to the
forty-five-year age limit. "The Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company," they said heatedly, "has put a rope
around our necks. We are now over forty-five, and we
can't say anything. If we have hard places in the mine
and lots of dead work, we keep quiet. We are afraid
that we will be fired, and then we can't get work with
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company any more."
We asked them why they didn't move. "Move? Ha!"
was the rejoinder. " We've all got our own little homes
here.^ We have families and our friends are all here.
It's easy to say 'move' but hard to do it."

In almost every mine visited were men of this opinion.
There was everywhere the same bitter, vehement,
almost fierce opposition to the policy of the company
of not employing men who were over forty-five years
old. Even superintendents and foremen were not
enthusiastic about it. They hesitated to criticize the
policy of the company, but several of them stated that

^ This was not a camp, owned by the company. It was an incor-
porated village and most of the men owned their own homes.

'99

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

a man at forty-five is an excellent miner. He is in the
prime of life. He is steady in his habits, settled, con-
servative, and reasonable.

The officers of the company explained the obvious
reason for the establishment of an age limit, if twenty
years of service are to be required, and the retiring age
is sixty-five, the age limit for new employes would seem
to be automatically established. But a man who has
formerly worked for the company may be re-employed
after the age of forty-five, as the plan expressly states
that his years of service to secure the pension need not
be continuous. We were given a list of 1 18 names of
men who have been reinstated after they have reached
the age of forty-five. These reinstatements had oc-
curred at various times in the years between 191 6 and
1920, and the ages of the men reinstated had ranged
from forty-five to sixty-seven. Employes in the mines
confirmed the statement that men over forty-five were
frequently re-employed by the company if they had
worked there before reaching that age. Nevertheless,
they asked what would become of men past forty-five if
every industry in the country established a regulation
of this kind, and they believed that it would be more just
to abolish the age limit for employment, even if this
meant that men who entered the employ of the company
when over the age of forty-five would receive no pension
or be paid a lower rate.^ Even those miners who them-
selves were far from the age of forty-five and felt quite
secure in their own jobs realized so vividly what it

^ Some opposition was expressed to the results of a percentage basis
for the pensions, on the ground that the employes who had earned the
least in the last ten years before retirement, and who, therefore, had
had least opportunity to save, received automatically the smallest
sum as a pension.

200

SOME UNREPORTED GRIEVANCES

means to an older man to be hunting a job that they
expressed deep resentment against this poHcy in the
company for which they worked.

The important point to question, however, is not
whether this was a wise or an unwise provision in the
pension plan, but rather how it happened that, although
when it was adopted the Industrial Representation Plan
had been in effect for a year and a half, the men were not
consulted about its provisions in order to avoid action
which might cause widespread discontent. The rep-
resentatives at one camp told us that the plan was
announced to them by President Welborn at a meeting
of the representatives. Some of the men immediately
raised a question as to the reason for the forty-five-year
age limit. President Welborn explained, according to
the men, that this was a higher age limit than prevailed
in many industries, and that, anyway, the board of
directors of the company had adopted the pension plan
and it could not be changed by the president or any one
else.

In our conferences with the company officials this
statement, that it was the board of directors who had
adopted the plan, was confirmed. President Welborn
expressed interest in our reason for questioning why
the employes were not consulted. " Do you think,"
he asked, "it would be perfectly natural to bring the
employes into consultation in arranging the details of a
pension plan? ... 1 never have known of pension
plans being framed through co-operative effort between
the management and the workers. It seems to me it is
one of the things that quite naturally rests with the
company itself." He explained that the company was
ready and anxious "to co-operate with the workmen in

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

every matter which may call for, we will say, a con-
cession on both sides. Here is a matter that is not mate-
rially different from a bonus that one might announce."

Sharing Decisions with Wage-earners
This inquiry into the method of introducing the pen-
sion plan led to an interesting discussion with the offi-
cials of the company. We asked whether the typical
manager of industry genuinely believes that the workers
are capable of participation in important decisions, or
whether employes' representation must be limited in
practice to the grievances or the suggestions of em-
ployes. We were referring, not to all of the functions of
management, but merely to those which affect directly
human relations in the industry. Mr. Welborn replied
that "the typical manager of industry is called upon
about eight hours out of every day to answer questions
and define policies or courses of action that do not per-
mit of the time of consultation, even, in many cases,
with those in the same building. . . . My ex-
perience convinces me that the typical manager, as you
term it, of industry is, when opportunity affords, very
considerate of the views, we will say, of the average
workman, and desirous of having them; but again,
unless some other form of managing industry is adopted,
it seems to me that he has not the time; he is respon-
sible and he must move rapidly and has very little time
for consultation."

The provisions of the pension plan were finally
changed through employes' representation.

At the annual meeting in January, 1922, after we had
prepared our preliminary report and submitted it to the
company for criticism, a recommendation to raise the

202

SOME UNREPORTED GRIEVANCES

age limit to fifty years was unanimously adopted by the
representatives of employes and of management. The
bulletin for January 19, 1922 (p. 7), reports that the
proposal originated in the Canon District and came
from the employes. Meetings were held, attended by
employes and officials of the company, first in Rockvale
and later in other mining districts and at the steel works.
The recommendation was finally made by the vice-
president, the president's industrial representative, and
the general manager, with the approval of the president.
A sliding scale was adopted for the minimum pension
for those employed between the ages of forty-six and
fifty years, and the percentage of average monthly earn-
ings to determine the pension was also made to decrease
for each year of age above forty-five and up to fifty
years at the time of employment.

203

CHAPTER XI
GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

INERS, or diggers, as we have stated, are paid
by the ton of coal mined. The company men
are paid by the day. The miners constitute
about two-thirds of the force in the mines of the Colo-
rado Fuel and Iron Company. For company men the
wage rate is comparatively easy to determine, as it is a
definite sum for a definite number of hours. The
miners' earnings, in contrast, are affected by a thousand
and one conditions, constantly changing and often
unforeseen. A miner can dig more coal in one hour in
a high seam than in a very low one. If rock intervenes
he must separate it from the coal, and the amount of
pure coal which he can load on the car — later weighed
to determine his earnings — will be decreased by the
time spent taking out rock. Or a portion of the roof of
the mine may fall, and he must clean it up before he
can dig coal. Or the driver in his entry may not be
able to supply him with a mine car on which to load his
coal as often as he needs it, and he may lose time and
earnings by having to wait for a car to load.

Representatives of coal miners have, therefore, two
different kinds of questions on which to act if they are
to protect employes' interests: (i) The day-to-day de-
termination of compensation for the constantly chang-
ing conditions and extra tasks; and (2) agreement on
the basic rate per ton to miners and the daily wage of

204

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

company men. Sometimes this basic rate must be
varied in applying it in a particular mine, or a group of
mines, having peculiar conditions that affect the nor-
mal output per man. Clearly, therefore, new questions
regarding earnings are likely to arise more or less fre-
quently in a mine, and we would expect the machinery
of representation to be used often in adjusting them.
This chapter will deal with the procedure in day-to-day
determination of extra compensation, in the follow-
ing chapter the determination of the basic rate will
be discussed.

Daily Adjustments in Compensation
Superintendents do not attempt to settle grievances
involving rates which may apply not merely to an indi-
vidual, but to a class of work. Reports of the presi-
dent's industrial representatives show that a number of
complaints have been registered with them at various
times, and in different mines, concerning rates of pay
for certain work. Thus, at Cameron, the foreman
stated in the presence of the representatives that "there
was considerable dissatisfaction among the loaders.^
because they received nothing for narrow work in run-
ning cross-cuts, while the machine men were paid ^1.31
per yard. The machine men work under a disad-
vantage when cutting narrow places, but the loaders
are also at a disadvantage, in addition to being re-
quired to furnish the powder for blasting the coal.
The representatives corroborated the foreman's re-
marks, and it was agreed to suggest that the I1.31 per
yard for narrow work should be apportioned between

' Loaders, as explained, are the miners who follow the machine
men and load the coal after it is cut and blasted.
14 205

employes' representation in coal mines

the machine men and loaders. "^ At Pictou, a low vein
was encountered in a certain section. The men wanted
a higher rate than prevailed for the higher vein in the
rest of the mine, and the representatives complained
first to the superintendent and then to the president's
chief industrial representative. After investigation by
him, "in company with the representatives, E. H. Weit-
zel [and] Superintendent [W. S.] Getchell, ... it
was decided that the price for loading coal four feet and
less in thickness shall be increased from 58 cents to 64
cents per ton of 2,000 pounds. The rate for cutting [by
machine] shall be increased from 15 cents to 17 cents,
the thickness of the coal seam to be determined by the
distance between the rock bottom and the rock top."^
In Fremont County, in the autumn of 191 7, the presi-
dent's industrial representative reported that the only
unsettled complaint was a "misunderstanding regard-
ing the wage scale," affecting the three mines then
operated by the company in that district. They had
been closed down during the 1913-14 strike. In March,
1915, a committee of men representing each mine,
who had waited on the general manager of the fuel
department, Mr. Weitzel, about opening the mines
again, had reported back to the miners that a reduction
of 10 cents per ton would have to be accepted until
business should become normal. By 1917 the men
thought that the 10 cents should be restored and so
requested.^ In reply, Mr. Weitzel wrote in October,

1 Reports of David Griffiths, period October, 1917, to September 30,
1918, inclusive. Cameron, June 12, 1918.

* Reports of B. J. Matteson, beginning December, 1918. Pictou,
June 2, 1919.

3 Reports of David Griffiths, period October, 1916, to September,
1917, inclusive. Coal Creek, September 29, 1917, and October, 1917.

206

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

IQ17, that the rate in Fremont County before the strike
had been from 10 to 15 cents higher than it should have
been, compared with the rate prevaihng in Huerfano
and Las Animas Counties. He further stated that at
the time of the conference with the committee of the
men in 1915, "no hope was held out . . . that
the old rate would be restored." The men continued
to be dissatisfied, and the State Industrial Commission
acted.

As the result of a strike threat by the United Mine
Workers, not connected with this matter, the commis-
sion had made an investigation in October of exist-
ing grievances and had awarded the miners in the
Canon District, then comprising Fremont, Rockvale,
and Coal Creek mines, an increase of 6 cents per ton
to equalize their earnings with those in Huerfano and
Las Animas Counties. "The award . . . was
acceptable," reports Mr. Griffiths, after a visit at Rock-
vale in November, 19 17, "though some of the miners
thought they were entitled to the 10 cents per ton they
had asked for. . . . Only a few of the workmen
were present, but the employes in general freely state
that the advance in wages was more than they ex-
pected."^

Rates for Cross-bars^

In some other adjustments the employes' repre-
sentatives have had a more active part, either as mem-
bers of the Joint Committee on Conciliation and Co-
operation, or by referring complaints to the president's
industrial representatives. The method of determining
rates to be paid for setting up cross-bars is a good illus-

1 Ibid., Rockvale, November 10, 1917.
^ See page 43 for description of a cross-bar.
207

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

tration, both of the activities of representatives and of
their Hmitations. Cross-bars in working rooms are
necessary only in places where the roof is extremely
bad. Ordinarily cross-bars are put up in entries only,
and merely props, sometimes with cap pieces, in work-
ing rooms. Props, as has been explained, will hold the
roof up when it is solid. But if it is fragile or penetrated
with pieces of slate or rock that may fall at any minute
from the main body of the roof, props are inadequate
to protect the miner. Bars, about one foot wide and
sometimes as long as eight feet, must be fitted on the
ends of the props which adjoin the sides of the room.
Occasionally two or three cross-bars may be needed to
stretch across a room.

There is no dispute about the payment for setting up
cross-bars in entries. A regular scale has always been
established for this work. But there has been a differ-
ence of opinion about payment for setting up cross-bars
in working rooms in the mines of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company. The management has contended that
the state law requires the miner to make his working
place safe and secure. He is a contract worker, and is
paid only for mining coal at the rate of a certain fixed
price per ton. If the roof is bad, it is the job of the
miner to make it safe by setting up cross-bars. Miners
admit that, under normal conditions, they should make
the roof in their working places secure and therefore
it is customary for them to put up props without pay.
But they deny that they are required to put up cross-
bars without pay. The state mining law, they argue,
in opposition to the management, has nothing to say
about wages, but deals only with safety conditions and
cannot, therefore, be interpreted as requiring the miner

208

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

to do an excessive amount of work without extra pay
to make his place safe. Moreover, foreman rather than
miner is held responsible for safety conditions. It takes
a longer time, the men say, to put up a cross-bar than
to set up a prop and, they contend, it should be paid for
accordingly, whether it is put up in an entry or in a
working place.

After the Industrial Representation Plan was intro-
duced, the president's industrial representative, Mr.
Griffiths, heard a number of these complaints in his
visits to the mines. He reported them to Mr. Weitzel,
who had been for several years the secretary of the
Joint Committee on Co-operation and Conciliation in
the Trinidad District, where the grievances about the
cross-bars were concentrated. The complaints were
discussed at several meetings of the committee, and
were also brought up by an employes' representative
of Starkville at the Trinidad district conference, held
at Berwind-Tabasco, January i8, 191 7. In the dis-
cussion the division superintendent evidently dis-
agreed with the representative's claim, and declared
that it was already possible for a miner to earn more
money at Starkville than at any other mine, and that
the scale should be reduced to equalize it with other
mines, rather than to add a new rate for cross-bars.
Mr. Weitzel, however, assured the employes' repre-
sentative that, on his next visit to Starkville, he would
discuss this matter with the miners.^ Later it was re-
ferred to the district committee for decision.

The committee, under Mr. Weitzel's direction, made
a test of the time it took to set up cross-bars and then

1 Minutes of the Trinidad district conference, Berwind-Tabasco,
January 18, 19 17.

209

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

established a rate on the basis of the test.^ The em-
ployes' representatives, who were members of the com-
mittee, presumably witnessed the tests, both at Stark-
ville and Primero, and agreed to the rates. Neverthe-
less the men were not satisfied.

^ The test covered two mines, Starkville and Primero. Tiie method
of the committee is described in the following paragraph from the
report of Mr. Weitzel, as secretary, to the president:

"After visiting most of the working places where this work is
being performed, the committee stopped at No. i Room, in the
first blind entry off the i6th East. Tony and Luke Glazer were
working in this room, and without intimating to them the purpose
of our visit, they were instructed to frame and set up a cross-bar in
the way they were doing it regularly. The committee timed them
and found it required 23 minutes to do the work. We then in-
structed them to set up two props, with a cap piece over each, and
to wedge them tight; this we found required 1 1 minutes, making
an excess of 12 minutes' time for two men in setting a cross-bar."
(That is, it took the men 12 minutes longer to set up a cross-bar
than to place props with cap pieces.) The amount of compensa-
tion which should be paid was determined by the ratio of twelve
minutes to the total working day of timbermen:

"Our timbermen rate at Primero is $3.90 for eight hours, and as
12 minutes is one-fifth of an hour, and one-fortieth of a day, each
of the men would be entitled to one-fortieth of $3.90, or g^4 cents.
The committee, therefore, recommended that for each cross-bar
erected in the room the company pay the sum of 20 cents, and this
rate will be made effective August 1st. in doing this, we are not
receding from our former position that the law requires the miner
to take care of his own working place, but we are putting this rate
into effect for the reason that, in a number of places in the Primero
mine, the roof is in such condition that it is only necessary to set
props and cap pieces, and that employes working in rooms where
cross-bars are necessary are working at this much disadvantage,
and as a matter of putting them on an equality with other miners,
we should pay the difference."

No extra compensation was awarded in Starkville because investi-
gation showed only the negligible differenceof one minute, according
to the report, between setting up cross-bars and putting up props
with cap pieces — work which miners are required to do without addi-
tional pay.

The reason for the difference in time between the two mines was
found in the difference between the natural conditions prevailing:

We found that while the cross-bars at Starkville were all dressed
timber, and whereas there was no side weight to take care of at

210

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

Three and a half years later, in 1921, the account
that had appeared in the minutes of the meeting of the
committee was given us by one of the employes' repre-
sentatives at Primero. This incident was the outstand-
ing one in his mind when we asked him what grievances
he had handled for fellow-employes. He described the
dissatisfaction which the lack of a rate for cross-bars
had caused. Mr. Weitzel, he said, visited the mine and
with two or three members of the committee, himself,
and the superintendent went into the mine and timed
the work of two men. The men timed had been selected,
he said, by the "pit-boss" — the foreman. In 192 1,
according to the representative, discontent was still
great among the men over the rate, which they thought
inadequate, because the roof of the mine was very bad
and many cross-bars were necessary in the rooms.

The same rate was later made to apply at Frederick
mine. Here, however, the employes' representatives had
not been consulted. In the minutes of the Trinidad dis-

Starkville, and it was unnecessary to frame the posts into cross-
bars, that at Primero the conditions were different — that on
account of the more fragile quality of coal, the upright timbers sup-
porting the cross-bars were subjected to side pressure, and it was
necessary to frame the cross-bars to receive the top of the posts in
order to resist the side pressure; also found it was necessary in
some cases to put lagging from one cross-bar to the other." (Ex-
tracts from letter to President Welborn from E. H. Weitzel, dated
July 23, 1917, reporting the setting of rates for cross-bars by the
Joint Committee on Co-operation and Conciliation of the Trinidad
District.)

By 1920 the rate paid had been increased to 29 cents in Primero and
a rate of 26 cents had been established in Starkville, as a result of the
periodic increases during the war in the general scale. In the latter
place it had been finally decided that the miners should be paid for
putting up cross-bars if they had been ordered to do so by the mine
foreman.

By 1923 the day rate for a timberman had been increased to $7.80,
as compared with $3.90 when the first test was made at Primero.

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

trict conference, held at Sopris on January i6, 1920, it is
reported that "Archie Dennison, representative from
Frederick, called attention to the fact that it was stated
in a report of the Joint Committee on Co-operation and
Conciliation originating at Pueblo, that the committee
had decided on a rate to be put in the wage scale at
Frederick similar to the one adopted at Primero for
putting in cross-bars; that if such a rate has been put
in the scale, the representatives are unaware of it."
Mr. Weitzel replied that a sub-committee composed of
the division superintendent and the superintendent of
Frederick mine had been appointed "to look into this
matter, and that the committee reported that the same
rate would be applied at Frederick for this class of work
as was adopted at Primero."^ Thus, in applying the
rate at Frederick, no employes' representatives were
consulted, and the question was not reopened when the
representative from Frederick protested at a district
conference. 2

^ Minutes of Trinidad district conference, held at Sopris, January
16, 1920. The report of the Joint Committee on Co-operation and
Conciliation for the Trinidad District for 1919 contains a paragraph
stating that the superintendent of Frederick, who was a member
representing management on the committee, reported that complaints
about the lack of payment for cross-bars were being made to him.
He and the division superintendent were then appointed "to investi-
gate and establish a rate for this work." The report adds that they
later reported their decision to establish at Frederick the rate already
determined for Primero. No employes' representative was a member
of this sub-committee to determine the rate.

• ^ That other representatives have complained that they are not
consulted in the settlement of difficulties, was shown in the statement
of the employes' representative from Berwind at the Trinidad dis-
trict conference held in Berwind on January 18, 1917. The minutes
state that Representative Pacheco "expressed his opinion that when
a difference arises between an employe and the mine foreman or
superintendent, the representatives ought to be brought into the
discussion and have the opportunity of becoming fully acquainted
with the controversy. This question was discussed with Messrs.

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

The same difficulty in a different form occurred at
Sopris. One of the causes of irritation due to the lack
of payment for cross-bars at Primero, Frederick, and
Starkville, was that in the Sopris mine, in the same dis-
trict, a rate of 74 cents for a cross-bar was paid. This
sum, as later explained to us by officials, was much
larger than in other mines because in Sopris a great
deal of "brushing" is required, as well as the setting of
cross-bars. A former division superintendent in the
district had objected to paying the miners anything
extra for brushing, and so a rate was set for cross-bars
high enough to compensate also for brushing. When
it became necessary to set a rate for cross-bars at ad-
joining mines the rate at Sopris was a cause of em-
barrassment. Therefore it was decided to cut the rate
at Sopris to the same amount which had been deter-
mined for the other mines, while at the same time set-
ting a rate per cubic yard for brushing.

One of the employes' representatives at Sopris de-
scribed this incident to us in 1921. The proposed de-
crease had been explained by Mr. Weitzel at a district
conference, he said. The representatives had had
nothing to do with the rates suggested. As one of them
explained, engineers did the measuring, and the officials
looked over the books for three months to see how much
had been paid for cross-bars and brushing combined.
The rate was then arranged with the "super," and not
with the representatives. The representatives, how-
ever, were asked to call a meeting of miners in the camp,
following the district conference, and to explain the new

Weitzel, Archie Dennison (employes' representative from Frederici<),
and Welborn, the last assuring Mr. Pacheco that his suggestion
would be made effective."

213

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

rates to them. Only seven or eight men came. "They
no like," said the representative. "No like cut here"
(pointing to left palm), "even though make more here"
(pointing to right palm). Discontent continued in this
mine. The roadway was poor. Some miners had "lots
of timbering" (setting cross-bars) and "not much rock"
(requiring brushing), so that the extra rate for rock did
not compensate for the lower rate for cross-bars.

We found, also, in 1920, widespread discontent re-
garding the rate for cross-bars. One representative in
the interior of a certain mine was asked what he thought
of the representation plan. He immediately walked to
an adjoining working place. " Look," he said. " You
see these two cross-bars? It took the miner working
in here an hour and a half to put them up. There is a
very bad roof in this place. But he will only get 26
cents for each set of cross-bars or 52 cents for an hour
and a half's work. 1 tried to talk to the superintendent
and get more money for this man. He brought it up as a
grievance to me. But I could get no satisfaction. The
superintendent wouldn't discuss it with me. He just
walked away. That is why men in this camp like the
union better than the Rockefeller Plan."

In conference with officials of the company in 1921,
the general manager of the fuel department described
the setting of these rates and the share of the representa-
tives in them:

" 1 remember about all those adjustments that
you speak of. 1 remember that at Sopris the repre-
sentatives were not asked about that. 1 figured that
out in the office, and what 1 thought was the right
adjustment on the brushing and timbering rate and
asked Mr. Deldosso [superintendent of Sopris] to
214

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

take it up and go over it with tiie representatives and
the employes. But I had to determine on what 1
thought the rate should be and that is what was
made. It was not announced until after Mr. Del-
dosso had advised me that he had had it up with
them. Now at Primero the local representatives were
not taken into the discussion after we came out of the
mine. The committee did that.

"At Pictou, when we adjusted the rates for cutting
and loading, we went into all the places in the mine
where the coal existed, and I made some measure-
ments of the width of the room and the height of the
coal, and figured the tonnage and some other things
that entered into it, which 1 am sure the men could
not have done, and I am sure I asked Mike Lick [em-
ployes' representative] what he thought was the fair
rate and 1 couldn't possibly get a suggestion out of
him, and finally 1 suggested what I thought would be
the right rate and Mike agreed to it. Once at
Emerald ... we did the same thing. We went
down to all of the places and measured the rock and
the height of the coal; that is, rock that comes in the
form of mining slate. When we finished up 1 asked
Mr. Anderson, the representative, for suggestions,
and he wouldn't make any, and finally 1 made a sug-
gestion and he thought it was too low, that it ought
to be higher. 1 finally made it the rate he wanted.
But in two of the cases the representatives had all
the chance in the world to suggest and discuss the
rate, and in the other two they did not."^

This unwillingness of the representatives to act in
so important a question was, indeed, confirmed by the
men themselves. Some of them said that that was why
they wanted a paid representative of their own, giving
all his time to their interests, and not employed by the

^ Report of Conference between Representatives of the Russell
Sage Foundation and of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company at
Denver, March 7-8, 192 1, pp. 109, no. Typewritten record.

215

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

company. They said, as did Mr. Weitzel, that the
setting of rates requires expert investigation.

Weights

Several complaints in the reports of the president's
representatives were about "weights." As the miner is
paid according to the number of tons credited to him
when the contents of the mine cars bearing his number
are weighed at the mouth of the mine, difficulties over
weights are really wage problems.^

Thus, in the winter of 19 17, some of the miners at
Starkville complained to their representatives that
"the scale on the tipple was not weighing correctly."
"When Representative Thomas was acting as check-
weighman," continues Mr. Griffiths' report, ^ "a request
was made that the scale inspector be sent for. Upon
his arrival the inspector found the scale slightly off, and
adjusted it to the satisfaction of those present. The
representatives called a meeting to explain the condi-
tion of the scale to the employes. Some of the miners
have the idea that Weigh-boss Willard is employed to
reduce weights, although the workmen employ a check-
weighman to watch his figures." At Fremont "some of
the miners have complained about the weights, but
the majority do not want to pay a check-weighman."^
Afterwards the employes evidently elected a check-weigh-

^ The Colorado law requires that a "check-weighman" shall be
employed in any mine in which a majority of the men vote for it.
His pay is to be made up by deducting the amount from the miners'
pay. His work is to watch the weights credited to the men by the
company's employe, the "weigh-boss." — Coal Mining Laws, Colo-
rado. Passed 1913; amended 1917 and 1919. Section 113. Issued
by State Coal Mine Inspector, Denver.

^ Reports of David Griffiths, Starkville, December 5, 19 17.

* ibid., Fremont, February 18, 1916.
216

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

man, for several months later we found reported for the
same mine that the representatives arranged for a secret
ballot on the subject. "A majority voted against
having a check- weighman. Ballots were counted in the
presence of the check-weighman, who resigned his
position and went to work as a miner. "^ In still another
mine, Mr. Griffiths reports in December, 19 17, that he
"discussed with the representatives the complaints of
some of the miners relating to weights. The repre-
sentatives agreed to use every possible effort to have a
majority of the miners vote for a check-weighman."
On behalf of the company Mr. Griffiths, in the absence
of the superintendent, "assured the representatives"
that this official "would do all in his power to have a
majority vote for a check-weighman. "^ Mr. Griffiths
adds to his report that later the president of the com-
pany wrote to him "to take the position that the com-
pany will co-operate in every proper way in selecting
a check-weighman, but to refrain from urging, or
seeming to urge, the men to take this action."^

We found some miners suspicious about their
"weights." In one working place of a certain mine one
of the men shook his head mournfully and said that he
could not understand why his buddy should receive
higher weights than he. His cars were loaded in exactly
the same way and just as high. And yet his buddy's
cars averaged several hundred pounds more. This
attitude was usually found in the mines where the men
had no check-weighman. Even a check-weighman does
not always satisfy them. Racial jealousies make for
suspicion. Should the check-weighman happen to be

1 Ibid., Fremont, October 20, 1917.

^ Ibid., Primero, March 7, 1917. 'Ibid.

217

employes' representation in coal mines

Greek, and a substantial number of the miners Italian,
the latter will be jealous of the Greek and think that he
is showing favoritism to his fellow-countrymen.

We asked a number of miners who complained in
different camps why they did not employ check-weigh-
men and make certain that they were receiving their
just weights. We pointed to the fact that the state
mining law gave a majority of the miners in any mine
the right to employ a check-weighman. "What's the
use?" was the answer. " Unless our union is recognized
the check-weighman has little authority. We have no
real power. He has no backing. There is no pit com-
mittee to help him."

Officials told us that they always welcome a test of
weights, and it is the policy of the company to have any
complaint on this point investigated at once. The
men who complain are urged to sack the coal themselves
after it has been weighed on the tipple scale, and to
weigh it on any other scale they choose. To test its
own scales, the company keeps at every tipple not less
than 4,000 pounds of weights made and sealed by the
federal government. A mine scale registers only in
hundred pounds.

The representation plan, say the officials, has made
no difference in the intention of the company to give
the miners full credit for their coal. One paragraph
in the plan reinforces the state law guaranteeing the
right of the men to employ a check-weighman, and
promises him every facility in his work. For twenty-
five years it has been the wish of the management to
insure correct weights. By comparing railroad weights
(of coal shipped from a mine) with tipple weights (of
coal credited to the miners), company officials have

218

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

been able to check up the practice of a superintendent.
The only difference made by the representation plan,
they say, is that the company can now explain this
policy to the men and thus avoid suspicion.

Cleaning Up "Falls"
The cleaning up of falls of rock and slate without
pay, or with what seems to the miner inadequate com-
pensation, is a fruitful cause of dissatisfaction. Our
notes regarding one mine describe this discontent:

In my walk 1 met one of the representatives, black
with coal dust, and eating his lunch out of his dinner
pail. 1 sat down on a log for a chat with him. Pres-
ently 1 asked him how the Industrial Representation
Plan was operating in this mine. He jumped up.
"Not very damn good," he almost flared at me.
"The Rockefeller Plan is all right, and Mr. Rocke-
feller means what he says; but these officials around
here — they won't live up to it. They are killing it.
Come here and 1 will show you what 1 had to do for
nothing." He took me to his working place. He
showed me a huge pile of rock which he had thrown
on one side. He pointed to the roof. He and his
buddy had done a lot of timbering. They had not
only put up cross-bars, but they had "lagged" them,
because the roof was extremely bad, fragile, and full
of chunks of rock and slate.

" It took me and my buddy a day and a half to
clean this up and to timber the roof," complained
the representative. "It's damned hard work, and
they won't give us a cent for it." 1 asked whether
he had taken the matter up as a grievance with the
foreman. Yes, but he wouldn't allow anything for
the work. Did he go to the superintendent? Yes,
but he sustained the action of the foreman. They
even took it up with Mr. Matteson, the president's
chief industrial representative. " Matteson came
219

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

down here," explained the miner, "looked at this
dead work, but wouldn't allow us anything for it.
He said that it was our fault because we overcharged
our shots." This means that too much powder had
been used to explode the coal.

1 found two other men in this mine who had the
same grievance. 1 spent some time in analyzing it.
The roof is so bad that props must be set very close
to the face of the coal. When the powder is ignited,
the coal which is loosened frequently knocks the props
over. The result can be easily imagined. A weak
roof, plus the concussion resulting from explosion of
the powder, causes large quantities of rock, slate, and
other debris to fall on the roadway. This is technic-
ally called a "fall," and has to be cleaned by the
miners before they can proceed with their mining.

The management had taken the stand that the
men who had falls had overcharged their shots. The
miners, on the other hand, pointed out that they do
not determine the amount of powder which should be
used. They simply drill the hole in the solid coal.
They do not insert the powder in the working place;
the " shot-firer," the company official who enters the
mine after all the miners are gone, does that.^ If
the shot-firer overcharges, argue practical miners,
should the miner who finds a fall in his working place
the next morning clean it up for nothing?

The other representative at this mine was also dis-
satisfied. He was impersonal in his criticism. He
was a fire boss and his earnings were not, therefore,
aff"ected by falls. As a fire boss, he visits every work-

1 The general manager of the fuel department told us that the prac-
tice is to require that \]/2 pounds to a shot shall be the maximum.
The company constantly urges the shot firer to use discretion and to
use as little powder as is necessary. A digger always wants the maxi-
mum used in order to knock down the coal in good quantities. The
general manager did not think that the management had succeeded
well in controlling the tendency to use more powder than was nec-
essary. As to the cleaning up of falls, he said that there was no
rule. Payment depended upon circumstances.

220

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

ing place before the miners come to work. In a cer-
tain room, one morning, he noticed a fall. He had
heard of the discontent because of the falls, so he took
particular pains to examine this one. He determined
to ascertain whether the fall was due to the negli-
gence and incompetence of the miner, or to natural
and unavoidable conditions. After careful examina-
tion he decided that the fall was due to natural con-
ditions, and for this reason : He noticed that the cross-
bar was broken. Evidently when the shot was fired
on the previous afternoon a section of the roof became
loose, crashed on the cross-bar, and broke it. Then
the props which supported the cross-bar had been
knocked out. When this happened, rock and debris
from the roof fell in heaps on the roadway.

On this same day the representative overheard the
mine foreman telling the men that the company
would not pay for falls, that every miner was respon-
sible for his own working place from the face of the
coal to the nearest cross-cut; and that all falls oc-
curring in the area would have to be cleaned up by
the miners without extra pay.

When the representative heard this, he felt that it
was useless to take this grievance up with the local
foreman or superintendent. The miners talked about
striking immediately, but he persuaded them to wait
until Mr. Matteson could investigate the matter.

At the request of the representative, Mr. Matteson
came to the mine. After investigation and conference
he decided that when a fall was the fault of a miner,
the latter should clean it up for nothing; when it
was unavoidable, it should be settled on a fifty-fifty
basis. The company should pay the prevailing rate
of day wages for one-half of the time that it takes to
clean the fall up.

Having handed down this decision, Mr. Matteson
left. Next day the fire boss, as representative, took
up with local officials the claim of the miner in whose
place had occurred the unavoidable fall described

15 221

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

above. They refused to allow the miner anything
for the work he had done to clean it up. This, and
other events that occurred at the same time, incensed
the employes' representative. He did not even go
through the formality of sending in his resignation.
He immediately typed it and posted it on the bulletin
board in the lamp house, so that all the miners could
see it as they went to and from their work. The
other representative was also on the verge of re-
signing, but being a Mexican, he waited to learn
what the formal manner of resigning was. The
fire boss was an American from a middle western
town. He acted imimediately, in the most effective
manner he knew. In 1921, we were told by miners
at this camp that he had been finally persuaded to
continue in office.

In July, 19 1 7, a grievance over falls in the Coal
Creek mine was appealed by the employes' representa-
tives to the president. The work in this mine is very
defective. In this particular place where the grievance
arose, the roof was bad and it frequently caved in. The
men had to clean the fallen debris in order to be able
to mine the coal. It took time and hard work to clean
up the fall. They thought that they ought to be paid
for the work. Mr. Gilbert, the miners' representative,
defined the grievance as follows :

"The original grievance is this: We are in one
section of the mine where the places are in the habit
of caving in right along. . . . Mr. Beach knows
that we go so far, say nine or ten feet, and you will
have a cave-in. After we get that opened up and go a
little farther along, we will have another cave-in;
that has been the case here of late. . . . Then
we have a complaint to make also about the timbers
we are getting. They are soft and that has a great
deal to do with it. We are using these timbers and

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

are doing the best we can with them. . . . Any
man who is mining coal and cleaning up his rooms
knows that he has no place for his dirt when he has
a cave-in until he has cleaned up this cave-in, and the
men believe they should receive some compensation
for this work. That is the sum and substance of our
grievance now. . . ."

The president's industrial representative had been
called in by the miners. He said he had no authority
to allow payment for this dead work, but he instructed
the men to continue to work until the arrival of Mr.
Matteson, then assistant general manager of the com-
pany. Mr. Matteson visited the working places in
question and ordered them shut down. He took this
action because the United Mine Workers were threaten-
ing to call all of the employes out on strike two weeks
later. He felt that the miners from this camp would
respond to the call. It would be bad business to expend
money in cleaning up this caved-in place, because there
would be other falls after the mine was shut down —
falls which would be even more expensive to clean up.
The aggrieved miners were offered other places, but
refused to take them. They maintained that the places
offered were very difficult ones and that it was hard to
get men to work in them.

They wired to President Welborn that they were
dissatisfied with Mr. Matteson's decision. Mr. Wel-
born telegraphed Mr. Matteson to return to Coal Creek
and attempt to make a satisfactory adjustment. Mr.
Matteson and Mr. Griffiths returned. A meeting was
held by three representatives of the miners and three
of the company. The superintendent, in whose mine
the grievance occurred, was present. It was finally

223

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

decided that the men working in the place where the
cave-in occurred should take other places until the first
of the next month, when it would be known whether
the threatened strike would take place. If there should
be no strike, the men would return to their old rooms.
The men were to clean up the fall, and if they did not
earn at least "company wages" at the end of the month,
their pay was to be increased so that they could earn for
every day they worked the rate paid to company men.
Omitting the discussion which had to do with the
threatened strike, we may sum up the statement of the
principles of paying for falls in the following quotations
from the reports of the president's representatives. A
verbatim record was made of the discussion.^ One of
the employes' representatives, Mr. Gilbert, in regard
to cleaning up falls without pay, said:

" We think it is a bad rule and would like to have
it changed. 1 know in Coal Creek, where I have
worked, cleaning up to the face and opening the place
up for nothing; it has always been that way. 1 have
cleaned up lots of places; 1 have been running up
against it too darned often lately. Sometimes you
get a fall and it don't bother you very much; but
this is a different condition that we have now to con-
tend with."

Mr. Matteson stated that as an underlying principle
a miner should be paid for dead work, such as falls and
cave-ins when such accidents are beyond his control:

"... There are times when places may cave
in and the cause for such cave-in is absolutely un-
avoidable. I believe that the man should have com-

^ Minutes of meeting held at Rockvale, Colo., July 17, 1917, in the
matter of cleaning up rooms after cave-ins, and remuneration to be
received by the miner for such labor.

224

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

pensation when it is a case where he has no control
over the cave-in. 1 don't beheve in having any man
work for nothing. ... 1 beheve if a man goes
into a place and cleans it up and can't make com-
pany wages, the company should pay him enough
to make it regular company wages until he gets the
work cleaned up. Don't you think that is fair?"

Mr. Gilbert accepted this principle whole-heartedly:

"Yes, sir, that is absolutely fair. I believe if a
man takes care of his place and those things come, he
should be paid for his work in cleaning it up, but if
he is careless and don't take care of his place, he
should not be paid for it."

Reluctance to establish a permanent principle that
should govern all circumstances was indicated by Mr.
Matteson:

" 1 don't think that we would be justified, without
further consideration, in creating a new condition
altogether. I think that both sides ought to have a
little more time to study the situation and conditions
if we were to make a rule that would cover for the
future for this work."

Mr. Matteson then asked the miners' representatives
for their advice. One of them, Mr. ScoUick, replied that
if the case were not settled they would " have to take
the matter up higher." Mr. Matteson finally proposed
that the men involved in this dispute take other places
until it should be known whether the strike would occur.
Then the men would go back to their old working places
and would be paid day wages for cleaning up if they did
not earn as much on a piece basis from the coal they
mined. This decision was satisfactory to the miners'
representatives and was accepted by the miners in-
volved.

225

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Clearly this is the kind of question which should be
satisfactorily settled through a representation plan if it
functions with the full co-operation of both officials and
wage-earners. Agreement on general principles can
first be secured. Then, as no two falls are exactly alike,
the carrying out of the principle in compensating a
miner for his work can be the joint responsibility of
mine foreman and employes' representatives.

That this question remained unsettled in Colorado in
1920 and 1921 was made plain to us in the records of
grievances and in our talks with miners. One of these
instances had occurred at Coal Creek, where two and a
half years earlier the discussion just described had ap-
parently resulted in an agreement on the general prin-
ciple, although the president's chief industrial repre-
sentative was unwilling to establish it as a precedent.

In January, 1920, the working places of four miners
caved in. They requested day wages for the time they
worked in cleaning up the fall. Both foreman and
superintendent refused, but offered instead to pay these
four men the average daily wage earned by the other
miners in that entry. The reason for doing this was the
fact that cars were "running slow" at the time, and it
was uncertain whether any miners would earn company
wages. The grievance was carried to the general man-
ager, who visited the mine and called a special meeting
of all the miners to consider the claim. ^ The four men
involved reiterated their grievance, contending that it
had been customary to pay company wages when a
place caved in and a miner could not earn as much as a
man on day work.

1 This is the mine referred to on page 84, where the men had elected
no representatives that year.

226

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

The mine foreman, on the other hand, stated that he
suspected that the men were trying "to gouge" the
company. They purposely wanted to work on the
cave-in, rather than to dig coal in some other part of
the mine, because they would not have to work so hard
and could earn the wages paid day men. The superin-
tendent offered to pay them the average daily wages
that would be earned by the other miners in the entry.

The men were angered by the statement made by the
mine foreman that they were attempting to gouge the
company. They quit. When we visited the mine we
found a great deal of dissatisfaction throughout the
camp as a result of this incident. The superintendent
showed the payroll for the men in that entry, and de-
monstrated that if the men had accepted his proposition
that they be paid the average wages earned there, they
would have received more than the wage paid to day
men. The car shortage had been temporary, and the
other men had earned high wages that month. The fact,
however, remains that dissatisfaction arose because
the men felt that the management had violated an
unwritten precedent — that at least company wages
be paid in case of cave-ins — and because they re-
sented the charge made by the foreman that they were
attempting "to gouge" the company.^

' In the discussion of the report with the company officials in 192 1,
the genera! manager of the fuel department said that he did not
remember this incident clearly, but that he thought that the con-
troversy was not so much over the rate to be paid as over the chance
to clean up the fall. The fail had occurred in connection with long
wall mining, in which the air is carried along the working face and a
cave-in would cause an accumulation of gas. Only miners qualified
to handle the lamp for testing the gas should be allowed to do this
work. Neither the miners nor the superintendent mentioned this
fact to us in this connection. In their minds the issue was the amount
of compensation.

227

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Rock

Both of the employes' representatives in another
mine told us that they would never again be candidates
for re-election. They were discouraged because the
management would not establish a satisfactory price
for handling rock which appeared in the coal. "This
grievance has been a bone of contention ever since the
first meeting held in Denver to discuss the representa-
tion plan," said one of the representatives. "Mr.
Weitzel and the management have taken the stand that
the miners ought not to ask to be paid for the rock be-
cause they earn fair wages for their digging. If 1 should
bring a grievance of this kind to the superintendent
(that a man handled so much rock during the month),
he would consult the books. If he should find that the
miner has earned average wages that month, he would
say that he isn't entitled to extra pay. The fact of the
matter is that this miner has to do much extra digging to
get out his 'tonnage' in addition to handling the rock."

"At one time 1 resigned," continued this representa-
tive, "because this rock question was not satisfactorily
adjusted. An Italian and a Greek were elected repre-
sentatives. To show how unfair the management was —
these two men were called to a meeting and persuaded
to agree to a scale of payment for rock over i8 inches in
thickness. These two men worked in places in which
this scale would not affect them. The matter, more-
over, was never referred to the miners of this camp for
endorsement and the miners do not consider that they
have a scale for rock. The management, on the other
hand, points to the fact that the two representatives
agreed to the scale described."

228

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

In speaking of the subject to us again in 1921, an
employes' representative said: "We never accepted
the scale— neither the miners nor the representatives.
We weren't asked to agree to it. The company always
sets the rates."

In the course of our inquiry this question was fully
discussed with the officials of the company. It was
pointed out to us that rock in the coal is not always a
disadvantage. Sometimes a seam of rock at the bottom
enables a man to load more coal and hence earn better
wages. For this reason the superintendent, in dealing
with requests for extra payment for rock, looks over
the payroll to see what the miner making the request
has earned in order to discover whether the rock has
really caused him trouble. Comparison is made with
his own previous earning capacity, and not with the
wages of others. The rock is so irregular in some mines
that a scale of payment would be impossible. Hence
payment for dead work has to be an agreement on the
spot, between the miner and the superintendent.

We asked whether the employes' representatives
had any responsibility for these adjustments or were
called into conference by miners or superintendents.
We were told that at Coal Creek the representatives at
one time went about with the foreman on "measuring
day," when he decides on the extra pay for the miners.
Subsequently, we found this plan being followed at
Emerald mine — a new addition to the property of the
company in Fremont County, which includes also Coal
Creek, Rockvale, and Fremont mines. The manager
of the fuel department said that, having read investi-
gators' reports, he believed that it should be made a
regular practice to have the representatives accompany

229

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

the foreman on measuring day. By 1921 a scale of pay-
ment had been worked out for rock that varied with the
thickness of the rock in inches. This was done at a
meeting of the Joint Committee on Industrial Co-
operation and Conciliation held at Rockvale on Janu-
ary 7, 1 92 1, the report of which was signed jointly by
an employes' representative and a representative of
management.

These and other similar adjustments in compensation
required by changing conditions day by day in a mine
naturally become grievances which the representation
plan was designed to remove. We have found that
action of the employes' representatives has been chiefly
confined to bringing these complaints to the attention
of officials. The decision in each instance has been
made by the officials. As one of the representatives,
whose loyalty to the company and to the representation
plan has never been questioned, expressed it:

"When a man has a grievance, — the little things
that happen every day, — he tells it to the representa-
tive; but there is never any agreement on general
questions between the men and the company. We
complain about such things as the scale for rock in
the seam of coal, but the company decides what rate
to set. They don't ask the miners nor the repre-
sentatives to agree to it."

Moreover, these decisions about compensation for
special work must necessarily be made with the wage
rate per ton or per day as the basis. The rate for cross-
bars, for instance, was determined by measuring the
number of minutes taken to set one up, and then find-
ing out the wage for that time at the rate paid company
men by the day. The real test of the effectiveness of

230

GRIEVANCES OVER COMPENSATION

the workers' share in wage decisions is their partici-
pation in determining the basic rates per ton or per
day. How these rates have been determined in the
mines of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company will be
described in the following chapter.

231

CHAPTER XII
WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

THE two conditions of employment recognized by
all wage-earners as most vital to them are their
earnings and the continuity and security of their
jobs. Has the Industrial Representation Plan, in theory
and in practice, given assurance to coal miners that
these two fundamental interests will be safeguarded?

Wages in the Plan
In the plan itself wages are specifically mentioned
only once in a paragraph requiring that "The scale of
wages and the rules in regard to working conditions
shall be posted in a conspicuous place at or near every
mine."i The representatives are elected to act "on
behalf" of their fellow-employes "with respect to mat-
ters pertaining to their employment, working and living
conditions, the adjustment of differences, and such
other matters of mutual concern and interest as rela-
tions within the industry may determine;"^ this word-
ing could correctly be interpreted as including wage
rates, but the words "wages," "rates of pay," or "earn-
ings," are not mentioned. Similarly the statements of
subjects to be discussed at conferences or to be con-
sidered by committees do not specify wages. The

^ Industrial Representation Plan and Memorandum of Agreement
applicable to the mining camps of the Colorado Fuel and iron Com-
pany. See Appendix A, page 408.

^ ibid. See Appendix A, page 401.
232

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

phrase closest to wages occurs in the definition of sub-
jects "for consideration" by the Joint Committee on
Industrial Co-operation and Conciliation, which in-
cludes "terms and conditions of employment."^ In the
"memorandum of agreement" which was adopted with
the plan in October, 191 5, appear these two paragraphs,
jollowing a guarantee of semi-monthly payment of wages :

"Wage Schedule and Working Conditions. —

"No change affecting conditions of employment
with respect to wages or hours shall be made without
first giving thirty days' notice, as provided by statute.
" The schedule of wages and the working conditions
now in force in the several districts shall continue
without reduction, but if, prior to January i, 1918,
a general increase shall be granted in competitive
districts in which the Company does not conduct
operations, a proportional increase shall be made.
For this purpose a joint meeting of the miners' repre-
sentatives and proper officers of the Company shall
be called within thirty days after the increase in
competitive districts is effective to discuss and de-
termine an equitable method for fixing the new scale
in the districts affected. "^

In the introductory paragraph of this agreement it
was stated that "the following stipulations respecting
employment, living and working conditions shall govern
the parties hereto from the date of their signatures
hereon until January i, 1918, and shall continue there-
after subject to revision upon ninety days' notice by
either of the parties."^

We have quoted this from a copy of the plan "re-

1 Ibid. See Appendix A, page 406. See also footnote, page 64, ex-
plaining the change in the name of this committee in 1922 to include
"wages."

2 Ibid. See Appendix A, page 416.
^ ibid. See Appendix A, page 415.

233

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

printed March 15, 1918," so that presumably we are to
regard this statement in the memorandum of agreement
as extended beyond January i, 1918, and under it we
may assume that the company promises not to change
wages or hours without thirty days' notice, and accepts
as a general working principle the rates in competitive
districts as its guide in determining increases. These
two main provisions regarding wages — competitors'
rates and thirty days' notice of changes — are to stand
unless ninety days' notice of revision be given "by
either of the parties."

As to continuity and security in employment, safe-
guards against discharge are defined (as already fully
discussed in previous chapters), but, "Nothing herein
shall abridge the right of the company to relieve em-
ployes from duty because of lack of work. Where relief
from duty through lack of work becomes necessary,
men with families shall, all things being equal, be given
preference."^

Besides these specific references to wages and con-
tinuity of employment, the whole plan should be kept
in mind for its bearing on the earnings of the men.
The practice of representation in its relation to wage
rates can be tested, in part, by analyzing the experience
of six years of employes' representation in the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company. The point of special interest
to discover is the share of employes' representatives in
the task of determining rates.

Setting Wage Rates
"The company never raises wages until they are
raised in the eastern mines," said a representative in

^ Ibid. See Appendix A, page"4o8.
234

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

one mine in February, 1921, expressing in his tone a
criticism of the company for never, itself, taking the
initiative. "The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company is
always the first company in the state to raise wages,"
we were told in another mine a week earlier, and as
illustration we were informed of the increase for day
laborers in the summer of 1920, which was decided
jointly by the United Mine Workers and the operators
in the Central Competitive Field, covering certain
states in the Middle West. This miner was praising the
company as the first in Colorado to apply to its mines
the increase accepted by its competitors in other states.
The incident itself signifies more than he expressed,
and the procedure will be discussed later in this chapter.
The point here is that these two men differed in their
reaction to the method of determining wages, but both
agreed on the basic fact that, however promptly an
increase may have been put into efi^ect, the stimulus for
it had come from outside the company and the determi-
nation of rates was made in conferences in which the
company took no part.

We have pointed out that the "trade agreement,"^
adopted with the plan for representation, declared that
rates then in force would continue for a definite period,
and that any increases secured in the mines of com-
petitive companies would be granted by the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company. Thus, the declared policy
of the determination of wages was, at that time, the
acceptance of competitors' wage rates as a guide.

1 See page 70 ff.

235

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Wage Increases Since 191 5
According to the figures given us by the company
early in 1921, wages had been increased five times since
the plan had been introduced. These increases were
made effective in September, 1916, in May, 1917, in
November, 1917, in December, 1919, and in April,
1920. The Fuel Administration was organized on
August 23, 1917, and terminated its work on June 30,
1919.^ Therefore, the only increase in the Colorado
mines which took place during the life of the Fuel Ad-
ministration was that of November, 1917.

The procedure in determining this increase is de-
scribed in the report of the Fuel Administration. When
the administration was organized, conferences were
being held by representatives of the operators and
miners in Indianapolis to consider increases in wages.
At the request of the Fuel Administrator, Dr. Garfield,
their meeting was adjourned and finally reconvened
with his consent in Washington, D. C, in October, 191 7.
An agreement was reached providing for an increase of
10 cents a ton for miners, ^i .40 a day for day men, and
1 5 per cent greater compensation for dead work. The
agreement was between the operators and the United
Mine Workers and was to be made effective when the
President of the United States should permit an increase
in the selling price of coal. President Wilson on October
27, 19 1 7, issued an order permitting an increase in
selling price, and requiring, as conditions for this per-
mission, an increase of wages as provided in the agree-
ment between miners and operators, coupled with a

1 United States Fuel Administration, Final Report, pp. 9 and 10.
Government, Washington, 1921.

236

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

fine to be imposed upon the miners if they should
strike.^

The Fuel Administration was careful to point out
that "the government did not negotiate the wage in-
crease." In a form letter signed by the Fuel Adminis-
trator, to be sent to inquirers, this statement appears:

" It should be borne in mind that the government
did not negotiate the wage increase. The wage in-
crease was negotiated by the miners' and operators'
representatives of the Central Competitive Field,
and was adopted by all of the organized districts
under the jurisdiction of the United Mine Workers
of America. The United States government, how-
ever, approved of this wage increase by giving to
the operators the right to increase the selling price of
coal 45 cents per ton in order that the wage increase
provided for by the Washington joint agreement
could be absorbed. The notice of the United States
Fuel Administrator of October 27 extended this wage
increase to those miners and mine laborers who were
not organized into associations or groups, and the
employers employing such class of labor were privi-
leged to charge the 45 cents per ton increase in the
selling price of coal, providing they put into effect,
substantially, the wage increase set forth in the Wash-
ington agreement and the penalty clause [against
striking] as outlined in the United States Fuel Ad-
ministrator's notice."^

The increase of December, 1919, was granted miners
by the President's Bituminous Coal Commission. Fol-
lowing a strike in November, 1919 (which will be de-
scribed in Chapter XIV), officials of the United Mine
Workers agreed, in December, 19 19, that their con-
stituents would return to work with a temporary in-
crease of 14 per cent and with the promise of a thorough

^ Ibid., pp. 209, 210. Ibid., p. 215.

16 237

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

investigation by a commission to be appointed by the
President of the United States. This was put into effect
by operators and work was resumed. The Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company immediately posted notices
that the rates of its miners would be increased 14 per
cent. The President's Bituminous Coal Commission
handed down its award in the following spring, granting
a further increase of 13 per cent, to take effect April i,
1920. The management of the company immediately
called together the miners' representatives and pre-
sented to them a new wage scale, based on the 13 per
cent increase. The representatives accepted the new
scale. ^

Thus, these three increases of November, 19 17, De-
cember, 1919, and April, 1920, were sponsored by the
federal government. The others already noted, how-
ever, for September, 1916, and May, 19 17, corresponded
to increases secured as the result of negotiations be-
tween the United Mine Workers and the operators in
the Central Competitive Field. The federal govern-
ment had no part in them.^ Similarly, in the summer of

1 In applying the new rates the company increased them by four
cents a ton in the low seam mines. The officials told us that the
awards of the commission gave an increase to the digger proportionate
to the increase for company men only in those mines in which the
average production per man per day was seven or eight tons. In the
low seam mines, which have a lower average production, the digger
would not fare so well, and therefore the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company made the rate higher there.

- Regarding increase in 19 16, see Joint Conference of Coal Operators
and Coal Miners of the Central Competitive Field, Western Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois held in Mobile, Alabama, Feb-
ruary 8, 1916, and New York, February 24, 1916, p. 494ff., agreement
signed in New York, March 9, 1916. Regarding increase in igij, see
Proceedings of Formal Interstate Joint Conference; Coal Operators
and Coal Miners of Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois,
(held in) New York, April 12-17, '9'7. P- '49ff-; agreement for
increase in wages signed April 17, 1917.

238

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

1920, an increase of ^1.50 a day to company men re-
sulted from negotiations between the United Mine
Workers and the operators of the Central Competitive
Field, in order to allay the discontent of the "day men"
with the increase granted by the Bituminous Coal Com-
mission, which they considered insufficient.

We were told by officials of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company that, when the increase of $1.50 a day
was granted in the East, they proposed to increase the
rates in Colorado by ^1.25 a day. This was because
the basic rate established in the past for company men
had been 25 cents higher in Colorado than in the East,
due to the higher cost of living in the West. This dif-
ference, the company officials believed, no longer ex-
isted, and they therefore proposed an increase of ^1.25
instead of ^1.50 in order to eliminate the previous
excess in the Colorado rate.

Meetings of employes' representatives were called
by the company in the Trinidad and Walsenburg dis-
tricts, and the representatives voted unanimously for
the proposal of the officials. In Fremont County a
mass meeting was called of all the day laborers in the
mines, and not one voted against limiting the in-
crease to ^1.25. Later, however, other operators in
Colorado — including the Victor-American Fuel Com-
pany, which had a contract with the union — put into
effect the higher increase granted in the East, and offi-
cials of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company then
accepted the same rate.

" We must increase our wages," testified the general
manager of the fuel department of the company, before
a sub-committee of the Committee on Interstate Com-
merce of the United States Senate on February 24,

239

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

1920,* "as they are increased at the union-operated
mines."

This record of experience in increasing wages showed
that in determining wages, since the introduction of
employes' representation, the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company had invariably accepted the results of agree-
ments made by other companies with the union. This
suggested an important question : Does a representation
plan, which is limited to employes of one company, give
its men a voice in determining wages?

The representatives in past practice had merely dis-
cussed the application to Colorado of rates agreed upon
by operators and the miners' trade union in other states.
We found this idea clear in the minds of the men em-
ployed in the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. "One
thing that goes against my grain," stated a miners'
representative who was friendly to the representation
plan, "is the fact that the real benefits come to us as a
result of the activities of the United Mine Workers. The
recent increases in wages were secured by us because
of the stand taken by the union. Had it not been for
them, no doubt we who work for the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company would never have received the increase."

Another miners' representative, a Welshman, who
spoke in picturesque language, thought that the repre-
sentation plan was as yet in its "babyhood." He said,
"So far we have been and are yet under the protection
of the United Mine Workers. They fight our battles.
They make the sacrifices and we reap the harvest.
They are the ones who sweat and we eat. The Biblical

' Increased Price of Coal. Hearings before a sub-committee of the
Committee on Interstate Commerce, U. S. Senate, Res. 126, p. 834.
Government, Washington, 1920.

240

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

proverb that ' Thou shalt eat thy bread by the sweat of
thy brow' is turned around here. The union miners in
other parts of the country sweat and we eat the bread,
Where would we have been about the important things
for the miners, such as wages and the eight-hour day,^
if it hadn't been for the United Mine Workers?"

A significant incident occurred at one of the mines
during the first few days of the coal strike which began
on November i, 1919. It was told to us later by young
Jones, about twenty-two years old. He was a typically
frank young American. " 1 didn't want to work through
the last strike," explained Jones, "but 1 had just come

1 A company official commented on this statement with the remark
that the United Mine Workers had nothing to do with the adoption of
the eight-hour day by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. It was
established about February, 191 3, in advance of the enactment of the
Colorado eight-hour law for miners, and before the strike. Other
operators, they said, had opposed the law, but the "C. F. and I."
always maintained that they could get as much output in eight hours
as in ten, and this was proved true after the eight-hour day was
inaugurated.

We do not believe, however, that it is accurate to say that the
Colorado Fuel and iron Company was not influenced by the agitation
for the eight-hour law in which the miners' union officials were leaders.
We made inquiry regarding the history of the law, and although, with
the lapse of time, information was difficult to secure, it seemed clear
that the law passed in 1913 was not the first introduced into the
Colorado legislature. One of the present employes' representatives,
who had been a member of the state legislature, gave us an account
which was corroborated by others. Indeed, the company official just
quoted at the beginning of this footnote was present in our conference
with him, as were several miners, and no one disputed the facts. An
eight-hour bill was introduced into the legislature in 191 1. Through
the efforts of coal operators it was made the subject of a referendum
vote. In the same election a poorly drawn bill was introduced by the
initiative. Both bills became laws and a new bill was necessary to
repeal these and establish the eight-hour day. Thus, the agitation for
eight hours in the mines was certainly an active issue as early as 191 1 .
The men in this group said that the Colorado Fuel and Iron Com-
pany did not oppose the law. It was in 1913 that the company vol-
untarily established the eight-hour day. It is reasonable to suppose
that they were influenced in part, at least, by the interest of the union
in the proposed legislation.

241

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

back from the Navy and 1 was broke. I had to work.
The 'super' asked me to dig coal. So I did. With me
worked Ed Smith. He, too, had just come back from
the Navy and he was broke. One day as Ed and 1 were
coming up the tipple someone told us that the govern-
ment had just granted the miners the 14 per cent in-
crease and that probably more would come after the
coal commission had finished its investigation. Then
Ed said to me, 'We are scabbing on these men while
they are sacrificing themselves for us and fighting our
battles.' That night he took 10 Mexican miners with
him to Walsenburg, and they all joined the union!"

Following the granting of the increase of 14 per cent
in December, 19 19, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Com-
pany in February, 1920, sent the general manager of
the fuel department to testify before the sub-committee
of the United States Senate Committee on Interstate
Commerce. The committee had asked for Mr. Weitzel's
testimony because he had written them a letter calling
attention to the many inaccuracies of statements made
in public discussion about the earnings of the miners
as inadequate for an American standard of living. The
gist of his testimony was that "our miners did not need
the increase of 14 per cent in order to live up to Ameri-
can standards." He explained that "we have an agree-
ment with our miners that we will advance wages as
they are advanced in our competitive districts, and we
have as a competitive district the southwest, and the
competitive mines, working under union agreement,
next door to our mines. We must increase our wages
as they are increased at the union-operated mines. "^

1 As to the present difficulties of increasing wages, Mr. Weitzel's
testimony was as follows (Increased Price of Coal. Hearings before

242

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

Searching always for the share of the employes'
representatives in employment policies of the company,
we asked whether employes had been consulted to
get their views as to the adequacy of their earnings to
maintain "the American standard." Had they been
asked, for instance, how much it was then costing them
to live? We were told by Mr. Weitzel that at the next
district conference, after giving his testimony, he had
explained this testimony to the representatives, telling
them that the company did not object to their pur-
chasing automobiles, but that it thought that the pur-
chases of the cars showed that the wages paid by the
company were not inadequate. He had never thought,
he told us, of consulting the representatives in advance
of his testimony on the cost of miners' living.

a sub-committee of the Committee on Interstate Commerce, U. S.

Senate, Res. 126, p. 828.):

We are here to show that with the 14 per cent increase granted
the miners in December, we cannot sell our coal at the present price
without very great loss, and we are also here to show that our
miners did not need the increase of 14 per cent in order to live up
to American standards, and I want to offer some proofs on that.

* * *

The Chairman: What are the wages you pay in your coal operat-
ing branch every year to the 4,800 employes?

Mr. Weitzel: When 1 speak of 4,800 employes, that means the
total number of employes on the payroll at the period of the year
when we were operating full. It does not mean the average number
of men who are at work.

The Chairman : What is the average number of men who were at
work?

Mr. Weitzel: Out of the 2,000 miners that we usually have, our
average number of men at work last year was 1,790 miners.

* * *

There are practically no coal miners who worked every day that
the mine works, and there are a great many who lose a great many
days. Out of an average of 1790 men at work, we have selected the
best men — 632 miners, who averaged $1,877.69 for the year. That
is about 35 per cent of the number.

* * *

1 want to say, in regard to our coal miners being able to live in
243

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

When we discussed the incident with company offi-
cials in 1 92 1, we told them what we had observed as to
the effect of this testimony upon their employes. We
had been in the mines in the spring of 1920, after Mr.
Weitzel's statements in Washington had appeared in the
Colorado papers. Miners declared to us that, accord-
ing to Mr. Weitzel's own words, only a small percentage
—about one-third— earned the average wage (^1,877.69)
per year quoted by him. The other two-thirds earned
less. In the second place, 246 automobiles purchased by
4,800 employes in 1919 is not, after all, so very high a
percentage, but only one in about every 20 employes.
The chief cause of their resentment, however, as they
expressed it to us, was that this testimony showed the
miners that if it had not been for the United Mine
Workers, they would not have received any increases at

accordance with American standards, that we believe the pur-
chase of automobiles by mine employes would indicate to some
extent, at least, whether they were able to live up to American
standards. I have a statement here which shows that, prior to

1919, the employes of our mines had purchased 218 automobiles,
at an estimated cost of $181,850. During 1919, the period in which
it was claimed the miners were suffering, they purchased 246 auto-
mobiles at an estimated cost of $245,600. Beginning with January,

1920, when they first began to realize the benefits of the 14 per cent
increase, up to February 14, the first six weeks of this year, they
purchased 75 automobiles, at an estimated cost of $92,900.

Senator Elkins: These are miners?

Mr. Weitzel: The coal mine employes, drivers, tipplemen,
miners, etc. Prior to 1919, of the cars owned by our m'ine em-
ployes, 58 per cent were Fords. During 1919 they purchased 45 per
cent Fords, and during the first six weeks of 1920 the Ford repre-
sented 27 per cent of the cars purchased.
* * *

I have not finished my statement about the conditions of the
miners. I wish to add to the statement made in regard to the auto-
mobiles that our stores, known as the Colorado Supply Company,
had a practice for years of taking care of our employes' money by
issuing demand notes, interest-bearing notes, where they wished
them, and the day [ left Denver we had, in our stores, in these notes
at the mines, $360,000. (Ibid., pp. 855-857.)

244

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

all during 1919— a period during which the cost of living
was also reaching a higher plane. " Weitzel let the cat
out of the bag," said one of them. " He tells the Senate
Committee that we did not need the 14 per cent raise.
That just shows how much protection the Industrial
Representation Plan would afford us if the United Mine
Workers were not on the job."

Company officials with whom we talked in 1920 con-
firmed the statement that they followed the union agree-
ments in wage increases. " But," explained a prominent
executive, "we are a very small producer compared with
the great coal companies of Illinois and the other bi-
tuminous states. They establish the price for coal, and
we, therefore, cannot pay higher wages. We could not
find a market if it cost us more to mine our coal, and if,
consequently, we had to sell it at a higher price. We
are ourselves at the mercy of our competitors. If we
try to sell higher than they, we would lose our cus-
tomers, and if we tried to pay lower wages than they,
we would lose our employes."

In our discussion with officials in 1921 we found that
they themselves differed as to the possibility of inde-
pendent agreements on wages between the company
and its own employes. One oificer believed that they
must accept the rates paid by their competitors. An-
other believed that wage adjustments could be made
under the plan, independent of a national standard.

Wages in 1920
The discussion in this chapter has related entirely to
the method of determining wages and the share of wage-
earners in their determination. We have not considered
whether the wages were adequate or inadequate. We

245

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

did not make a study of wages or the cost of living.
In 1920 we found very little evidence of discontent
about rates of wages. They were, as we have seen,
equal to the prevailing rates in competing mines. We
found, of course, plenty of complaints of the high cost
of living. Fortunately, however, the year 1920 was a
period of industrial activity and comparatively little
unemployment, and this fact would account for greater
contentment with the wage scale. The greater regu-
larity of employment was due apparently to a more
stable demand.^ The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
uses about one-third or more of its coal for coke in its
own steel works in Pueblo. Another third, approxi-
mately, is sold to railroads and for other commercial
use. The remaining third is sold for household use. In
normal times, consequently, the management is assured
a steady market for about two-thirds of its total pro-
duction of between three and four million tons in a year.
Another advantage which this company has over others
is that it is entirely self-sufficient. It has its own timber
lands, which furnishes the props, bars, and ties and
other lumber necessary for coal mining. It also makes,
in its own steel works, mine cars, spikes, and rails.
Thus, probably, there is less stoppage of work in the
Colorado Fuel and Iron mines because of the lack of
these necessary supplies than in many other mines in the
country.

By 192 1 the industrial depression was having its

1 The regularity is impressive because other mines are so excessively
irregular. Even in the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company the average
days of operation of the mines in each month in the year ending Sep-
tember 30, 1919, was 22.6, according to the figures furnished us by
the company Thus "steady work" means really "comparatively
steady ^work," not actual full time.

246

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

effect and we found miners anxious about unemploy-
ment and the possibility of a wage cut. In January,
the wages had been reduced in the Minnequa Steel
Works. The miners wondered whether their wages,
too, would be affected. "Who's tying up the country?"
said one employes' representative in a mine which was
idle on the day of our visit. His question reflected the
vague groping for causes — for somebody who can be
held responsible — and the uncertainty which wage-
earners face in not knowing from day to day whether
they will have a chance to work and to earn.

Wage Reductions in 192 i

In the autumn of 1921 the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company reduced wages to the scale which had been in
effect between November i, 19 17, and November 30,
1 9 19. This meant the elimination of the two increases
of 14 per cent and 13 per cent which had been granted
in the award of the President's Bituminous Coal Com-
mission.^ It wiped out, also, the increase of ^1.50 a
day given to company men in the summer of 1920.2

We were not in Colorado when this wage reduction
was made, and we have made no first-hand investiga-
tion of its circumstances. The report of the Colorado
Industrial Commission, published by the company in
its Industrial Bulletin for November 14, 1921, is the

1 The award of the President's Bituminous Coal Commission had
provided for continuance of the wages specified until April i, 1922.
The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company held that it was not a party
to the commission's investigation and was, therefore, not bound by its
award. Nevertheless, the company had immediately accepted the
rates when the commission announced them, and it does not appear
that at that time the company had stated that it did not also accept
the period of time named in the award.

^ In the Denver Post of November 14, 192 1, appeared a statement
247

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

basis for our analysis of the way in which the represen-
tation plan functioned in this, the first wage reduction
since the introduction of the plan and the first change
in wages in that period which had not first been made by
competing companies in agreement with the union.

These are the facts in chronological order: On
August 31, 1921, following the signing by employes of
petitions for reductions in wages, the company posted
notices at Walsen, Robinson No. i and No. 2, and Ideal
mines in Huerfano County, and at Berwind, Tabasco,
Tollerburg, Primero, Frederick, Sopris, and Morley
mines in Las Animas County, declaring that on Sep-
tember I, 1 92 1, wages at these mines would be reduced
to the scale which had been in effect during the two
years ending November 30, 19 19. Immediately the

by the general counsel for the company which contained a tabular

listing of the new rates:

"The following table shows the wage scale of the C. F. & I. in
the Walsenburg District, Nov. i, 191 5, the Nov. 1, 1917, scale,
which is to be re-established, and the present scale:

Nov. 1, 1917

Nov. 1,
1915

(to be re-estab-
lished Sept. I,
1921)

Present

Diggers

$0.60

^0.83

$1.07

Drivers

3.10

5-25

7-75

Trackmen, etc.

315

5.30

7.80

Pumpers

2.75

4.10

7.65

Engineers

2.50

4.60

7-75

Blacksmiths

3.50

5-15

8.17

Carpenters

3.50

5'5

8.17

Tipplemen

2.05

4.15

7.12

Laborers

2.0S

4.15

6.6s

" Wage figures for drivers are the minimum, the maximum being

15 cents a day higher. Diggers are paid on a tonnage basis, the

company men being paid on the basis of an eight-hour day."

Thus diggers were to receive 24 cents less a ton, drivers $2.50 less a

day, pumpers $3.55 less, engineers $3.15 less, and laborers a cut of

J2.50 a day.

248

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

men struck. "At said mines," says the Industrial Com-
mission in its report/ "except Primero and Berwindr
but including Kebler, after the putting into effect of
said 1918 wage scale [on September i, 192 1], meetings
of the employes were held and conducted by members
and officers of the United Mine Workers of America,
and other means used whereby great numbers of the
employes at said mines (and at some mines a majority
of the employes) failed or refused to continue at work
for said company at said 1918 wage scale. . . ."
Thereupon the Industrial Commission took cognizance
of the dispute, began investigation, and on September
10, 1 92 1, issued a temporary order requiring the restor-
ation of the former wage scale of the company, pending
decision by the commission. The employes then re-
turned to work.

This action of the commission was taken in accord-
ance with the law creating it. The law was passed in
the spring of 191 5. It requires that no change in wages
or hours shall be made without thirty days' notice to
the commission. If a "dispute" — a strike or lockout —
results from the change, or the proposal of it, the com-
mission has power to order the former conditions re-
stored until an investigation can be made and a decision
rendered. Thus the occasion for the interference of the
commission in the affairs of the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company was that, following the notice of reduction
in wages, a " dispute " arose, or, in the words of the com-
mission, "Great numbers of the employes at said mines
(and at some mines a majority of the employes) failed

^Industrial Bulletin, November 14, 1921, p. 3. — Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company.

^ These two mines had been closed down since August 23.
249

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

or refused to continue at work for said company at said
19 18 wage scale. "^

The point at issue for the commission to consider,
according to its own interpretation, was not whether
the wage proposed was reasonable or unreasonable,
but whether the change had been made by mutual
agreement between employer and employe. "The
controversy in this case," said the commission, "arose
over the question as to whether or not there was an
agreement between said employer and said employes
as to wages." The commission would not interfere in
such an agreement: "This commission has heretofore
always recognized agreements as to wages entered into
between employers and employes, and does not believe
that it has authority to disregard such agreements
unless the wage agreed upon be so excessively high as to
injure the public generally, or so excessively low that
the injury thereby accruing to the employes becomes
of public interest."

Moreover: "This commission has always recognized
organizations of employes, whether unions or otherwise,
so long as such organizations provide for a reasonably
fair representation of such employes." Thus the ques-
tion which the commission undertook to decide was
whether this reduction in wages was the result of an
agreement between the company and its employes and,
by implication, whether the Industrial Representation
Plan had provided "a reasonably fair representation
of such employes." The findings of the commission,
therefore, related primarily to the procedure followed

' Ibid., p. 8. The subsequent references to the report of the com-
mission are all taken from the Industrial Bulletin of the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company, November 14, 192 1.

250

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

before the notice to reduce wages was posted by the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. A separate report
was made by the commission on each mine. These we
have summarized in the following paragraphs:

1. Kebler No. 2, in Huerfano County, had been
shut down since the latter part of July because of
lack of orders. During the latter part of August a
meeting was held of the men "still remaining in said
camp." Who called the meeting is not stated. A
majority voted to accept the 1 9 1 8 wage scale. There-
upon the company was able to obtain a "substantial
contract" for the coal of this mine "at a reduced
price," and on August 24, 1 92 1 , the mine reopened " on
said 1918 scale of wages" and 24 men ("all the men
attending said meeting") went to work. The num-
ber increased to 84 by September i.^ "There was a
meeting at said camp on the night of September i,
1921, at which the men were evidently advised not to
work at said wage scale, with the result that on Sep-
tember 2 only 10 men worked, this number in-
creasing until, on September 10, 66 men were working
at said mine." Who called the meeting or who ad-
vised the men not to work is not stated by the com-
mission.

2. Walsen and Robinson Nos. i and 2 are con-
sidered as one mine, because they are close together
and one superintendent is responsible for the three.
" During the latter part of August, 1921, the superin-
tendent circulated and caused to be circulated among
the employes of said mine petitions wherein the em-
ployes agreed that the said employer might reduce the
wages of said employes ... to the 19 18 wage
scale." The petition was signed by 380. The aver-
age number working in the ten days prior to Septem-

' According to data given us by the company on February 8, 1921,
the total number on the payroll of Kebler No. 2 in December, 1920,
was 1 17. The "average men working per day" numbered 86.

251

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

ber I was 417.* "The representatives of said men,
elected under the industrial {Representation Plan
of said company, checked the said petition with the
payroll of said company, and finding that a large
majority of the employes of said company had agreed
therein that their wages be reduced to the 1918 wage
scale, signed said representatives' resolution." (" Said
representatives' resolution" is not quoted in the re-
port of the commission, and only by inference do we
know how it was initiated.) Members of the union
became active at this mine "commencing September
I," said the commission, and "only about 50 per cent
of the usual number of employes appeared for work
September i, and the number of men reporting for
work rapidly decreased, especially as to miners, until
said mine was practically closed down for lack of
workmen."

"The superintendent at this mine," writes the
commission, "was very active in the circulation of
the petition for such wage reduction, and his activities
created some criticism. There was testimony intro-
duced attempting to show coercion or intimidation on
the part of the superintendent in his zeal to procure
signatures to the petition. Several employes who
signed the petition, when put on the stand, naturally
stated that they did not want a reduction in wages,
and for different reasons a considerable number of
the employes who signed the petition and who
started to work on the first day of September evi-
dently decided that a reduction in wages was not
necessary and that they would not have to accept
same."

3. At Ideal mine the petition was circulated by
"several parties and a part of the time by the super-
intendent and the representatives of the men." They
secured seven signatures. The average number
working there in the latter part of August was 196.

1 In December, 1920, the average number working in these mines
was 505, and the total number on the payroll was 609.

252

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

While the petition was being circulated "a number
of the employes requested of the superintendent and
their representatives that a meeting be called that the
matter might be discussed." The meeting was held
in the auditorium of the Y.M.C.A. and a motion
made "that the employes sign the petition." It was
not put to vote. The decision, instead, was that
those in favor of the petition should sign it. How
many signed it at the meeting does not appear, but
the total number of signatures, "including those who
signed at the meeting and those who signed before
and after said meeting," was 172. The employes'
representatives "under Industrial Representation
Plan . . . after satisfying themselves that a
large majority of the men at said mine had signed
said petition, signed said representatives' resolution."

4. At Cameron mine "a majority of the men
. . . did not sign said petitions, . . . and the
representatives . . . did not sign said represen-
tatives' resolution." The company posted no notice
of the reduction in wages and made no change in the
wage scale. Nevertheless, "at said Cameron mine, in
Huerfano County, and at certain mines in the Canon
district and at Crested Butte, said miners ceased work
and went on strike." The commission dismisses this
strike and the procedure of arriving at a mutual agree-
ment at Cameron without further discussion, saying:
"Although considerable evidence was introduced re-
garding the circulation and conditions surrounding
the circulation of said petition, the same will not be
further considered herein inasmuch as said company
made no change in working conditions at said Cam-
eron mine."

5. Morley sends its coal to the Minnequa Steel
Works or the Santa Fe Railroad. The closing down
of the steel works had limited the output so seriously
that, of its two entries, the East Side and the Slope,
the East Side had been shut down since August 24.
" Certain employes, realizing the condition of the coal

17 253

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

mining industry and of the industries generally, re-
quested of and obtained permission from the super-
intendent ... to circulate a petition requesting
a reduction in wages . . . and such employes
acted on their own initiative and independent of the
instructions from said superintendent." They did not
obtain the signatures of a majority, and so they left
the petition in the hands of the mine clerk. "There-
after certain other employes, . . . after inform-
ally discussing same, went to the office of said com-
pany and requested that they might have said petition
to circulate further among the employes." Thus,
finally, i68 signatures were secured. The average
number working at the mine was 240.^ The employes'
representatives, "after checking said petition with
the payroll," signed the representatives' resolution.^
6. At Sopris mine events took a different course.
Sopris produces coal to be used at the steel works and
for the making of coke for the works, so that the clos-
ing of the steel mills had shut off the market for
Sopris. The report of the commission does not state
definitely whether the mine had been closed and for
how long, but that is the inference. The superin-
tendent promised the employes that if they agreed to
a wage reduction, they would have five days' work a
week. The petition was signed by 234 of the 417 on
the payroll. The representatives, however, did not
sign the resolution, but, instead, reported to the com-
pany officials at a district conference in Trinidad that
employes had signed the petition because of the
superintendent's promise of work. The company
officials replied that no promise could be made. The
representatives returned to Sopris and called a meet-
ing to explain to the men that the "company could
not and would not make any promise or agreement

' The average number working at Morley in December, 1920, was
284, and the total number on the payroll was 331. Apparently the
force was reduced by August, 192 1.

^ Evidently the representatives took no part in circulating the
petition.

254

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

that any certain number of working days would be
maintained in said mine, even if a reduction of wages
were agreed to by said employes." Thereupon a
majority (of which the number is not stated) of the
"approximately 259" employes attending the meet-
ing voted in favor of the 1918 wage scale and the
representatives signed their resolution.^

7. Frederick mine, also, had lost its market in the
closing of the steel works. The petition was signed
by 218 of "the average working force" of "about
252." The number on the payroll was "about 275."
The representatives followed the same procedure as
in other mines of signing a resolution after checking
the petition with the payroll, except that it is recorded
that they did so "with the assistance of the employes
of said mine."

8. At Primero, 220 of 275 on the payroll signed the
petition, but the representatives did not accept this
evidence. Primero had been closed since August 23,
and "a great number of the employes had left." To
secure "an expression of the employes remaining,"
the representatives called a meeting. The vote was
"practically unanimous that said representatives
should sign said representatives' resolution."

9. Berwind and Tabasco have the same superin-
tendent. Berwind, also, had been closed since
August 23, for lack of orders from the steel works.
Ordinarily, 300 men are on the payroll. Only 100,
however, were left in the camp when the petition,
"prepared at the request of the representative,"^
was circulated. Of these, 91 signed and "only seven
refused to sign." The superintendent's share in

1 Whether the majority of 259 was also a majority of the 417 on the
payrolls is not stated in the commission's report.

2 The commission explains that "there was only one representative
at this mine, as the other representative had left this country and was
no longer at the mine." Evidently his place had not been filled,
despite the importance of this question of wage reduction to be settled
under the representation plan.

255

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

securing signatures is thus described: "The repre-
sentative at this mine circulated the petition, but
requested the superintendent to accompany him a
portion of the time in order that he might be able to
answer questions asked by the employes."

10. Tabasco, though affected by the lack of de-
mand for coal for the steel works, was receiving a
share of orders from its neighboring mine, Toller-
burg, for the gas companies at Colorado Springs and
Pueblo. The two representatives divided the mine
between them and circulated the petition. "The
superintendent accompanied one of them part of the
time, and the assistant mine foreman accompanied
the other at the request of the representatives."
Of 225 on the payroll — "a. normal working force"
of 200 — 189 signed the petition, and the two repre-
sentatives signed their resolution.

11. At Tollerburg the petition was circulated "by
four men in two parties; in one party the superin-
tendent and representative circulated one petition
and in the other, the fire boss and a driver, but not
the representative." The report adds, however, that
"the petition originated at the request of the repre-
sentatives." Of 180 on the payroll, 108 signed the
petition and the representatives accordingly signed
the representatives' resolution.

These were the facts outlined by the commission as
the basis of its award. It had had before it the argu-
ments of the two attorneys for the company and the
employes. The company had contended that the re-
duction in wages was made by agreement between it
and its employes in conformity with the Industrial
Representation Plan; that the employes had signed
petitions and that their representatives, "duly author-
ized under said plan," had passed a resolution endorsing
the action of the employes in their petitions, and ad-
vising the management of their acceptance of the 1918

256

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

wage scale to be effective on and after September i,
1 921; that because of this mutual agreement "there
was no necessity and no provision of law requiring them
to give this commission thirty days' prior written no-
tice of such intended change"; that heretofore, since
January i, 19 18, certain increases in wages had been
made upon the agreement of the men, and without
giving, or waiting to give, said employes thirty days'
prior notice thereof; that the employes accepted the
agreement and came to work "in normal, or nearly
normal, numbers," and "that no dissension or dispute
arose therefrom until its employes were advised and
interfered with by officers, organizers, and members of
the United Mine Workers of America"; that reduced
cost of fuel was necessary to enable the company to re-
sume the operation of its steel mills and to compete
with other mills obtaining fuel from coal fields "where
the said wage scale is much lower than said 19 18 wage
scale," and that the reduction would give employment
to idle steel workers and increase employment in the
mines, thereby enabling employes "to earn as much or
more than under the higher wages."

The contention of the employes, as summarized by
the commission, was that, irrespective of an agreement
between employer and employes, thirty days' notice
of any change in wages must be given to the commission
and to the employes affected; that "said Industrial
Representation Plan was not an agreement between
said employer and employes," and that, under the plan
or otherwise, unanimous consent would be necessary for
an agreement; that no agreement made merely by a
majority could bind those employes who did not sign
the petitions, and that those employes who had not

257

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

entered into the agreement were entitled to thirty days'
notice; that a number of those who signed were un-
wiUing to have wages reduced; that a large number
did not "voluntarily" sign the petition; and that
coercion, threats, and misrepresentations were used by
the company to obtain signatures.

The commission upheld the employes' contentions
in only one point, namely, that notice of change in
wages should be given to the commission even if the
change has been accepted in an agreement between
employer and employe. This statement, however, was
made merely in the course of discussion, and does
not appear in the section summing up the award. On
all other points the commission upheld the company.
"Said employer," the commission finds, "acted in good
faith in relying upon the petitions of its employes asking
for a reduction to the 19 18 wage scale, and . . . the
representatives of the said men in passing said repre-
sentatives' resolution . . . acted in good faith."

Before passing upon the main question of whether
the cut in wages was mutually agreed upon, the com-
mission commented on the reasonableness of the re-
duction: "The commission does not hesitate to suggest
that the daily wage rates heretofore paid and now being
paid by the coal operators of this state to their em-
ployes are far in excess of any wage rates paid to em-
ployes in any other craft requiring like skill, apprentice-
ship, and ability." No evidence is cited in the report
as the basis for this conclusion.

Then, this: "It further appears to the commission
that from the first of March to the first of September,
1921, the number of days the majority of the mines in
this state have operated have been so few that the

258

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

miners working therein have scarcely made a living
wage during such period, notwithstanding said high
wage rate." The "public generally" is then reminded
that "its attempt to purchase during a few winter
months an entire year's supply of coal makes of the
industry a seasonable employment."^ Yet in the de-
tailed reports of the commission it appeared that the
output of the mines affected was used not by the public
generally, but by the steel works of the company itself,
the gas companies of Colorado Springs and Pueblo,
and the Santa Fe Railroad.

Finally, then, the commission concludes "that under
the industrial law of this state an employer and his em-
ployes may mutually enter into lawful agreements, not
injurious to public interest. . . .

"That the employes in entering into such agreements
may act individually or collectively by representatives
operating as a union or under an industrial plan or other
organization;

"That said company did enter into an agreement
under said Industrial Representation Plan with its
employes through their representatives."

This award was executed on November 4, 1921, and
had the effect of terminating the commission's order
of September 10 to the company not to reduce wages.

'The law gives the Industrial Commission a power which it ap-
parently has not exercised in relation to this serious problem of
unemployment:

"It [the commission] shall investigate the extent and causes of
unemployment in the state of Colorado and the remedies therefor, and
it shall devise and adopt the most efficient means within its power to
avoid unemployment and to prevent involuntary idleness." — U. S.
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Legislation
of 1915, p. 109. Government, Washington, 1916. To have exercised
this right in the coal industry would have been an important public
service.

259

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

On November 16 a notice, in which the following sen-
tences were the most important, was posted at the
mines in which the resolutions had been signed:

"Notice is hereby given that commencing No-
vember 17, 1 92 1, the scale of wages and mining rates
at this mine will be the same as those in effect from
November i, 191 7, to November 30, 1919.

"This reduction is made in accordance with the
action of a majority of the workmen at this mine in
August, 1 92 1, and in accordance with the findings
and award of the Industrial Commission of Colorado,
made November 4, 1921. . . ."

For the effect of the notice on the employes we must
rely upon accounts in the newspapers. It is necessary
only to cite the outstanding events, which are evidently
undisputed. News of the days following November 4,
when the commission made its award, describe active
preparations for a strike. The company had not yet
announced when the reduction would take effect.
When, on November 16, the notice was posted, every-
body apparently was ready for a strike on the following
day, when the cut would begin.

Meanwhile, on the day the notice was posted, and
before any employes had struck, the governor of Colo-
rado declared martial law in Huerfano County.^ Adju-
tant General Hamrock, who had been in command at
the time of the Ludlow tragedy in 19 14, was now again
in charge. He was to use State Rangers and units of
the National Guard, if necessary. The reasons for
declaring martial law do not appear in the news of these
events. The strike had not yet begun. The company
had announced that it would import no strike-breakers,

^ New York Times, New York Evening Post, Rocky Mountain News.
All of November 17, 1921.

260

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

thus avoiding the chief cause of violence in a strike.
In the strike of September i, 1921, no violence what-
ever was reported. The strike of 19 19 had been equally
peaceful.

The New York Evening Post, in a news notice dated
Denver, November 17, 1921, said: "Martial law was
proclaimed by Governor Shoup after an appeal from
Sheriff Harry Capps at Walsenburg, saying the situa-
tion was beyond his control. Prohibition of the sale
of arms and ammunition at Walsenburg yesterday re-
vealed the fact that Walsenburg merchants had already
sold their entire stock of arms and ammunition."

The Rocky Mountain News of November 16, 1921,
reported that when state officers seized arms from citi-
zens in the district, the collection revealed " rifles which
look as if they had seen duty in the civil war, old
muzzle loaders and huge Colt pistols of ancient vintage.
. . . One old rifle was turned in which had been
seized twice before by Colonel Hamrock during dis-
turbances in this district."

The instructions issued by the commander of the
troops forbade citizens to carry arms, picket, or appear
on the streets of any mining camp between lo p.m. and
6 a.m., except in the town of Walsenburg. Every man
willing to work would be protected. Later, meetings
were forbidden, and officers of the union were not al-
lowed to enter the camps which the company owned.

The strike spread to other mines of the company
not affected by this particular notice of reduced wages.
Whereupon the Industrial Commission ordered im-
mediate prosecution of these striking miners and their
leaders in Fremont and Gunnison Counties for not giv-

261

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

inij; thirty days' notice of the strike.^ As to the numbers
involved the reports were, as usual, conflicting. We
know only that the troops were not withdrawn until
January 28, 1922, and martial law thus lasted from
November 17, 1921, to January 28, 1922.-

With the events of this strike of November, 1921, we
are not here concerned. We are discussing the functions
of the Industrial Representation Plan in determining
wages. It should be noted first that apparently the fwo
specific provisions affecting wages, implied in the trade
agreement adopted with the representation plan, were
not observed, namely, thirty days' notice of a change
and the acceptance of competitors' rates. '^ The words
"as required by statute" are added in the plan to the
promise of thirty days' notice. The company rested its
legal case before the State Industrial Commission upon
the claim that the cut in wages was in accordance with
an agreement with the employes which, by the terms of
the Colorado law, made the notice to the commission
unnecessary. They said in effect that the words "as
required by law" in this instance did not mean thirty
days' notice, and, therefore, that section of the plan itself
was not binding. It seems clear from the commission's
description that the procedure of negotiation was not
carried on through the established machinery of the rep-
resentation plan. No mention is made of the Joint
Committee on Industrial Co-operation and Conciliation

1 Denver Post, November 19, 192 1.

2 Union officials informed us that while the order which had estab-
lished martial law was rescinded January 28, 1922, two troops of
rangers were kept in southern Colorado until November, 1922. They
were active during the strike of 1922 in forbidding picketing and meet-
ings of coal miners.

' See pages 71 and 72.

262

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

as having any share in the negotiations. The men in
the mines were asked individually to sign their names to
a petition to reduce wages. To the miner the possible
consequences of refusing to sign would probably be a
risk that he would not dare to take, especially when in
several instances the superintendent or an assistant
mine foreman or fire boss actually carried the petition
through the mine, requesting the men to sign. The
officials represented the entire company; the agreement
of the men was secured, apparently, in each mine sepa-
rately from every other mine. Moreover, except in
camps where meetings were called, in three of which the
petition had been used but had failed in two and a mis-
understanding had arisen in the third, each miner was
asked to go on record individually without the moral
support of acting with other employes or through a
representative. The resolution of their representatives
was shown to be merely the fmal action recording the
men's vote in each camp, analogous to the reports of
tellers in an election.

President Welborn has summed up the facts as fol-
lows:

"With the knowledge of these conditions (the re-
ductions of wages in the steel works, the business
situation and the costs of reduced working time in
the mines, the lower fuel costs of competing steel
companies), and with the assurance that any reduc-
tion in costs, through reduced wages would be passed
on to the consumer, the workmen themselves took the
initiative in circulating petitions in which the men
offered to accept a reduced wage scale, with the hope
and expectation of increased working time. After the
lower scale had been accepted, substantial orders for
coal were secured on the basis of the expected reduc-
263

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

tion in costs. These orders, which were cancelled
when the higher scale was restored, would have pro-
vided a large amount of work for several of the
mines."

Nevertheless, the men struck on the day when the
reduction went into effect, September i, 1921, and
struck again when the same reduction, approved this
time by the Industrial Commission, was made effective
on November 17. This raises the question whether the
negotiations had been mutual and voluntary from the
miners' point of view. When the governor proclaimed
martial law in Huerfano County, beginning November
16, he declared the county to be " in a state of insurrec-
tion and rebellion." All the mines of the company in
Colorado, then operating, were included in the Novem-
ber strike, although the wage cut had been made in only
half of them. Did the miners themselves recognize a
common interest as employes of the same company, and
did those not affected strike because they feared that
they would be affected later or as a protest against what
they considered injury to their fellows? In other words
did they believe that in the method followed in making
this cut the workers' interests were not being protected?

The commission did not seem to consider that the
fact of the September strike affected the credibility of
the claim that the men had mutually and voluntarily
agreed with the company to adopt a new wage scale.
The company suggests that fear of violence may have
influenced them.

No claim is made that any violence occurred. Even
before the November strike began, protection for those
who wished to work was assured by the state troops,
and under martial law picketing was prohibited. The

264

WAGES AND SECURITY IN EMPLOYMENT

troops were kept in the county for more than two
months.

After the prolonged strike in the coal industry in 1922,
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company restored the
wages of its employes to the level of 1920, which was the
union scale and which had been maintained without
reduction in union mines.

Thus, in seven years of operation of employes' rep-
resentation the company tried only once to determine
wages by independent action in its own mines, estab-
lishing a rate lower than that paid in union mines. Its
employes struck and less than a year later, following a
nation-wide strike of miners, the union rate was again
restored in Colorado. Every other change in wages in
these seven years followed changes in union mines.

265

PART V
THE TRADE UNION IN COLORADO

CHAPTER XIII
THE UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

THE discussion of the methods of changing wages
in the mines of the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company has shown how closely the activities
of the miners' union are related to the plan for em-
ployes' representation. It is impossible to understand
either the successes or the failure of employes' represen-
tation in the coal mines without knowing something
about the United Mine Workers and its history in Colo-
rado. We shall not attempt at this time to compare the
Representation Plan with the organization and practice
of the union. Our purpose is simply to describe the
union and its activities as we have found it actually
influencing the operation of employes' representation in
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. No one can
stay long in the mining camps in Colorado without hear-
ing about the union. Company officials talk about the
strikes which have been led by it. Miners discuss its
activities. Casual visitors are reminded of it if they
chance to pass the field of Ludlow. There, within sight
of the mouth of the canyon leading to Berwind, Tabasco,
and Toller mines of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Com-
pany, stands a statue— a miner and a woman with a
child in her arms— which bears these words: "In
Memory of the Men, Women, and Children Who Lost
Their Lives in Freedom's Cause at Ludlow, Colorado,
April 20, 1914. Erected by the United Mine Workers
18 269

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

of America." And in the memorial services held there
from time to time the sense that the freedom of the
workers is bound up with the success of their union is
fostered.

Included in the membership of the United Mine
Workers of America are miners and all laborers and
craftsmen employed in or about the mines of the United
States and Canada. The so-called "international"^
office is in Indianapolis, Indiana. The United Mine
Workers have divided the country into a number of dis-
tricts. Colorado and New Mexico constitute District
15. Since Colorado has the bulk of the membership in
these states, it is almost identical with District 15.

Each district has a president, vice-president, and
secretary-treasurer, elected for two years. In addition,
the district executive board, consisting of the officers
and a representative elected by the miners from each
of the subdistricts into which the district is subdivided,
constitutes the policy-forming body of the district. In
the absence of orders from a district convention the
executive board decides on such important matters as
whether a strike shall be called. A district is largely
autonomous. The executive board, for instance, may
call strikes against operators who have no contract
with the union, and the sanction of the international
office is unnecessary, unless financial assistance is de-
sired, which requires the approval of the international
executive board.

Headquarters of District 15, including, as we have seen,
Colorado and New Mexico, are in Pueblo, the same city

'The word "international," which is commonly used to describe
labor organizations in the United States, may be confusing to some
readers, it is used because Canadian workers are included in the
same organizations, and have the same "international" otficers.

270

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

where are housed the offices of the Fuel Department
of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. Pueblo is
about one and a half hours' ride from Walsenburg, one
and a half hours from Canon City, and three hours
from Trinidad, the three centers near which are lo-
cated most of the mines operated by the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company. These mines are, therefore, easy
of access to union officials. The president, vice-presi-
dent, and secretary-treasurer give all their time to the
affairs of the union in the district.^ Board members
from the subdistricts give part of their time. In addi-
tion, organizers are employed with salaries paid by the
international office. These are miners who may or may
not be residents of the district. They are responsible
to the international president. Their work is directed
by the president of the district to which they are
assigned, although they may be withdrawn at any time
by the international president.

These organizers are the most active representatives
of the miners' union. They are the propagandists, the
evangelists of the organization, usually men of strong
physique, vigorous personality, and courage. They
are, in addition, good public speakers.' In 1920 five
organizers were at work in the territories where the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company operates. Between
them, they spoke five different languages — Mexican,
Italian, Slavic, Greek, and English — so that they could
reach each of the large groups of workers employed in
the mines.

' The word "district," referring to the organization of the union,
should not be confused with the districts into which the Colorado
Fuel and iron Company has divided its property in the organization
of employes' representation.

271

employes representation in coal mines

National, District, and Local Organization

Under a union contract a miner's representation is
national, district, and local in scope. Each type of rep-
resentation aims to safeguard a certain group of stan-
dards, and the three together purpose to give the miner
a share in formulating the policies of the workers in the
industry, as well as to afford him protection in the con-
ditions guaranteed him under the contract.

As a member of the United Mine Workers of America
every union miner secures national representation. He
casts a vote for the international executive officers and
the executive board every other year. Biennially, also,
he votes for a delegate to the national convention. This
convention usually meets prior to the expiration of a
union contract. It is made up of delegates from each
local union, and is the supreme legislative body of the
organization. It may amend the constitution, con-
sider resolutions from local unions, and draft policies
for the executive officers to follow.

The scale committee, which recommends the wage
rates to be asked for in negotiations with operators,
considers all the resolutions submitted to the conven-
tion which have a bearing on wages. A study of these
resolutions enables the committee to gauge the judg-
ment of the rank and file and arrive at a scale which
will meet the collective desire of the miners. The con-
vention usually adopts the report of the scale committee
and refers it to the joint conference scale committee
of the miners.

The joint conference consists of representatives of the
miners and the operators. The miners' representatives
are elected by the delegates from the respective dis-

272

UNIIED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

tricts in attendance at the convention of the union.
The operators of each state select their representatives
at meetings of their respective associations. This joint
conference adopts an interstate agreement. The agree-
ment covers working conditions in the Central Com-
petitive Field, which includes Illinois, Ohio, Indiana,
and western Pennsylvania. The wage scale, as well
as the other conditions provided for in the contract,
are used as a national basic standard. Each district
subsequently drafts an agreement with the operators
coming within its territory, using the interstate con-
tract of the central competitive coal field as a basic
standard, and making the necessary specific applica-
tion of the national standard to local conditions.

Through his national union, the miner also secures
representation in the labor movement of the country
as a whole, for the convention elects delegates to attend
the annual convention of the American Federation of
Labor.

The miner, working under a union agreement, also
obtains district representation. He is a member of one
of the states which make up the national organization.
Here, again, he is entitled to vote for the officers and
the executive board of the district organization. He is
represented by an elected delegate from his local union
in the biennial convention of the district. This con-
vention is the supreme body of the district. It drafts
the constitution, considers resolutions from the local
unions, formulates the policies for the ensuing two
years, and appoints a scale committee to negotiate the
new contract with the operators of the district after
the interstate agreement has been promulgated.

The officers of the district and the scale committee
273

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

invite the representatives of the operators, usually
organized into an association, to meet with them and
draft a contract for the ensuing tv/o years. A joint con-
ference is then called. Scjmetimes several conferences
are held before the terms of the contract are agreed
to by both sides.

Through his national and district representatives
the miner has obtained the best contract which the
bargaining power of the fellowship of miners (supported
by the fellowship of all wage-earners) has been able to
secure from the operators. What assurance has he
that the contract will be obeyed in the mine where he
works from day to day? For the management of the
mine is vested in the operator and, therefore, the admin-
istration of the contract is largely in the hands of the
mine superintendent and the mine foreman. ^

The contract provides for local representation. In
the first place, the local union acts as a constant check
on the administration of the contract in the sense that
it keeps a vigilant eye on the mine management and
holds regular meetings to discuss the experience of the
miners in their day-to-day dealings with the foreman
and superintendent. But more than this, the contract
provides for a pit committee elected from the local
union to represent the individual miner in adjusting
his complaints with the local management. This com-

' Agreements between the United Mine Workers of America and
the coal operators contain a clause safeguarding the operators' right to
manage; for instance, — "the right to hire and discharge, the man-
agement of the mine and the direction of the working force are vested
exclusively in the operators and the United Mine Workers of America
shall not abridge this right." — (Agreement by and between the Illinois
Coal Operators' Association, the Coal Operators' Association of the
Fifth and Ninth Districts of Illinois, and the Central Illinois Coal
Operators' Association, and the United Mine Workers of America,
District Number 12, for the period beginning November 1, 1917, p. 42.)

274

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

mittee usually consists of three men, and aims to repre-
sent the various racial elements working in the mine
concerned.

The administration of the contract, as we have said,
is in the hands of the mine management. When a miner
thinks that the management is not administering the
contract with fairness in his case, he has a grievance.
The contract goes into great detail regarding the
adjustment of grievances. The contract of District
12 (Illinois) is typical. First, the aggrieved miner
attempts to adjust his difficulty with the mine foreman.
If they fail to agree, the pit committee and the presi-
dent of the local union attempt to reach a satisfactory
agreement with the mine foreman. If these men are
unable to arrive at a joint decision, the dispute is re-
ferred to the president of the subdistrict (each dis-
trict is divided into a number of subdistricts) and the
superintendent of the mine. If they are unable to agree,
the dispute is referred on through six other joint bodies
until, if all these fail to arrive at a satisfactory adjust-
ment, the case goes to an arbitration commission. This
commission consists of five members. One represents
the miners and one represents the operators. These
two are known as direct members of the commission.
The three others are known as independents. The
decision of this commission is final.

Past Efforts to Organize the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company
As the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company operates
more mines and employs more miners than any other
operator in Colorado, the desire of the United Mine
Workers to unionize the company has naturally been

275

employes' representation in coal mines

strong. Opposed to this desire has been the determina-
tion of the company not to sign a contract with the
union, or in any way to "recognize" the United Mine
Workers as a party to its business.

" For thirty years past this company has assured its
every employe that its mines were 'open shops,' where
any good workman might obtain employment irrespec-
tive of whether he was a union or non-union man."
This statement of policy was made in 1 914 in a letter
from the company to the President of the United States.

We found in Colorado that not every one agrees that
employes of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company felt
free to join a union prior to 1914. In our discussion
with the men about the strike of 191 3-14 the statement
was frequently made to us that before 191 5 they could
not safely join the union without fear of discharge.
Whatever the facts may have been in particular in-
stances, the history of the miners' trade union organiza-
tions in Colorado is evidence of long-drawn-out and
unsuccessful efforts, through forty years, to induce the
Colorado Fuel and iron Company to recognize the
union.

In 1883, 1893, 1903, and 191 3 the miners struck,
either under the leadership of the Knights of Labor or
the United Mine Workers. Of all these strikes, that of
1913-14 was the most violent and bitter. The history
and outcome of these conflicts would make an interest-
ing report in itself. Data gathered in this inquiry are
largely confined, however, to what has happened since
1914. We did not attempt to secure a detailed account
of the history of the relations between the company and
the United Mine Workers prior to 1914, except as past
events influenced present relations.

276

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

How the Industrial Representation Plan grew out
of the strike of 191 3 has already been described. We
have quoted the chairman of the board of directors,
who said in a letter^ to Mr. Rockefeller in August, 19 14,
that the executives of the company had known for some
time that if the company would agree to the appoint-
ment of a joint committee of miners and operators the
strike would be ended at once without even mention-
ing recognition of the union. The suggestions of Mr.
Rockefeller and Mr. King included the appointing of
joint committees of miners and company officials. So
did President Wilson's proposal for ending the strike in
September, 19 14. Committees at the mines, however,
sounded to the officials of the company too much like
the pit committees of the union. To appoint them
would be too great a concession to the United Mine
Workers. Not until the strike was ended on December
ID, 1914, were steps taken by the company to inaugurate
the plan for representation of its employes. In thus
avoiding any semblance of accepting the union as an
influence in dealing with its employes, and in thus hold-
ing out until the United Mine Workers were beaten, the
company made clear its rejection of the existing forms
of unions as the instrument of collective bargaining for
the miners. Naturally, those miners who had upheld
the union carried with them the knowledge of defeat,
with its inevitable bitterness, as well as the memory of
the violence and death which accompanied that struggle.

Factions in the Union

The strike left the union weak, and with the sense of

.defeat in their minds members succumbed to factional-

^ See page i6flF.

277

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

ism. A serious rift in the union had occurred after the
1913 strike. In fact, it began during the strike. John
Lawson at this time was the member of the interna-
tional executive board from the Colorado district.^ He
was, therefore, the official who acted as the link between
the national and the district organization. The strike
of 191 3 had its beginning in 1910 in the northern part of
the state, when a strike had been called for the purpose
of securing recognition of the union there. The mines of
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company are in southern
Colorado. After the earlier strike had been waged in
the North for some time without results for the miners,
Lawson came to the conclusion that if it was to be
effective as a means of strengthening the union, it
should be extended to the coal mines in the other parts
of Colorado. He made such a recommendation to the
international executive board, but not until 19 13 was
the recommendation accepted.

During the strike of 19 13 differences of opinion as to
policy had developed between Lawson and other offi-
cials of the United Mine Workers. The divergence be-
tween Lawson and the union administration in Indian-
apolis grew wider during the investigation undertaken
by the United States Commission on Industrial Rela-
tions while the strike was in progress. Moreover, after
the strike was called off in 19 14, Lawson believed that
the international office withdrew too early its financial
support from the miners who had struck and who had
not been able to get back their old jobs or to secure
work elsewhere.

* The international executive board consists of a member from each
of the districts into which the United States and Canada are divided
by the United Mine Workers.

278

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

After the strike, in the 1916 election for district offices,
Lawson was a candidate for the presidency of District
15. Miners of Colorado say that he was selected by an
overwhelming majority. Just after elections the inter-
national executive board decided to suspend the auton-
omy of every district which was not self-supporting
and which, therefore, received financial assistance from
the international treasury. After so serious and pro-
longed a strike as that of 19 13 and 19 14 the Colorado
district was not self-supporting and was one of the three
to lose its autonomy. This meant that the interna-
tional office took charge of the affairs of the district, and
Lawson, despite his election by a large majority, could
not, therefore, take office. James Moran was assigned
by the international office as acting president of Dis-
trict 15, and Warren B. Pippin as secretary-treasurer.

Antagonism developed between Moran and Lawson,
and in the next election, in the winter of 191 7, at the
time when the autonomy of the district was to be re-
stored, Lawson again became a candidate for the presi-
dency, but Moran put up a candidate in opposition.
Miners believe that wholly unfair and corrupt tactics
were used in the election. They say that charters of
local unions known to be friendly to Lawson were
suspended so as to deprive their membership of a vote.
Lawson was the hero of the Colorado miners because of
his activity in the strike of 191 3-14, and they believe
that he was their real choice as leader, yet he was de-
clared defeated. He contested the election, but before
the investigation by a committee of the international
executive board was completed he called a "rump"
convention of miners friendly to him, and shortly after-
ward organized a dual organization known as the Inde-

279

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

pendent Miners' Union. The establishment of a dual
union is, in unionism, comparable to an act of treason
to one's country, and even Lawson's friends, among
the leaders of the miners, dropped away from him and
the dual organization did not last.

We have not attempted any first-hand study of the
events of this period, but it seems clear that this fac-
tionalism greatly weakened the union, and that the de-
feat and withdrawal of Lawson deprived the miners of
an able leader. Moreover, the charges of unfair tactics
in elections made many members of the union lose con-
fidence in its administration.

One may easily imagine how incidents like this affect
the attitude of both operators and miners toward the
union. Operators charge that labor politics made it
undesirable to sign an agreement. With an unstable
administration there can be no guaranty of observance
of a contract. For the rank and file of the miners, loss
of confidence in the leadership of their union means
that they lose enthusiasm and loyalty as members.
Officials of District 15 who had recently been elected
at the time of our inquiry in Colorado declared that they
were making every effort to restore harmony in the dis-
trict union, and that they were determined that there
would be no more dishonest practices.

The Threatened Strike of 191 7
From December, I9i4,when the strike was declared off,
to June, 1917, industrial peace reigned in the coal camps.
And then trouble arose. District 15 of the United Mine
Workers was again threatening to call out on strike the
employes in the mines of the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company, in the winter of 1916-17, the autonomy

280

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

had been taken from District 15, for reasons already
described, and the international office had assumed
charge of the district affairs. With James Moran and
Warren B. Pippin who, as has been said, were sent by
President White as acting president and secretary, re-
spectively, of District 1 5, had come a corps of organizers.
These officers of the district secured an agreement in
April of that year with a number of independent opera-
tors. Among them was the Victor-American Fuel Com-
pany. This company was the second largest operator in
Colorado. It was, in addition, one of the bitterest
enemies of the United Mine Workers— so much so that
the news of the signing of the contract came as an unbe-
lievable surprise to those familiar with the industrial
history of Colorado.

Just how much credit should be given to Mr. Moran
for his consummation of this contract we do not know.
The Victor-American Fuel Company explained its
action in a letter addressed to the coal operators of
Colorado in which it stated first, that after the strike of
191 3-14 the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company had
withdrawn "from all association and co-operation with
the other operators who had loyally co-operated with
them in resisting the unreasonable demands of the
United Mine Workers of America, and without any con-
sultation with them put in effect a plan which, if not an
invitation, opened the door to the unrestricted activities
of the organizers of the United Mine Workers of Amer-
ica in their mines, a very large number, if not a majority
of their employes, now being members of the union."
Its officers went on to explain that being left without
co-operation in resisting the union at a time when labor
was scarce and the war made it impossible to contem-

281

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

plate a strike, the Victor-American Fuel Company
signed a contract with the union.

Mr. Moran took heart and began an aggressive or-
ganizing campaign in 1917 in the coal mines operated
by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. At that
time union organizers were permitted to come and go
freely and no obstacles were put in their way. In July
he asked President Welborn for a conference and
threatened to call a strike on August i, unless cer-
tain grievances were satisfactorily adjusted. The de-
tails of these grievances may be passed over quickly,
for they are not the most significant feature of this
episode. President Welborn granted the conference
which ended fruitlessly. He came to the conclusion
that the main object of the union in this threat of a
strike was to secure "recognition" and that the griev-
ances discussed were not the real occasion for con-
ference.

A second conference v/as arranged, to which were
invited district officials of the United Mine Workers
and representatives of the local unions elected in the
camps, other representatives of the miners, superin-
tendents of the mines, and the members of the State
Industrial Commission. This conference also proved
fruitless. Mr. Welborn suggested various ways of deal-
ing with the grievances presented, all of which would
have made the State Industrial Commission the final
authority for adjustment. Mr. Moran objected to his
suggestions for various reasons, and finally urged that
Mr. Welborn put to a vote of the miners in the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company the question whether they
preferred the Industrial Representation Plan to a con-
tract with the United Mine Workers. This Mr. Wel-

282

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

born refused because, as he said, he beheved that the
men were satisfied with the plan and that there was no
reason for putting the matter to a vote.

After adjournment of the conference the Colorado
State Industrial Commission investigated the griev-
ances which had been presented by the union leaders.
Officials of the union ignored the investigation. Mr.
Moran appeared to testify only when ordered to do so
by the district court. The commission rendered a de-
cision unfavorable to the miners, finding their grievances
"not supported by the testimony." The commission
declared that it "had nothing to do" with recognition
of the union, and condemned union officials for threaten-
ing to call a strike when the country was at war. The
strike, indeed, did not take place. President White,
of the United Mine Workers, had just begun his work
for the Fuel Administration in Washington. He was
opposed to any strike in Colorado. The international
executive board refused to sanction it.

As showing the policy of the company in relation to
the trade union after the adoption of the Industrial
Representation Plan, the significant phase of the
episode was the president's change of attitude toward
conference with union officials. He was willing to
confer with them, whereas prior to and during the
strike of 19 13 he had refused to meet them. Mr. Wel-
born himself points out that his earlier refusal was due
in part to the fact that when a strike is threatened or
in progress, officers of the unions usually interpret a
conference with the management as giving the hope of a
contract, and he did not wish to give any such hope.
Moreover, since 191 5, the representation plan had pro-
vided a method of conference between management and

283

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

employes, and Mr. Welborn said that because of it he
was able to secure information about actual conditions
and was prepared successfully to deny charges which
might be brought up in conference with unio nofficials.
So far as the representation plan was concerned, how-
ever, it appeared to have had no relation to the com-
pany's procedure in dealing with the threat of strike in
19 1 7. The representatives elected under the plan were
not invited to the conference. Instead, delegates were
elected by local unions in the camps. Mr. Welborn has
explained that he did not think it was desirable to bring
in the representatives at that conference. Had the
complaints brought up by Mr. Moran been sustained,
Mr. Welborn would have conferred with the repre-
sentatives about them, he said, but he knew in ad-
vance that the real purpose of the conference was
not to adjust any alleged grievances but to secure
recognition of the union.

Strikes of 1919 and 1921

The strike of 1919 was so significant as showing
whether Colorado miners would respond to a strike call
inspired by national rather than local issues, that it will
be discussed separately in Chapter XIV, Colorado Min-
ers in the Strike of 1919.^

The influence of the union was again demonstrated
in the strike of the employes of the company in 1921
against a reduction in wages, as already described.^
This was a local issue, involving only one company.
In contrast with it was the nation-wide strike which
began in April, 1922, to which, according to accounts
in the newspapers, employes of the company again

' See page 303. ^ See page 26off .

284

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

responded. The strike of 1922 began while this chapter
was in preparation, and its causes and events are not
within the scope of our study. ^ Nevertheless, these
conflicts in 19 19, 1 921, and 1922 indicate that employes'
representation has not prevented strikes. They show,
moreover, that in Colorado these two plans of organizing

1 The company has supplied the following statement regarding the
strike of 1922:

"The Company's employes in the Canon and Crested Butte Dis-
tricts responded to the nation-wide call of the United Mine Workers
of America, although they had for some time previously been working
at the established scale then applying throughout Colorado, in the
Trinidad and Walsenburg Districts, where about 85 per cent of the
company's coal is produced, the miner paid but little attention to the
strike order. During the succeeding five months the demand for
coal was insufficient to keep the mines running full, and during that
period several hundred carloads of coal were accumulated ahead of
orders. The production of coal during the five months increased 24
per cent over that for the same months of 192 1. The miners of the
company who remained at work were on a scale of wages which they
had helped formulate in the latter part of 1921."

Union officials made substantially the following statement regard-
ing the strike of 1922:

Two troups of rangers were kept on duty throughout the strike.
These rangers prohibited picketing, although martial law had not
been declared. They forbade the holding of meetings by striking coal
miners. No more than three men were permitted to gather at any
place in Huerfano County. Over one hundred arrests of strikers were
made in Colorado, a large proportion of them occurring in the south-
ern part of the state. Organizers were prohibited from addressing
the strikers. The following two instances were cited as typical by
union officials:

"April 8, 1922. Capt. Dennis, who was in charge of the rangers in
Huerfano County, called Organizers Hefferly and Fontecchio to
Ranger Headquarters. He told them no one would be allowed
to talk to men at work and that no mass meetings or parades
would be permitted.
"July 23, 1922. Mass Meeting called in the city of Walsenburg; over
2,000 men, women and children present. While people were
assembling, several rangers appeared and ordered all to leave the
hall. President McGuire and Vice-President Livoda (officials of
District 15, United Mine Workers of America) along with Or-
ganizers Hefferly and Fontecchio protested, but rangers told
them they had instructions to break up the meeting and were
prepared to do so even with use of machine guns (which were in

19 285 •

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

human relations — trade unionism of national scope and
employes' representation adapted to a single company —
are actively competing for the loyalty of employes.
They raise the question as to how a modus vivendi can be
established between the United Mine Workers, which
embodies the one, and the company which has espoused
the other.

Attitude of the Union Toward the Representa-
tion Plan

When the plan was introduced the union was weak,
after the prolonged and bitter strike of 191 3 and 19 14.
Loyal union men say that they saw no other possible
plan of action than to take the benefits afforded by
the plan. Many held office as representatives. They
were biding their time and watching. In their judgment
the plan could not be a satisfactory substitute for
unionism, but it was all that they could hope for at
the time. Moreover, the freedom to join unions which
the plan guaranteed seemed to promise an opportunity
to strengthen their organization. Gradually, however,
the union itself came to look upon the plan as an ob-
stacle to unionism, and then union men began actively
to oppose it.

At their biennial conventions, in 19 18 and again in
1920, delegates from the local unions in District 15

evidence). McGuire and Livoda called in person on Hamrock
(the adjutant general of the state) and Dennis to protest, but
were told that the rangers were following their instructions, that
no mass meetings could be permitted, that men refusing to go to
work would be arrested for vagrancy, and those not American
citizens would be deported. They gave permission to McGuire
and Livoda to attend meetings of local unions only."
Due to these activities of the rangers, say union officials, the strike
was broken.

286

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

listed the plan with such organizations as the I . W. W.
and the "One Big Union," to which they are opposed.
They forbade union miners employed by the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company to take any part in the plan.
Thus, section 12 of the district constitution reads:

" Any member belonging to a Secret Service Organi-
zation, Private Detective Agency, The Civic Federa-
tion, the Rockefeller Industrial Plan, the Industrial
Workers of the World, or the Workers' International
Industrial Union, or the One Big Union, or any other
dual organization, shall be expelled from the United
Mine Workers of America. Any local union donat-
ing any of their funds or levying an assessment for
the benefit of the above-mentioned organizations shall
be fined double the amount of the donation or assess-
ment, same to be collected by the District Secretary-
Treasurer."!

Early in 1920 three different representatives in as
many different mines were on the verge of resigning —
and later did resign — because they were strong union
men and did not wish to act contrary to the district
constitution of the union. Union men in all of the
mines told us that they intended to ignore the plan.
They would either have a union contract or nothing.
In 1 92 1, again, several union men had to decide the
difficult question of accepting election as a representa-
tive, or abiding by the instructions of the union. One

1 Constitution of District No. 15, United Mine Workers of Amer-
ica, adopted at Colorado Springs, Colo., effective April i, 1920, p. 33.
At the biennial convention in Indianapolis in September and October,
192 1, a resolution was adopted commending the Colorado miners for
resisting the wage reduction made by the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company, and declaring "that the International Executive Board is
hereby instructed to use its fullest possible moral and financial support
of this situation." — Proceedings of the United Mine Workers of
America, September 20 to October 5, 192 1, Indianapolis, Vol. 11, pp.
971-972.

287

employes' representation in coal mines

left the mine and went to work on a farm. Another, in
a camp where the plan has never worked smoothly or
effectively, simply declined to serve as a representa-
tive, but gave no reason. One decided to oppose the
union despite its threat to expel him— a threat which
was later carried out. He contended that union men
should co-operate with and test the possibilities of the
plan to its utmost limit and thereby seek to develop it
into a union. The only alternative, in his opinion, was
a strike for recognition of the union, and this he deemed
hopeless with so powerful a company opposing. But
he had many criticisms to make of the plan, and in these
he agreed with many other union members employed
by the company.

Trade Unionists' Objections to the Plan
The union locals in the camps are centers where the
miners congregate and discuss their grievances. There
the opinion of the men with regard to their relations
with the company are determined. The most aggres-
sive leaders are found there. A group sentiment is
created in those locals which is tantamount to the
powerful public opinion found in economically homo-
geneous communities. Some of the objections which we
shall cite are not based on good evidence, and yet all
are significant in showing states of mind.

What are the main strands of this public opinion?

Method of Inaugurating the Plan

The method of introducing the representation plan

is criticized by aggressive leaders of the union. It came,

they recall to your mind, after the 1913-14 strike — an

actual civil war. The miners had been willing to take

288

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

their wives and children from comfortable homes in the
winter and put them in tent colonies in the canyons of
Colorado. They were willing to take up arms, continues
their argument, in defense of their rights. They saw
strike-breakers come in by the thousands, but they
waited.^ They hoped they would win. Win what?
A cessation of certain abuses, but more important than
this, in their opinion, a contract between the. United
Mine Workers and the company which would guarantee
the miners a form of collective bargaining in which they
had confidence.

During the strike they were willing to compromise
with the operators. They agreed to the plans of several
mediators. They were willing to accept a truce sug-
gested by President Wilson, but the operators refused.
The companies did not like the plan suggested by Presi-
dent Wilson, because they feared that it would give a
semblance of recognition to the United Mine Workers.
The strike was called off. It was a crushing defeat.

About a year later the management offered the miners
the Industrial Representation Plan. The employes had
no voice in drafting it. This was done entirely by an
outside expert, with the assistance of executive officials
of the company. It was explained by Mr. Rockefeller
personally to representatives of the miners at a meeting
in Pueblo.2 The following week it was submitted to the
employes at the various camps for ratification. Execu-

^ The company officials point out that the union brought in strike
leaders, and they suggest that to the employers these "strike con-
ductors," as they might be called, are as obnoxious as are "strike-
breakers" to the union.

^ On this occasion Mr. Rockefeller read the plan, section by sec-
tion, and asked for discussion. No important modifications were
suggested.

289

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

tive officials of the company personally visited the
camps and addressed the miners, explaining the plan
and favoring it. The union had been crushed. There
was no effective leadership to protest or to suggest
changes. Meeting places, ballots, all the necessary prep-
arations were arranged by the company. The men
knew that the company wanted the plan. They also
knew that the United Mine Workers' organization had
withdrawn from Colorado. Its morale had been shat-
tered. They voted in a large majority for the repre-
sentation plan.

So speak the leaders of the union, and their opinion
permeates down to the rank and file through the local
unions and the organizers who periodically address the
miners. They are even suspicious — and this is voiced
not only by union officials outside the company but
primarily by employes of the company— that the man-
agement attempted to influence the voting by using
ballots of two different colors. Each miner was given
a red ballot and a white ballot. If he was against the
plan, he was to cast the red ballot; if for the plan, the
white ballot. As far as we could ascertain, these ballots
were cast secretly. No one could see which ballot was
used. We found no evidence that they had any other
purpose than to enable men to vote who could not read
or write, and hence, indirectly, to insure a secret ballot
and a fair vote, without duress. Yet we found the
suspicion prevalent that these ballots were used so that
the local superintendents would know how each miner
voted. Fearing discrimination, they say, the miners
voted in an overwhelming majority for the plan.

Similarly, miners in Fremont County will tell you to
this day that the company threatened to shut down one

290

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

of the mines, Rockvale by name, unless the men voted
for the representation plan. The Rockvale miners were
the only ones to vote a majority against the plan when
it was first submitted. Immediately the rumor was
spread that this mine would be closed down in the near
future. The men say that this rumor emanated from
one of the foremen. This official stoutly denies, under
oath,^ that he ever made such a statement. Neverthe-
less, miners took the rumor as a serious declaration of
policy on the part of the company. Rockvale, as we
have said, is an independent open town, as contrasted
with most of the closed camps owned by the company.
Many of the miners own their homes and other bits of
property. Should the mine close down they would lose
everything they had. There was no other industry in
the town. They petitioned the management to allow
them to vote again on the adoption of the plan. The
company did this, and a large majority of the men voted
for the plan. Here, again, we could find no evidence
that the company ever entertained the idea that this
mine would be closed down because of the unfavorable
vote of the men on the plan. Yet miner after miner
cited the case as an instance to prove that the manage-
ment had forced the men to vote for the plan. As valid
evidence, both this case and the argument about the
red and white ballots are, in our opinion, worthless.
But they are important because they show how suspi-
cious must be the state of mind of the miners that they
should have such strong faith in an illusion.

1 Colorado State Industrial Commission. Hearings regarding
United Mine Workers of America vs. Colorado Fuel and Iron Com-
pany, August and September, 1917. Testimony of William K. Jones,
assistant mine foreman, Rockvale, p. 429. Typewritten record.

291

employes representation in coal mines

Method of Conducting Elections
That the initiative in all arrangements for meetings
and elections rests with the management, and that
officials take an active part in urging the men to vote,
has already been shown. Union sympathizers among
the employes say, "There wouldn't be a corporal's
guard at the election meetings if the company held reg-
ular meetings as the local unions do. Of course when the
superintendent sends somebody around with the ballot
box, the average miner is afraid not to vote. He'd be
afraid of being discriminated against in some way."

Lack of Check-weighmen
That under the plan, in camps where unionism is
weak, the men do not have enough solidarity to main-
tain.a check-weighman, is another contention.^ Trade
union sympathizers contend that the Colorado miners
are suspicious of the weights credited them and that
they lack confidence in the efficiency of their check-
weighman — when they have one — because he has no
organized backing by the employes. In the mines
where the union is not strong, the employes usually
have no check-weighman. To vote for one and to be
willing to have deductions made from wages for his
salary requires cohesion among the men in the camp.
This, the union claims, is lacking under the plan.

Wages Not Determined by the Plan
We have already quoted the miners to show how they
felt about the question of wages. They were of the
opinion, it will be recalled, that their real protection

^ See page 2i6ff.
292

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

in this most vital aspect — the guarantee of a living
wage — depended on the activity of the United Mine
Workers rather than on any guarantees of the repre-
sentation plan. All that this plan guaranteed was to
increase wages in proportion as they were increased in
competitive districts. These competitive districts are
unionized. Wages are not increased in them except
upon the initiative of the United Mine Workers. A
practical illustration of this, they tell you, was shown in
the winter of 1919 to 1920, when the general manager
testified before a senate committee that the company
could not increase wages and that the purchase of auto-
mobiles and other expenditures of the miners showed
that they did not need an increase. When higher wages
were later granted in the agreements signed with the
United Mine Workers in the Central Competitive Field,
they were also accepted in Colorado. To the miners in
Colorado this proved that the company would not, on its
own initiative, have granted the increases secured for
them by the union. Again, in 1921, wages were reduced
by this company below the rate still maintained in
unionized mines. After the long strike of 1922 to main-
tain the higher scale in union mines, the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company again restored the union rate.

Moreover, as we have shown in other chapters, in
the day-to-day application of the scale, and in deter-
mining the payment for dead work, many of the men
feel that no adequate provision is made to protect em-
ployes' interests by giving them a vote on specific cases,
or by making standards and practice uniform in the
mines of the company having similar conditions.

293

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Improvements Due to the Union
Miners who are local union leaders further contend
that whatever improvements have been made in social,
living, and working conditions, are due to the activities
of the United Mine Workers. It took the 1913-14
strike, with all its violence and bloodshed, they argue,
to stir the management of the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company and to interest Mr. Rockefeller in the em-
ployes in Colorado; to focus the attention of public
opinion on conditions as they existed. They admit that
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company has the best
coal camps in the state, and that the comforts of the
miners are well provided for. But who brought this
about? Have not the bath-houses, the Young Men's
Christian Associations, the new homes, the clean streets,
the well-kept fences, the gardens, the better schools and
playgrounds, the more humane treatment by foremen
and superintendents, the abrogation of the arbitrary
power to discharge without warning for the least offense
—have not all these improvements been introduced
since the 191 3 strike?

No Resources for Strikes
One further argument is put forth by union members
in the employ of the company which is held also by the
miners' representatives in the representation plan. The
strike, runs the argument, has been and still is the
strongest weapon workers have to achieve necessary
improvements in their working and living conditions. It
was the 1913-14 strike, for instance, which revolution-
ized the labor policy of the Colorado Fuel and Iron

294

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

Company. To conduct strikes successfully requires a
strong organization of the workers and a fairly well-filled
treasury. Under the Industrial Representation Plan the
workers have neither an organization nor a treasury.
Their representatives serve only on joint committees
with equal numbers of company officials. They are thus
deprived of their most potent means of defending their
own interests. Only the United Mine Workers can lead
them successfully in a strike.

Activities of the Union Against the Plan
Union miners do not stop with an expression of their
opinion. They have translated it into action. In the
first place, they have encouraged an attitude of in-
difference and hostility toward the representation plan.
1 n conformity with the district constitution of the United
Mine Workers, to which reference has already been made,
local unions have not permitted their members to become
representatives or to take any active part in the represen-
tation plan. For this reason representatives in several
of the camps have from time to time refused to serve.
They either had to withdraw from the union or refuse to
act as representatives. They preferred to decline the of-
fice of representative. Others told us that they would not
be candidates for the position of representative because
of their loyalty to the United Mine Workers. This ex-
plains an incident already cited in one camp where
almost all of the miners belong to the union and
where not one came to the annual meeting in 1920,
when representatives were to be elected. The result
was that the representation plan did not function in
1920 in that mine. In 1921, however, an election

295

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

was held, and two former active representatives were
elected.^

The local unions here also assumed functions which
might otherwise have been handled through employes'
representation. They have controlled the elections of
check-weighmen. We found in 1920 that the check-
weighmen, in the five camps having such officials, were
all nominated in the local union. While they were
elected by the necessary two-thirds vote of the em-
ployes, their election was assured by the vote given
them by the local union. Further, a majority of the
check-weighmen are officials of their locals. Prior to
the strike of November, 19 19, check-weighmen were
active union leaders and solicited members among the
miners for their locals.^

Then, again, the local unions have elected pit com-
mittees. This is the form of representation granted by
operators under contracts signed with the United
Mine Workers. This action has been taken in Colo-
rado camps for its moral effect rather than for any prac-
tical purpose, for local superintendents have taken the
stand that they would not deal with pit committees
unless they were authorized to do so by the manage-
ment. Recognition of the union by the company, they
say, would have to precede any dealings between the
superintendent and representatives of the local union.
The men, however, in the strongly unionized mines,
have refused to deal with the representatives elected in
accordance with the representation plan. "We would

1 The company tells us that elections were held here in 1922 and
again in 1923, when, as already noted, 87.7 per cent of those eligible
voted. These elections occurred after we had left Colorado.

^ The salary of the check-weighmen is paid by a pro rata deduction
from the wages of every miner in the mine.

296

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

rather suffer," they told us in their camps, "than take
up any grievances under the Rockefeller Plan."

At times, moreover, the men in these mines have
struck or threatened to strike unless certain grievances
which they had were adjusted outside of the machinery
of the plan. Thus, we read in the report of the presi-
dent's industrial representative concerning one camp
that " influence from the outside has resulted in a ten-
dency on the part of a majority of the employes to ig-
nore the employes' representatives."^ Later on in 19 19
we find a strike recorded for the same mine because
the superintendent laid an employe off. "The miners,"
we read, "refused to act through representatives elected
under the Industrial Representation Plan." Mr.
Matteson, the president's chief industrial representa-
tive, personally visited the mine. He "conferred with
the employes' representatives, who told him that they
had been ignored by the miners." Later he held a
meeting attended by a number of the miners from Engle
and by "Vasquez, secretary of the United Mine Work-
ers, and not an employe of the company." The miners
present at the meeting told Mr. Matteson that "they
did not want to deal with the company through their
elected representatives." " Mr. Matteson assured them
they could elect any other representatives they wished,
providing it was done in accordance with the Industrial
Representation Plan. He made it clear that the com-
pany had no objection to the men's belonging to the
United Mine Workers, but that it did not recognize the
union as an organization." The report does not say
whether the miners elected other representatives, but

^ Reports of David Griffiths, period October, 19 18, to November.
1919. Engle mine, April 3, 1919.

297

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

the result of the meeting was that the miner who had
been laid off was reinstated.^

Another strike occurred in the same mine later as a
means of forcing the company to discharge an employe
whom they suspected of stealing " picks." Again the case
had to be settled outside of the machinery of the represen-
tation plan, substantially as was the one described above.

One more illustration shows that the union men
employed by the company exert a powerful influence
of leadership. This is described here in anticipation
of the discussion of the strike of 1919 in the following
chapter.- After the officials of the United Mine Work-
ers called off the national coal strike on November 1 1,
19 1 9, in conformity with an injunction issued by federal
Judge Anderson, the miners of Colorado returned to
work. When they asked again for their jobs, they found
that the company had introduced a card which they
were asked to sign as a condition for securing work.
This card read as follows:

"As an employe of the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company, 1 know that it is operated as an Open
Shop under the Plan of Representation of Employes
of which I have received a copy.

" I will co-operate in maintaining the rules and
agreements relating to my service and the laws of
my State and Country."

A cry was immediately raised by union men against
the "red card" as they called it because of its actual
color. They charged that the company was attempting
to force them to accept the representation plan. They
threatened to strike again. As a result, the United

1 Reports of B. J. Matteson, beginning December, 19 18.
= Chapter XIV, Colorado Miners in the Strike of 1919, page 303.
298

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

States District Attorney asked that the use of the card
be suspended on the ground that there must be no ob-
stacle to the production of coal, as the strike had already
decreased the available supply throughout the country.
Again, under the leadership of the union, a request
was made that the Industrial Representation Plan be
abolished and that a contract be signed with the United
Mine Workers. This happened in September, 1919.
Twelve letters, identical in form, indicating a common
source, were sent to President Welborn by 12 different
locals in as many camps. The letters were in the form
of a resolution and read as follows:

" Whereas,

"We, the employes of . . . Colorado, em-
ployed by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, who
have been working under the Rockefeller Industrial
Plan since the inception of same. And,

" Whereas,

"Said plan is not an agreement, but a method of
plain explotation^ whereby the employes are com-
pelled to work and exist under undesirable conditions.
We have no proper protection or no voice or vote as
to the conditions under which we shall work. And,

" Whereas,

"We have gone on record by unanimously voting
against said plan.

"Therefore, be it resolved,

"That we insist upon recognition of the United
Mine Workers of America with a contract signed by
and between said organization and the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company. And,

" Be it further resolved,

"That copies of this resolution be sent to President
Wilson, to Secretary of Labor W. B. Wilson, to J. F.

1 The word "explotation" (sic) was misspelled in all these letters
and gave evidence of a common source.

299

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Welborn, president of said company, and to John L.
Lewis, acting president of the United Mine Workers
of America."^

In acknowledging this letter, President Welborn
denied the charge made against the plan by the repre-
sentatives of the local unions, and explained the policy
of the company. "The provisions of the Representa-
tion Plan," he wrote, "do not permit of any exploitation
. . . even if the management so desired . . .
On the contrary, under the spirit of the plan . . .
our employes have had a voice in and have helped to
adjust from time to time the conditions under which
they have lived and worked." He promised an investi-
gation, under the plan, of the "dissatisfaction" implied
in the letters sent by the local unions:

"Your statement implies dissatisfaction on the
part of some of our employes, and in accordance with
the spirit and policy of administration of the In-
dustrial Representation Plan we will, through the
president's industrial representative and others, un-
dertake, to find out what, if any, conditions unsatis-
factory to the workmen do exist at our coal mines,
and endeavor to adjust them."^

in answer to the chief demand of the members of the
local union, President Welborn expressed himself as
unwilling "to enter into a contract with the United
Mine Workers of America."- He gave four reasons.
Such a contract would mean the partial abandonment
of the Industrial Representation Plan; it would apply
only to a portion of the employes, while the plan applied
to all; it would be unfair to "that large body of our em-

' Hearing before Colorado State Industrial Commission, Decem-
ber 3, 1919, p. 63. Typewritten record.
* Ibid., pp. 65-67.

300

UNITED MINE WORKERS IN COLORADO

ployes who prefer not to join the union"; it would
mean a violation of the section of the plan which pro-
vides for no discrimination because of membership
or non-membership in a union. President Welborn's
reasons in full follow:

"We are not willing to enter into a contract with
the United Mine Workers of America, which you re-
quest:

" I. Such a contract would mean at least a partial
abandonment of the Industrial Plan and Agreement,
with which, during four years of operation, our em-
ployes have expressed such general satisfaction, and
which representatives of the United Mine Workers
of America have openly stated it is their purpose to
break.

"2. The Representation Plan applies to all em-
ployes, while a contract with the United Mine Work-
ers of America would apply to only a portion of our
present employes, although under the policies of ad-
ministration of such contracts all of our coal mine
workers would eventually be compelled to join the
union.

"3. Such a contract would be unfair to that large
body of our employes who prefer not to join the
union, many of whom have sought employment with
this company because of the favorable conditions
under which they can work at our mines, and to avoid
working under the conditions that are usually im-
posed where contracts exist between the United Mine
Workers of America and coal producers.

"4. Recognition of the United Mine Workers of
America and the making of a contract with that
organization would nullify that portion of our existing
agreement with employes, which reads:

'"There shall be no discrimination by the com-
pany or by any of its employes on account of member-
ship or non-membership in any society, fraternity,
or union.'"

20 301

employes' representation in coal mines

In conclusion, Mr. Welborn expresses the opinion
that the letters received by him from the local unions
are not bona fide expressions of dissatisfaction of the
miners, but have been prepared and submitted to the
emplo>'es by representatives of the United Mine
Workers:

"The resolution signed by you is apparently a
duplicate of similar documents received by me from
other mines, all of which may have been, and some
of which we have been informed were, prepared by
representatives of the United Mine Workers of
America not working for this company, and sub-
mitted to our employes for signatures, some of whom
state that they signed the paper without knowing
what it contained and simply because they were
requested to do so by the organizers of the union.
These documents state, concerning the Industrial
Representation Plan, that ' We have gone on record
by unanimously voting against said plan.' We know
that at many, if not all, of the mines the action,
which the resolution reports, was participated in
by only a small percentage of our employes at those
mines. Therefore, your communication cannot be
regarded as expressing dissatisfaction on the part
of our employes with the Representation Plan."

It is true, without doubt, that the paid officials and
organizers of the union influenced this action and others
like it on the part of employes of the company. The
significant fact, however, is that the United Mine
Workers' organization has an aggressive enough mem-
bership among the miners employed by the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company to insure frequent and vigorous
expression of opposition to the Industrial Representa-
tion Plan.

302

CHAPTER XIV
COLORADO MINERS IN THE STRIKE OF 1919

THE nation-wide strike of bituminous miners on
November i, 19 19, was primarily caused by con-
ditions in the Central Competitive Field, which,
as has been stated, includes Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and
western Pennsylvania. The issues did not relate di-
rectly to Colorado. The United Mine Workers had
held a convention at Cleveland in September, 19 19,
where the delegates went on record as favoring the
abrogation of the "Washington wage agreement," in
accordance with which they were then working. This
wage agreement, which had been signed in 1917, had
stipulated that the conditions prescribed in it should
hold until the formal declaration of peace after the
World War, or until March 31, 1920. The miners con-
tended that, despite the fact that the United States
had not yet signed the Treaty of Versailles, the war was
actually over by the autumn of 1919. They further
stated that, with the rising cost of living and a sta-
tionary wage, they must have a new consideration of
wage rates. They declared that they desired a 60 per
cent increase in rates of pay and, in order to spread the
work more evenly over the bituminous coal industry,
in which employment was very irregular, they also
asked for a six-hour day and a five-day week. They in-
structed their international officials to call a strike to
take effect on November i , 1 919, if a satisfactory agree-
ment could not be secured before that date.

303

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Two attempts at the negotiation of a new agreement
between the miners' and the operators' scale commit-
tees proved fruitless. On October 15, 19 19, John L.
Lewis, who had become president of the United Mine
Workers, called a strike of all bituminous miners for
November i. Two days later William B. Wilson, Sec-
retary of Labor, made an attempt to have operators and
miners negotiate a new contract. He failed. On Octo-
ber 25 President Wilson issued a public statement de-
claring the strike "unjustified" and "unlawful." At
the request of the United States Attorney General,
Judge A. B. Anderson of the Federal Court in Indian-
apolis issued a temporary restraining order on October
31, directing union officials not to execute the strike
order. On November i the miners in the Central Com-
petitive Field went out 100 per cent strong.

On November 8 Judge Anderson issued a second in-
junction commanding officials of the United Mine
Workers to rescind the strike order within three days
on penalty of imprisonment. After a special conference
of three days the district and international officials
voted to abide by the injunction. A circular was issued
to the local unions notifying officers and members of the
canceling of the strike order.

But the miners in the Central Competitive Field did
not return to work. On December 3, 84 representatives
of the United Mine Workers were cited for contempt
of court by Judge Anderson. Still the miners did not
return to work. On December 8 a conference of inter-
national and district officials of the miners' union ac-
cepted a new proposal put forward on behalf of President
Wilson by Attorney General Palmer and Joseph Tumulty ,
the President's secretary. This proposal guaranteed

304

THE STRIKE OF I919

the miners an immediate increase of 14 per cent in
their wage rates and the appointment of a commission
of three persons to consider all the demands for which
the men were striking. Having accepted this proposi-
tion, the international officials of the union issued a
circular definitely instructing the miners to return to
work immediately. This time they returned to their
jobs.

In Colorado the course of events was different in that
the president of District 15, George O. Johnson, called
the strike off on November 11, 19 19, when he received
word in the circular of that date that the international
officers of the United Mine Workers had declared that
they would abide by Judge Anderson's writ of injunc-
tion. Apparently, union officials in some other districts
noted that the circular sent to local unions from the
international office merely stated that the order of
October 15 to strike on November i was rescinded, but
did not specifically instruct the men to return to work.
Therefore, miners in the Central Competitive Field re-
mained on strike until December lo, but in Colorado
the men returned to work on November 12 and 13.

Moreover, in Colorado the state instituted proceed-
ings against some of the striking miners for violating
the State Industrial Commission law, which, as we have
already noted irt preceding chapters, requires thirty
days' notice before any change can be made in wages
or hours, and prohibits a strike under these circum-
stances until an investigation has been completed by
the State Industrial Commission. The state attor-
ney general issued instructions to the district attorneys
of the several counties in Colorado to prosecute miners
who engaged in the strike on November i, in violation

305

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

of the state law. No miners were arrested for striking
in Walsenburg or Las Animas Counties. In El Paso
and Weld Counties, however, where the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company operates no mines, the district
attorney caused the arrest of union leaders and none of
the miners in the state could tell when they might be
summoned into court.

A majority of the miners employed by the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company had joined in the strike on
November i,^ despite the fact that the issues were na-
tional and not merely local for Colorado. It was a
strike for a higher wage scale, shorter hours of work, and
other considerations which usually enter into the mak-
ing of a new contract. It was not a strike for union
recognition, which would probably have been the domi-
nant issue in a strike in Colorado. It was a show of
strength in all districts in behalf of the national organ-
ization of the United Mine Workers.

As President Welborn said, in the Industrial Bulletin
of the company in January, 1920:^

"The call for the strike to take effect November i
was made nation wide, although negotiations for a
new scale between representatives of the coal miners'
organization and operators, and their disagreement,
had taken place in only one large district."

Nevertheless, in the course of the strike, in local
speeches, Colorado issues were coming to the front.

1 The company officials believe that it would be more accurate to
say that they "did not report for work." It is the contention of the
company that most of the employes who did not work during the
strike stayed away because of fear or a disinclination to oppose the
action of the union.

^ Industrial Bulletin, January 20, 1920, p. 4. — Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company.

306

THE STRIKE OF I919

President Welborn quotes in his annual report for 1919
the press reports of statements made by a union or-
ganizer, which read as follows:

"We are going to organize every coal mine in the
country, and if the Rockefeller interests do not come
through, it will be a warm time through 1919 and
into 1920.

"We will not give up until the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company gives us a closed shop."^

President Welborn used this statement by way of
evidence that, "so far as Colorado was concerned, the
real issue was whether or not union contracts and the
'closed shop' should be established in the industry
here. "2

There is no doubt that union officials in Colorado
wished to utilize the national strike as a means of
obtaining a union contract. One of them reported to
us that he had made the proposition to Mr. Welborn
and other non-union operators that if they would agree
to recognize the union, he would see to it that their
employes were exempt from the strike order. We were
afterward told by Mr. Welborn that this proposal was
made at a meeting in the governor's office between
operators and union officials, but that the proposal was
not pressed by the governor as an issue and no action
was taken on it. Nevertheless, even though local issues
were definitely raised in the course of the strike, it is
clear that its origin was not in Colorado, nor was it the
result of a concentrated effort to secure union recogni-
tion in Colorado, but rather to secure certain changes
in wages and hours in the Central Competitive Field.

In discussing his view that the local issue was the

1 Ibid. 2 Ibid.

307

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

closed shop, President Welborn said, in his annual re-
port for iqiq:

" The managing officers of the company believe that
it is to the interest of the stockholders and of the em-
ployes,— many of whom have sought work with us be-
cause of our favorable terms of employment and work-
ing conditions, — as well as to that portion of the public
which we serve, that the principles of collective bar-
gaining without discrimination, which the represen-
tation plan provides, should prevail in our industry.

"The statements of the union officers responsible
for the calling and direction of both strikes make it
clear that their two primary purposes in Colorado
were the forcing of union contracts, including the
'closed shop,' and the abolishment of the plan of
representation of employes. Before the strikes were
inaugurated, during their continuance, and since
their termination our employes, by both words and
actions, have shown that they were overwhelmingly
opposed to those purposes and satisfied with the
methods of representation and collective bargaining
practiced in our operations."^

The Company's Efforts to Prevent the Strike
In the days prior to November i officials of the com-
pany did everything in their power to prevent their
employes from joining in the strike. They visited the
camps and made speeches at meetings of the miners
assembled in Young Men's Christian Association audi-
toriums. At some of these meetings President Welborn
made the speech. At Berwind, according to the Denver
Post for October 20, 191 9, he said that he felt " confident
that the mine workers employed by the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company were not in sympathy with the pro-

' Twenty-eighth Annual Report, Colorado Fuel and Iron Com-
pany, December 31, 1919, pp. 7, 8.

308

THE STRIKE OF I919

posed Strike, and that the majority of them would not
go out." The company felt that it had a "very high
public duty to perform" to maintain the production of
coal. He told the men that no strike-breakers or mine
guards would be employed, and that unless a sufficient
number of men remained at work to operate the mines
they would be closed down. If a strike should take
place, the management would ask the state or the fed-
eral government for protection for its mines and for
employes who desired to remain at work. He assured
the miners that the company would be willing to in-
crease wages if the operators in competitive districts
should increase them. This appeared to make it unnec-
essary for employes of the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company to strike for higher wages. Finally, the com-
pany promised the men that if a strike were called, their
families could remain in the houses owned by the com-
pany and would not be obliged to move to tent colonies.
Similar addresses were made by other officials at other
camps, pointing out that the country was in great need
of coal, that it was a patriotic duty for miners to work
and produce coal, and that, in the opinion of govern-
ment officials, a strike would be illegal.

In estimating the effect of these statements we must
remember that the large majority of the miners are
foreign born and many not naturalized though some
may have taken out their first papers. A good many
were from Austria, which had been so recently an enemy
country. The year 1919 was the time when the federal
Department of J ustice was initiating the activities which
led to deportation of aliens for alleged seditious utter-
ances and actions. When the strike was interpreted by
the newspapers and by company officials as an issue

309

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

between Bolshevism and revolution on the one hand and
Americanism and patriotism on the other, we may easily
see with what trepidation foreign-born miners would
respond to a strike call.

Extent of the Strike in the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company

In his annual report to the stockholders regarding
the strike President Welborn said:

"Although a large percentage of the miners ceased
work November i, most of them returned immedi-
ately after the troops arrived at the mines, and the
small remaining number came back when it was
announced on November 1 1 that the strike order had
been withdrawn."^

Data secured from the company showing the number
of miners at work and the production of coal in normal
times and during the period of the strike, from Novem-
ber I to II, show the response of employes to the
strike call.

The number of men employed and the average num-
ber of tons of coal produced each day, are shown in
Table 3; and for the purpose of comparison there is also
shown the average number of employes and of tons pro-
duced per day during the preceding month, October,
which may be regarded as a normal period.

The table shows that on November i, the day on
which the strike was called, only 442 men reported for
work, as compared with 2,794, the average number em-
ployed per working day during October, in other
words, only 16 per cent of the average October force
went to work on the day after the strike call. Of the

Mbid.
310

THE STRIKE OF IQIQ

miners, the men who actually dig the coal, an even
smaller proportion, 9 per cent of the October average,
worked on the first day of the strike. The effect of the
strike call is registered, also, in the production record.
Only 1 1 per cent of the average daily tonnage for Octo-
ber was taken out of the mines on the first day of the
strike.

TABLE 3.— SIZE OF FORCE AND OUTPUT IN 15 MINES^
OFTHECOLORADO FUEL AND IRON COMPANY DURING
OCTOBER, 1919, AND DURING STRIKE PERIOD, NOVEM-
BER 1-11, 1919

Men working

Tons
produced

Date

Number per

day

Per cent of normal

Number
per day

Per
cent
of ■

Shift

Miners

men

Total

Miners

men

Total

normal

Daily aver-

age, October

1417

■377

2794

100

9930

100

Nov. I

309

442

1056

1 1

221

512

733

1693

335

644

Q79

2731

424

683

1 107

2792

451

721

1 172

3117

" 7

485

746

1231

4031

" 8

480

73(3

1216

3431

538

798

1336

5«

4055

1 1

552

75«

1310

5368

Daily aver-

age, strike

period

402

656

1058

3142

^ Mines which were closed when the coal strike was called are
not included in the table.

It will be noted that there was rather steady increase
in the number of men at work and in production as the
strike proceeded. Yet, on the last day of the strike,

311

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

November 1 1, the total working force was only 47 per
cent, and the miners working were only 39 per cent, of
the average for October. Production on the last day of
the strike reached 54 per cent of the October figure.
November 1 1 was Armistice Day, and it may be that
this fact kept some of the men away from work on that
day. Examination of the table, however, suggests that
the nominal holiday had very little if any influence.
The mines were open for work and about the same num-
ber of men worked as on the previous day.

At the bottom of the table average figures for the
strike period are presented for comparison with the
average figures for October. They furnish a measure of
the effectiveness of the operation of the mines during
the strike period as a whole. These figures, however,
are less significant than those to which attention has
already been called, which show the initial response to
the strike call and the extent to which the strike was
maintained. There was a reduction from the normal
total force of 84 per cent on the first day of the strike;
and on the last day, in spite of military protection in
some districts and the urgent demand for production,
53 per cent of the normal force was still lacking. Of
the actual miners 91 per cent were absent on the first
day of the strike and 61 per cent on the final day.

In discussing the effect of the strike it is important
to state that five mines — Sopris, Starkville, Tabasco,
Engle, and Toller — had been shut down September 22,
1919, on account of the steel strike, which had resulted
in closing the Minnequa Steel Works, thus cutting off
the market for a large part of the coal of these five
mines. These five were strongly organized by the union.
It was commonly believed among the miners that

312

THE STRIKE OF I919

had these five mines been operating when the coal strike
was called, they would have been practically shut down
with fewer men and lower production than prevailed
in some of the other mines of the company. The daily
average of employment, as compared with the normal
force, might thus have been lower had these five mines
been open.

It is worth while examining the data further for each
of the districts into which the mines of the company
are divided. The strength of the United Mine Work-
ers differs in each district. ^ In the Trinidad District,
situated in Las Animas County, the largest coal-pro-
ducing area in Colorado, the union keeps most of its
organizers, and here the most intensive organizing cam-
paigns have taken place. It is in Trinidad that the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, as already stated,
has more of its mines — nine in number — than in any
other district. They are also the largest producers and
are important because they furnish the coking coal for
the steel works in Pueblo. In the strike of 191 3 the most
serious violence occurred in this district. In it lies the
field of Ludlow, not far from Berwind, Tabasco, and
Toller.

Table 4 shows the size of the force and the output
during the strike in the four mines of the company in
the Trinidad District which were operating when the
strike was called.

In the Trinidad District no men worked on Novem-

1 As already stated, the management has, for administrative pur-
poses, grouped its coal mines into four districts. There is only one
mine (Crested Butte) in the Western District and we have combined
it for statistical purposes with the Canon District in Fremont County,
to which it is nearest geographically and most similar in social and
economic conditions.

313

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

ber 1, which was Saturday, but on the following Mon-
day 40 per cent of the average October force was at
work. For the miners, however, the percentage was
only 21, and production was but 24 per cent of the
October average. By November 1 1 the total working
force in these mines had increased to 67 per cent of the
October figure, the miners working to 55 per cent, and
the tonnage to 52 per cent.

TABLE 4.— SIZE OF FORCE AND OUTPUT IN FOUR MINES*
IN THE TRINIDAD DISTRICT OF THE COLORADO FUEL
AND IRON COMPANY DURING OCTOBER, 1919, AND
DURING STRIKE PERIOD, NOVEMBER 1-11, 1919

Men working

Tons
produced

Dale

Number per

day

Per cent of normal

Number

Per

cent of

Miners

Shitt
men

Total

Miners

Shift
men

Total

per day

normal

Daily aver-

age, October

469

448

917

100

3666
0

100

Nov. I

100

267

367

869

" 4

•53

30Q

462

1222

203

349

552

7«

1381

3«

" 6

207

349

550

1541

221

36s

^86

1869

" 8

216

3^8

574

1686

236

346

582

1729

1 1

257

353

610

1893

Daily aver-

age, strike

period

177

300

477

1354

a The four mines which were working when the strike was called
are Moriey, Primero, Frederick, and Berwind.

In the Canon District, situated in Fremont County,
organization of the union has always been strong. We

314

THE STRIKE OF I919

have had occasion heretofore to refer to the aggressive
frankness of the miners here. They Hve in open, in-
corporated towns, and in houses which are not owned
by the company. We have heard men in this district
speak with pity about their fellow- workers in Huerfano
and Las Animas Counties. "The poor devils in the
south," one of them said, "can't do much. They're
afraid to open their mouths. They live in company
houses and can be put out on short notice. Then there
are a lot of drifters, men who come and go, in those
camps. Up here most of us own our own homes and
we and our fathers have always been here. We stick
together and are not afraid to express our opinions."

Table 5 shows the response of the men in the Canon
District and in the Western Slope District to the strike
call.

In the Canon and Western Slope Districts during the
first seven days of the strike not one man worked. In
the last two days 42 men, of whom only 1 1 were miners,
reported for work at one mine, Fremont. In these two
districts, which produced during October at an average
rate of 2,193 tons per day, the total coal produced dur-
ing the strike was only 87 tons on November 10. On
the last day of the strike the records show no coal sent
out of the mines.

In the Walsenburg District, situated in Huerfano
County, the company considers that the Industrial
Representation Plan is stronger than in any other.^
Officials told us that in one mine a committee of em-

1 In discussion of this point President Welborn said that the plan
was stronger because the superintendents were all younger men and
vitally interested in the success of the plan. Some of the older super-
intendents in other districts might be said not to have the same
whole-hearted sympathy with the spirit of the plan.

3'5

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

TABLE 5.— SIZE OF FORCE AND OUTPUT IN ALL MINES^
IN THE CANON AND WESTERN SLOPE DISTRICTS OF
THE COLORADO FUEL AND IRON COMPANY DURING
OCTOBER, 1919, AND DURING STRIKE PERIOD, NOVEM-
BER 1-11, 1919

Tons

Men working

produced

Date

Number per

day

Per cent of normal

Number

Per

cent of
normal

Miners

Shift

Total

Miners

Shift

Total

per day

men

Daily aver-

age, October

397

325

722

100

2193

100

Nov. I

" 4

" 6

" 8

" ID

" 1 1

1 1

Daily aver-

age, strike

period

•5

a Coal Creek, Rockvale, Fremont, Crested Butte,
b Less than one-half of one per cent.

ployes drove local union officials and organizers from the
camp. 1 n another a similar committee would not permit
union organizers to hold a meeting in the camp road.^ It
was here, too, that a certain number of employes asked
for federal troops when the strike was called, indicating

1 The charge was made against one of the organizers that he was
unpatriotic because he had accused the "capitalists of wrapping the
American flag about themselves to hide their unjust acts." Some
returned soldiers thought that this statement was an insult to the
American flag.

316

THE STRIKE OF I919

to company officials that the men did not wish to strike.
President Welborn says, in his annual report:

" Many of the workmen feared violence, claiming
threats had been made against them by those pro-
moting the strike, and in response to their petitions
to the governor for protection state troops were placed
in the different coal-mining fields during the first days
of November."^

Only in this district was the request made for troops,
and those who sought military protection asked origin-
ally for federal troops, not state militia. They feared
a repetition of the acts of the state militia in 19 13
and 1914. This was told us by almost every man inter-
viewed who had had anything to do with the move-
ment.

It was quite difficult to ascertain to what extent this
request for troops emanated from the rank and file of
the miners. The point is important, for if the miners, of
their own free will, asked for troops, the action would
indicate opposition to the strike and to the union which
had called it. The fact seems to be that the request for
troops was started by the chief electrician at one of the
mines. This electrician was not a miner, or even a
wage-earner in the meaning of the representation plan.
He was a representative of the monthly employes under
the new arrangement made in 1919 to give those men
representation under the industrial plan.

When he was interviewed later, after the strike, he
said that he had heard that the company would not
operate its mines after the strike began unless the pro-
tection of the militia or another agency was afforded.

1 Industrial Bulletin, January 20, 1920, p. 4. — Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company.

21 317

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

He went to his superintendent and asked him what he
thought about a plan of forming an Employes' Pro-
tective Association. The superintendent expressed the
opinion that it could not be done, but gave his chief
electrician permission to take the time to organize such
an association. The electrician went to another mine
and consulted a miners' representative there about
such an association. This representative, too, was not
a coal miner. He was a coal inspector. They both
agreed to call a meeting of representatives elected under
the industrial plan in this county. These representa-
tives included monthly men, such as clerks in the com-
pany stores, as well as those elected by the miners. A
meeting was held on October 26, 1919, at which a
resolution was adopted defining the strike as an issue
of Americanism versus revolution, and calling for the
creation of an Erfiployes' Representation Protective
Association of Huerfano County. The resolution fol-
lows:

"Whereas: A nation-wide strike of the United
Mine Workers of America has been called for Novem-
ber I, 1919, and

"Whereas: The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
employes have an agreement through their Industrial
Representation Plan with the company, and

" Whereas: The votes of the employes taken at the
meetings recently held have shown a large majority
of the employes opposed to the strike, and

"Whereas: It is our opinion that the demands on
which the strike is being called are unfair, and the
strike will work a tremendous hardship on the Amer-
ican people, and

"Whereas: The persons agitating in favor of the
strike are almost without exception single men and
non-citizens, and

318

THE STRIKE OF I9I9

"Whereas: We believe there are many members
of the United Mine Workers of America organiza-
tion who are opposed to the strike and in favor of
continuing at work,

"We believe that an organization should be formed
for the purpose of uniting the loyal employes who
wish to work.

"Therefore, be it resolved: That we form an
organization to be known as the Employes' Repre-
sentation Protective Association of Huerfano County,
and

" Be it further resolved: That we do hereby pledge
our support and assistance to the county officers in
the preservation of peace and order, and

"Be it further resolved: That the employes at
each camp be advised to select a committee of 25
or more to assist in preserving peace and harmony
by preventing inflammatory speeches, criticisms of
the President, the Governor, or any others in author-
ity, or in any manner attempting to destroy American
ideals and principles, and

"Be it further resolved: That all loyal American
employes, and all those who love and respect Ameri-
can ideals and principles, be asked to sign copies of
these resolutions, and

"Be it further resolved: That a proper card be
printed to be given each member, who, by signing
these resolutions, shall become a member of this
association."

In the meantime Sheriff Neelley, of Huerfano, and
other public officials had protested to the governor
against the sending of state militia into this county.
The sheriff told us that he had been through the strike
of 1 9 1 3 to 1 9 1 4, and that he felt certain that the presence
of the militia would aggravate the situation. Other
county officials were of the same opinion. The sheriff
believed that he could maintain law and order because

319

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

he had the confidence of the mine workers. The chief
electrician and other representatives who had been
active in forming the new Employes' Protective Asso-
ciation told us that they were suspicious of the sheriff.
He had sold arms, they said, to striking union miners in
the 191 3 strike when he was a hardware merchant.
They thought that he would be partial to union mem-
bers now. Moreover, the political element was a factor.
Neelley was a Democrat who had defeated the Repub-
lican sheriff, Jeff Farr, after the 191 3 strike. He would
wish to follow a policy different from his predecessor,
which was violently antagonistic to unions. Other
employes' representatives who wanted the presence of
military troops and who had worked in the 191 3 strike,
were opposed to the union, and suspected the sincerity
of the sheriff's proclamation,^ which counseled the men
to observe law and order and promised protection of life

^ The proclamation follows:

Sheriff's Proclamation
To the Coal Miners of Huerfano County:

Owing to the false reports that are being circulated through our
city and the different coal camps in the county by some of my enemies
and yours, I deem it wise to issue this " Proclamation":

1 am, as you all know, a friend of the mine workers as well as all
other classes of labor. I have always stood and still stand with the
laboring class. The laboring class elected me to my high office and
I shall remain loyal to them just as long as they remain loyal to our
county and abide by the laws of our great state and nation. If the
miners wish to quit work on November ist, or at any other time, that
is their privilege and there will be no deputy sheriff mine guards to
molest you, neither will there be any state militia interfering with
your affairs. Just as long as you are peaceful, law-abiding citizens
you will have the protection of the sheriff's office, but 1 as sheriflF
of this county must warn you against lawlessness of any character
whatsoever, and 1 am making an earnest appeal to each and every
mine worker of Huerfano County to assist me in keeping down trouble
of any kind. There is nothing to be gained by destroying life and
property, but, on the other hand, there is everything to lose. Public
sentiment will be turned against you if you begin the destruction of
property and public sentiment is the greatest weapon in our land to-

320

►

THE STRIKE OF I9I9

and property. In this proclamation the sheriff declared
that the miners had the right to strike, and promised
that no deputy mine guards or state militia would inter-
fere with their affairs so long as they obeyed the law.

On November i, the first day of the strike, troops
passed through Walsenburg, the county seat of Huer-
fano, on to Trinidad. In the evening Mr. Matteson,
the president's chief industrial representative, called
a meeting of the representatives who had been present
at the meeting on October 26. Some of the superin-
tendents were also present. Mr. Matteson explained,
according to men who were present, that the troops
had originally been shipped to Walsenburg, but due
to the request of Sheriff Neelley they were sent on to
Trinidad. He further stated that unless troops were
secured, the company would not operate its mines. A
committee was appointed by the representatives pres-
ent to draft a resolution^ requesting President Wilson

day. I am appealing to you as friends to refrain from violence of
any kind. This is for your good as for the good of the general public.
It is my sworn duty to protect life and property and this I shall en-
deavor to do at any cost.

Fraternally yours,

E. L. Neelley, Sheriff,
Walsenburg, Colorado,
October 20, 1919.

1 The resolution follows:

Ideal, Colorado, November i, 1919.
Honorable Woodrow Wilson,
President of the United States of America,
Washington, D. C.
Honorable Oliver Shoup,
Governor of the State of Colorado,
Denver, Colorado.
Sirs:

We the duly elected representatives of the employes of the Colo-
rado Fuel and Iron Company regularly assembled, petition you for
protection that we may continue to produce coal. Employes were
advised October 31 that there would be 75 soldiers in Walsenburg not

321

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

and Governor Shoup to send troops into Huerfano
County. Immediately the state militia was sent into
the Walsenburg District and remained there until the
strike was over.

In view of the active part taken in the request for
troops by company officials and salaried employes, and
in view of the political situation in Huerfano County, it
is doubtful whether this movement can be said to signify
opposition to the strike by the miners. Moreover, if fear
rather than loyalty to the union had caused many men to
stay at home when the strike began, the presence of the
militia to insure the protection of those who wished to
work would have enabled these men to resist the appeals
of the "outside agitator" to strike. Those who stayed
away from work under these circumstances would pre-
sumably have been moved by their sympathy with the
strike. Some evidence of the state of mind of the miners

later than four o'clock a.m. November i, and that seven carloads of
soldiers passed through Walsenburg at said hour — destination Trini-
dad.

Telegram to Governor Shoup on October 31 from 272 employes of
the Walsen mine asking for protection has as yet had no reply. We
have been informed that Sheriff E. L. Neelley had a personal inter-
view with Governor Shoup, October 31, advising against troops in
Huerfano County, which was responsible for troops passing through
the county this morning.

Colorado Fuel and Iron Company mines of Huerfano County are
working 60 per cent capacity today. If protection is not immedi-
ately furnished, mines will be idle Monday.

Sheriff Neelley's Proclamation of October 20 does not guarantee
protection of employes continuing at work.

(Sheriff's proclamation follows here.)

We as representatives of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company,
employes of Huerfano County, ask for immediate protection of state
or federal troops.

Signed, William Dow, Russell Patterson, Marion E. Bain-
bridge, Robert H. Noah, Robert A. Marshall, D. R. Young, J. E.
Mestas, Dave Garbigo, Victor Arnoldi, A. G. McNally, Joe August,
E. H. Jenkins, John Merritt, S. B. Heffner.

322

THE STRIKE OF I919

in this county is found in Table 6, showing the number
who worked during the strike.

TABLE 6— SIZE OF FORCE AND OUTPUT IN ALL MINES*
IN THE WALSENBURG DISTRICT OF THE COLORADO
FUEL AND IRON COMPANY DURING OCTOBER, 1919.
AND DURING STRIKE PERIOD, NOVEMBER 1-11, 1919

Men working

Tons
produced

Date

Number per day

Per cent of normal

Number

Per

cent of
normal

Miners

Shift

Total

Miners

Shift

Total

per day

men

Daily aver-

age, October

551

604

••55

100

4071

I GO

Nov. I

133

30Q

442

1056

121

245

366

824

182

335

5'7

1509

221

334

555

141 1

" 6

244

372

616

1576

264

3H1

645

2162

264

377

641

1745

292

420

712

2239

1 1

284

374

658

1475

Daily aver-

age, strike

period

223

350

573

5«

'555

3«

a Rouse, Ideal, Cameron, Walsen, Robinson, Pictou, Kebler.

We find that although a special request for troops
had come from this district, the percentage of men who
went to work in the Walsenburg District was little
more than that in the Trinidad District. In the Walsen-
burg District the total force at work on November i
was 38 per cent of the October average. The propor-
tion of miners working was 24 per cent, and the produc-
tion was 26 per cent of this average. The largest num-

323

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

ber of men worked on November i o, when 62 per cent
of the total force and 53 per cent of the miners went to
work, and production was 55 per cent of the October
average.

Thus, in spite of the fact that miHtia had been sent to
Las Animas and Huerfano Counties to protect the men
who wished to work, and in spite of the fact that picket-
ing was prevented by the strict enforcement of a law pro-
hibiting it, a substantial majority of the men in these
districts went on strike, and even on the last days of
the strike the operation of the mines gave little better
than half the normal production as measured by Octo-
ber figures.

In short, the response to the strike call of 191 9 seems
to us to have demonstrated that a considerable propor-
tion of the miners employed by the Colorado Fuel and
iron Company were willing to support the United Mine
Workers in a conflict over issues in a distant mining
region.

324

CHAPTER XV
THE COMPANY IN THE STRIKE OF 1919

TAKING the stand that the influence of union
officials outside the company was the chief cause
of the strike in its mines, the management of the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company adopted a policy
which it hoped might keep this outside influence away
from its employes.^

Excluding Organizers from Camps
The first step was to keep union organizers out of the
camps which the company owned. Mr. Welborn testi-
fied on this point before the State Industrial Commis-
sion on December 3, 1919. He was asked this question
by the attorney for the company:

"What has been the policy of the company as to
permitting organizers of the United Mine Workers
access to the company's camps?"

Mr. Welborn replied:

" The policy of the company for four years has been
to offer no objection to organizers visiting camps and
holding meetings of the men, and securing member-

1 During October, the management took a vote at each mine on the
question of whether the miners wished to strike or not. Altogether
2,035 out of about 2,800 employes voted. Of this number, 1,402, or
68 per cent, voted against striking. In only three mines did a ma-
jority of miners vote for the stril<e. Yet they responded in larger
numbers to the strike call. The company explains this as demon-
strating the influence of outsiders and not dissatisfaction among its
employes. Mine workers say that they were unwilling to commit
themselves in a vote taken by company officials.

325

employes' representation Ifi COAL MINES

ship in the union, but immediately before November
I , and after the nation-wide strike was called, in view
of the announcement made by the representatives of
the union as to their intention of forcing a complete
suspension of coal-mining operations, and also in view
. of the request made by the large number of our em-
ployes, we barred known organizers from our prop-
erty."^

This policy had been announced to the superinten-
dents of the mines by the general manager of the fuel
department in a conference on October 16,1919. He
had instructed them, as he told us, "to keep trouble-
makers out of the camps." From then on the superin-
tendents made an effort to keep organizers off company
property. In those camps in which the property, in-
cluding the streets, is owned by the company, this
meant that organizers could come only on the public
highway near the camps, but that they could not enter
without the permission of the superintendent.

One superintendent returned home determined to
carry out the orders of his superiors quite literally. He
decided that the president and the secretary of the local ■
union in his camp were "troublemakers." These men
were not organizers sent in by the union, but employes
of the company. He discharged them. This happened
before the strike took place. Whether this was done
with or without the knowledge of the general manage-
ment, we do not know. Certain it is, however, that his
action was not reversed. These two miners were not
called back by the company nor given work in any of
its mines.

Several notices to move from their dwellings were

.^Hearing before Colorado State Industrial Commission, Decem-
ber 3, 1919, p. 74. Typewritten record.

326

THE COMPANY IN THE STRIKE OF I919

issued to men who, in the opinion of the company, were
inciting other men to strike. We were told by the com-
pany that no one was actually dispossessed, and only
one man vacated his house after receiving a notice, but
to miners this seemed to be added evidence that the
company opposed activities by its employes in the union.

The superintendents naturally made known to the
men the efforts of officials to rid the camp of agitators,
and the miners began to realize, as they told us, that it
was "not healthy to be active in the union." Mr. Wel-
born later said to us that the action taken at this time
was not the result of any change in policy toward either
the right of their employes to join the union or the free-
dom of organizers to enter the camps; it was an unusual
action, growing out of an effort to prevent an unusual
strike. To the men in the mines, however, this distinc-
tion was not made clear. Mindful still of the hostility
of the company toward activities of their employes in
the union prior to 191 5, they believed that the action in
19 1 9 was a reversal to the old policy.

It should be made clear that no act of physical vio-
lence was the cause of this decision to keep organizers
out of the camps. The absence of violence was signifi-
cant. We heard of a few fist fights. We heard of no real
violence. No arrests were made at the instance either
of the company or of employes for threat of assault.
There was not even picketing.

In fact, this was the first large coal strike which was
carried through without violence in the history of
Colorado. And it is significant that five years after
1914, a strike of almost equal dimensions should be
called and not a single shot be fired. It is also sig-
nificant that Mr. Welborn promised his employes, when

327

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

addressing them in October, 19 19, against the proposed
strike, that no mine guards and no strike-breakers
would be imported into the mines. This promise was
rigidly observed, and no doubt this policy was largely
responsible for the absence of violence in the 1919 strike.
The new labor policy of the company was showing re-
sults in a new spirit in the company's relations with the
miners.

Excluding a Number from Re-employment
The events of the strike of 19 19 have already been
discussed. We wish to indicate here the incidents which
followed the strike. The injunction issued by Federal
Judge Anderson became effective November 11, 1919.
It forbade the continuance of the strike and ordered
the international officials of the United Mine Workers
to rescind the strike order. George O. Johnson, then
president of District 15, which included the Colorado
miners, immediately wired to the local union officials
ordering the miners to return to work. As soon as this
order was announced in the press. President Welborn
issued a statement that the company would re-employ
all of its miners except a few who had "attempted to
force a shut-down of all of our coal mines, in obedience
to the unlawful directions of the strike organizers."
The statement follows:

"The company will re-employ all of its former coal
mine workmen except those who left their work, and,
by the use of various methods to prevent others from
working, attempted to force a shut-down of all of our
coal mines, in obedience to the unlawful directions of
the strike organizers, and who, by that action, have
forfeited their right to re-employment by us. The
number who so conducted themselves is compara-
328

THE COMPANY IN THE STRIKE OF I919

lively small, but, in the public interest and the inter-
est of that large body of loyal workers who responded
to the president's call to continue at work, they should
not be given the opportunity to cause further trouble."

The Card for Employment
Having thus announced that some of those who had
joined in the strike would not be given employment, the
company decided, also, to require every man to sign a
printed declaration as a condition of securing work.
Reference has been made to this card in the preceding
chapter. It will be recalled that it read as follows:

"As an employe of the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company, I know that it is operated as an open shop
under the Plan of Representation of Employes of
which 1 have received a copy.

" 1 will co-operate in maintaining the rules and
agreements relating to my service and the laws of my
State and Country."

A duplicate on red cardboard was given to each man
after he had signed the declaration on a slip of paper
which was retained in the company's records. This, as
the officials explained to us later, was not a pledge, but
a statement that the signer had knowledge of the em-
ployment conditions maintained by the company. Union
men, however, told us that they looked upon this re-
quirement as an attempt to force all employes to agree to
the Industrial Representation Plan. They regarded this
new feature of the employment policy of the company
as a method of discrimination against union members.
They held that, in signing it, a union man would pledge
himself not to strike for recognition of the union. They
believed that it was an attempt by the company to
make "individual contracts" with its employes. Other

329

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

companies known to be antagonistic to unions had used
individual contracts as a means of pledging employes
not to join a union, nor to agitate for it, and this action
of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company seemed to these
men to put the company in the same class with em-
ployers who were fighting the unions.

in the camps where the union was strongest vigorous
protests were made against the "red card," or "loyalty
card," as the men called it. The matter even came to the
attention of the federal government. The Attorney
General wired to President Welborn on November 1 5,
1919:

"Complaint is being made that you are discrim-
inating against the men who are desirous of returning
to work and are compelling them to sign some sort
of commitment to your Industrial Plan. It is highly
important that the miners and operators at this
juncture should unite in the production of coal and
that a spirit of co-operation should be restored. May
I ask for information on the subject?"

To this President Welborn telegraphed this reply:

" We are not discriminating against union workmen,
but with object in view of maintaining operations at
maximum production we have declined to give em-
ployment to a very small number who, by various
methods, some of which took form of threats of bodily
injury, kept men from work while strike was on."

Then followed the exact wording of the declaration,
which President Welborn said the employes were " not
only willing, but apparently anxious to sign." The
telegram continued with these sentences:

"We appreciate fully importance of co-operation
between miners and operators in present situation
330

THE COMPANY IN THE STRIKE OF I919

and are sure policy we have adopted, which accords
with expressed wish of a large percentage of our em-
ployes who worked during the strike, will give us
maximum amount of coal. ... On receipt of
names of any who complain to you at our failure to
employ them I will be glad to give you reasons for
our action."

To the Federal Secretary of Labor, who was then
holding conferences in an effort to agree on a wage scale
in the bituminous coal industry, President Welborn
also wired on November 17, 1919:

" Press reports credit member of your coal confer-
ence board with charge that the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company is requiring coal mine employes re-
turning to work to give up their buttons and renounce
union affiliations. The coal strike is of such vital
interest to this nation that the public should know
whether or not that charge is true, and 1 ask you to
say for me to the coal conference that no action of the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company or any of its offi-
cials can be fairly construed as requiring members of
the United Mine Workers of America to renounce
that organization or as discriminating against them
because of membership in the organization."

The Colorado Industrial Commission also received
complaints about the use of the card and made inquiry
about it. At the hearings held by the commission in
December, 19 19, to inquire into complaints of dis-
crimination by the company against union members,
the purpose of the card was explained by Mr. Welborn
in the following testimony,^ which began with a ques-
tion by the commission:

Q. When you speak of the Rockefeller plan card

1 Hearing before Colorado State Industrial Commission, Decem-
ber 3, 1919, pp. 112, 113. Typewritten record.

331

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

you were having signed recently, since the November
I St strike, did you require the men to sign those cards?

A. No, the men were not required to sign the cards.

Q. If they refused, did you employ them?

A. They were required to sign the declaration
which forms a part of their employment record; the
declaration that they understood — this is it, 1 will
read it — they are required to sign this declaration
which reads, "As an employe of the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company 1 know that it is operated as an
open shop under the plan of representation of em-
ployes, of which 1 have received a copy. 1 will co-
operate in maintaining the rules and agreements rela-
tive to my service and the laws of my state and coun-
try." They were required to sign that declaration.

Q. If they refused, were they employed?

A. There were no refusals, absolutely none.

Q. What would you have done had there been a
refusal; what were the instructions?

A. When we sent these cards out, I do not know
just what the instructions were; they were given by
the manager, but I think we would have refused to
employ a man who refused to sign that declaration.
Our view was that it was no more than fair that em-
ployes of the mine should indicate their knowledge
of the conditions under which they were working,
and their willingness to observe the rules and be
loyal to the country and to the company.

Q. You speak of an open and a closed shop; what
do you mean by the terms?

A. A closed shop is an operation where only men
who are members of a labor organization are em-
ployed or permitted to work. An open shop is a
place, such as we conduct, where there is no dis-
crimination practised against a man because he is or
is not a member of the union.

To us a year later officials of the company explained
further their reasons for using this card. The sugges-

332

THE COMPANY IN THE STRIKE OF I919

tion had come, they said, from men in their employ
who wished to have a card to display as evidence that
they belonged to an organization, namely, the Industrial
Representation Plan. The union gives a card to its
members. Why should not the men who are not union
members and who are loyal to the plan for representa-
tion also have a card of membership to display? In fol-
lowing these clues, we found that the man who had
suggested the card had no interest in it and had to be
reminded of the whole incident. We could find no
evidence either of widespread interest or of opposition.
Antagonism had evidently been confined to a few camps.
The card was withdrawn on November 22, 1919, at
the request of the United States District Attorney.

It was clear that the wording of the card and the occa-
sion of its introduction— to be signed as a requirement
for re-employment immediately after a strike— led the
miners to believe that the company intended to use it to
strengthen the Industrial Representation Plan and to
discourage activities, or even membership, in the trade
union.

The Company's Statement of Policy

At the same time that the card was first used the
company had a poster printed, with the date November
11, 19 19, and this appeared on the bulletin boards of
all the camps as the company's statement of its policy.
It was still posted in at least one camp as late as Febru-
ary, 1921. It read as follows:

THE COLORADO FUEL AND IRON COMPANY
"One of the provisions of the plan of representation

of employes, adopted at our mines and steel works

four years ago, reads as follows:

'"There shall be no discrimination by the com-
22 333

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

pany or by any of its employes on account of
membership or non-membership in any society,
fraternity or union.'

'.'We have adhered strictly to the spirit and letter
of this provision, and will continue to do so.

" During the last two or three years we have fre-
quently been informed by large numbers of our em-
ployes that the methods used by organizers of certain
unions were very obnoxious, and we have on many
occasions been asked by our employes to protect
them against these organizers by denying such or-
ganizers admission to our properties.

"The recent actions of the leaders of the United
Mine Workers of America have shown that their
purpose in organizing coal miners was to establish
the 'closed shop' and place them in a position where
they could close down all coal mines in violation of
the law and against the interests of the one hundred
million people in this country.

" For months past some of our employes at the
Steel Plant, working with outsiders, have devoted
part of their time, both in and out of the plant, to
organizing the workmen and creating dissension.
Reports from a large percentage of our employes are
to the effect that these organizers assured them that
no strike was contemplated, and similar public state-
ments by the organizers were reported in the press.
The real purpose, however, was the establishment of
the 'closed shop,' and its enforcement was attempted
by the strike of September 22, which was in direct
violation of agreement between the company and its
employes.

" By continuing at work a large percentage of our
coal mine employes have shown their loyalty to their
government and to the company. They are not only
entitled to the commendation of the public for their
actions, but have a right to protection from those
who seek to cfirect them along unlawful and un-
patriotic lines.

334

THE COMPANY IN THE STRIKE OF I919

"Those who are disloyal to our country or the
company, or who engage in efforts to disturb har-
monious relations within the company, will neither
be retained in our service, nor allowed on our prop-
erties."

Company officials and superintendents had tried by
every means of peaceful persuasion to prevent their
men from striking. Inevitably the response to the
strike disappointed them. It was natural that they
should resent the activities of those trade unionists who
had been most active in persuading their fellow-em-
ployes to strike.

Trade unionists, on the other hand, saw in this poster,
especially the last paragraph, the possibility of discharge
for activities in the union. More than twenty different
superintendents would be called upon to interpret what
acts could be regarded as "efforts to disturb harmonious
relations within the company." Those engaging in such
efforts would "neither be retained in our service, nor
allowed on our properties." It is clear that even if these
phrases were not to be interpreted as referring to activi-
ties of organizers and union members, their vagueness
opened the door to discharges by some superintendents
of union men, or refusals to re-employ men who had
joined in the strike.

Whether any uniform instructions were sent to super-
intendents from the Denver office we do not know.
That the company wished to avoid any appearance of
opposition to the union is shown in the following letter,
written on November 18, 19 19, by the general manager
of the fuel department, Mr. Weitzel, to the superin-
tendent of Cameron mine:

" I am taking this opportunity to thank and con-
335

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

gratulate you on the showing made at Cameron
during the trying period that has just about passed.

" While we all know that the company's policy of
the past few years in treating with its employes and
furnishing better living conditions has been very help-
ful, 1 know that your personal influence had much to
do with the number of men who remained loyal to
the company. 1 recognize that the bunch of men that
you got in a short time before the strike from the
south did not help any, and recognize that your situa-
tion so close to Walsenburg makes it more difficult
to hold your men in line.

"The showing all around has been very good, and
one of the results is the recent poster sent out by Mr.
Welborn, which gives us an opportunity in the future
to keep the camp rid of objectionable agitators. We
must, however, be cautious in dismissing an employe
for attempting to disrupt harmonious relations, and
before taking such action must be sure that we have
positive proof of such actions. We must avoid any-
thing which would appear to be a fight against the
miners' organization, but rather must be more vigi-
lant than ever in conducting our dealings with our
employes in strict accordance with the Industrial
Plan and cause them to realize that their best inter-
ests lie in loyalty to the company and in doing their
part to make the plan a success."

To the superintendent of Ideal mine Mr. Weitzel
wrote as follows on the same date:

"Now that the strike is apparently over 1 am
taking time to write and thank and congratulate
you and those who assisted you in the good showing
made at Ideal.

" Ideal has the distinction of being the place to
start the propaganda against the agitator, and 1
recognize that the good showing made at Ideal all
the way through was in a large part due to your
personal efforts.

336

THE COMPANY IN THE STRIKE OF I919

"In carrying out the provisions in Mr. Welborn's
poster relative to agitators both without and within,
we must be very careful especially when dismissing
an employe for an attempt to disrupt harmonious
relations that we have absolute proof of such actions.
Anything which will look like a fight directed against
the organization will be harmful, and it will not be to
our advantage to start such a fight, and 1 know that
you appreciate that the right course lies along the
lines of living up strictly to our Industrial Plan and
treating our employes fairly and justly. If we suc-
ceed in doing this at all times, we can allow the future
to take care of itself."^

Assignment of Inferior Work-places to Strikers
Before discussing the refusals to re-employ some of
those who were regarded as "agitators," one other
cause of resentment at the policy of the company fol-
lowing the strike must be explained. In the minds of
trade union members a crucial test of the good faith
of a company in giving freedom to its employes to join
the union is its willingness after a strike to give men the

1 To this letter the superintendent of Ideal replied on November
22, 1919:

"Referring to your letter November 8th, relative to showing
made at ideal during the strike:

" 1 wish to thank you for this letter in behalf of those who assisted
me as well as myself, personally. Of course this showing could not
have been made without the showing of the fellows which includes a
large percentage of our employes.

" 1 trust we will be so successful in living up to the letter of our
Industrial Plan that there will be none among us who will wish or
try to disturb us, or disrupt harmonious relations which now exist.
If we should ever have occasion to call attention to any of our em-
ployes or be forced to discharge one of them for such actions, it
will be only after we have absolute proof of such action and then
after our efforts to dissuade the employe from such attempts, have
failed.

" I wish to assure you of the continued efforts of all of us to keep
things moving along in a satisfactory manner."

337

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

same positions that they have held before. Hence,
when the strikers returned to work in November, 19 19,
in the mines of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company,
they were prepared to be suspicious and sensitive on this
point. Some of the men found when they returned to
work that their old places had been given to men who
did not strike. Some of the strikers were offered less
desirable places. They were sure that it was because
they had been active in their local unions that they
were thus penalized.

That this action was a definite policy on the part of
the company was indicated by President Welborn's
testimony, shortly afterward, before the Industrial
Commission. He said that it was true that the manage-
ment gave the most desirable places in the mine to those
who did not strike. This was a means of rewarding
loyal employes and, also, of increasing the production
of coal. His testimony follows:

" . . . 1 have this to say about the placing of
men who returned after the strike was called off, in
parts of the mine different from those they had
worked in before. When the strike call was issued and
men left the mines, we very naturally gave the best
places, if there was any choice, to those men who
remained at work, for two reasons: first, that they
were showing a loyalty to their country and the
company by remaining at work; and another thing
was our desire for the greatest possible tonnage. If
there was a place in the mine where a man could pro-
duce one ton a day more than he had done in another
place, we felt it entirely proper, in fact, our duty, to
give him that place. It then followed when the
others came back to work, if there was any choice of
places, the men who stayed were not displaced; it
did not follow, though, that those who returned were

338

THE COMPANY IN THE STRIKE OF I919

obliged to take inferior places. There may have been,
and probably were in some cases, less desirable places
than those that some of them had filled before. "^

Miners argued that they were returning in compliance
with orders of the federal government. The strike had _
not been fought to a finish. They should have been
assigned to their old working places. The action of the
company, therefore, was considered by them as a form
of discrimination and a warning to union members.

The adoption of the "red loyalty" card and the
offering of inferior working places were, however, minor
forms of discrimination in the eyes of union workers,
compared with their third grievance — the refusal by
the company to give any kind of employment to cer-
tain men who had worked for it before the strike. Some
of these had been presidents, secretaries, and treasurers,
or active members, of local unions in various camps and
they had been energetic in organizing the miners for
the purpose of striking.

A Strike for Re-employment
The men who felt themselves discriminated against
and their sympathizers did not, however, take their
grievances to their representatives elected under the
Industrial Representation Plan, although, as they con-
tended that there was discrimination against them as
union members, it was a case covered by the plan.
Instead of doing this they wrote, wired, telephoned,
and brought their complaints in person to the officials
of District 15 of the United Mine Workers of America.
The president of this district immediately issued

1 Hearing before Colorado State Industrial Commission, Decem-
ber 3, 1919, pp. no, III. Typewritten record.

339

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

another strike order, to be eflfective November 20. The
strike, he said, would take place unless the company
would re-employ all of the men who had struck on No-
vember 1. The United States District Attorney, the
State Attorney General, and the State Industrial Com-
mission intervened. The two last secured an injunction
in the district court of Colorado against this threatened
strike, on the ground that the state law declares a strike
illegal until the Industrial Commission has investi-
gated and reported on the merits of the dispute. Presi-
dent Johnson recalled the strike order he had issued,
and filed with the state commission complaint that
the company was violating the section of the same law
forbidding discrimination against union members.
The State Industrial Commission proceeded to investi-
gate these charges of discrimination which were filed
against the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.

The commission had before it a list of some seventy
miners against whom discrimination was alleged.
Other names were added in the course of the hearings in
November and December, 19 19. The final decision ren-
dered was "that the evidence introduced at the several
hearings does not support the claims of the employes of
unfair discrimination against said employes on account
of affiliation with or activities on behalf of the union."

We have examined all the testimony, listened to the
Evidence when it was presented at the hearings, given
full consideration to the statements of the company,
and sought to check up testimony and documents by
interviews with miners, officials of the company, officers
of the union, and members of the Industrial Commis-
sion. The facts and considerations are too voluminous
to record here. The net result seems to be as follows :

340

THE COMPANY IN THE STRIKE OF I9I9

" Thirteen out of the seventy were refused employment
for various reasons, the principal one of which was the
use of unlawful means, threats, etc., to prevent other
men from working."^

We made very specific inquiry as to the details
of these threats, but we could secure no evidence of
anything more than this vague charge. It should be
remembered that it would be easy for one group opposed
to the union to describe as a threat the kind of argument
which a union man might regard as peaceful persuasion.
At least one of these men, who in 1921 was serving as
employes' representative in another mine of the com-
pany, was not accused of any act except efforts to
persuade men to strike, and it was perfectly clear in
his own mind that the superintendent refused to em-
ploy him again for no other reason than that he was an
active union member. The fact that he was re-employed
later in another mine lends credence to this impression,

1 The words are taken from a letter written by President Welborn
to a stociiholder of the company. For us, President Welborn pre-
pared a statement of the reasons for not employing fourteen men.
For instance, two men had been associated in the conduct of a board-
ing-house in one of the camps and had permitted drinking and dis-
orderly conduct ; another started a rumor that Sopris, one of the mines
which had been closed on account of the strike in the steel works and
which resumed operations on November 10 as the result of a petition
of former employes, would be reopened by strike-breakers, and by
this and other arguments he tried to prevent the opening of the mine;
two others had been "disturbing elements" in the same camp and
were not only unsatisfactory workmen, but they had even advised
fellow miners to load rock and other foreign matter with the coal;
two others are recorded as having been guilty of "practices similar"
to those just described, but both were subsequently employed by
the company; another was "very radical in his strike agitation"
and he was refused reemployment, but later was employed at another
mine of the company, and in 192 1 was an employe representative;
one had used profane language, but later he was employed in an-
other mine of the company; against five the accusation was that they
used every effort to keep men from working at the time of the strike
and made "threats."

341

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

and evidentl\' his activities were not of the kind to bar
him from future employment when the union was not
organizing a strike.

Further analysis of the hearings of the commission
reveals that several who were not re-employed were
active union men and that no detailed reasons for their
discharge were proved other than activity to make the
strike successful.

A few typical cases will illustrate the practice of the
company. At Tabasco both the president and the
secretary of the local union were refused their jobs.
Tabasco was closed when the coal strike was called. It
had ceased operation on September 22, when the steel
strike had cut oflf the demand for the coking coal pro-
duced at this mine; but it opened again and mined coal
during the coal strike for use in boilers and houses.

The testimony of Lawrence Shappac, the president
of the local union, will suffice, for that of the secretary
is almost identical. In his testimony Shappac states
that he had worked sixteen months in one place; that
he had spent ^200 for powder; that he was ready to
"pull pillars," the most lucrative work in mining which
comes at the end of a long period of working in a place;
and that this place was refused him and given to an-
other applicant. His statement follows:

Q. You applied for work at the Tabasco mine
when you were informed that they were going to
start up?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. And Mr. Parker told you there was nothing
doing?

A. Nothing doing for me.

Q. What do you suppose was his reason, have
you any idea?

342

THE COMPANY IN THE STRIKE OF 1919

A. I asked him for his reason and he said he is the
man to hire the men and he don't have to tell me why.

Q. That Tabasco mine was not on strike, was it?

A. It was not on strike as they are not dumping
coal; 1 asked on the 5th for a job and he refused me
on the 5th.

Q. The 5th of November?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Before the strike was called off?

A. Yes, because that mine was not on strike, as
they did not dump coal but used it for boilers and
houses and something like that.^

The superintendent of this mine, George P. Parker,
testified that he refused to give Shappac work. In
explanation he added that Shappac had "threatened"
other men in order to force them to strike on Novem-
ber first. His testimony follows:

O. Do you know Lawrence Shappac?

A. Yes.

O. He went out on a strike November i?

A. Yes.

O. And applied to you for work afterwards?

A. Yes.

Q. What reply did you make to him?

A. I said 1 did not have any work for him.

Q. Did you have any reason for not giving him
work?

A. Yes.

Q. What was that reason?

A. Because he threatened the men.

Q. In what way?

A. He told them there was going to be trouble
in the canyon and he was going to move and they
had better go too; if they went to work they were
liable to get hurt.

1 Hearing before Colorado Industrial Commission. Personal
testimony by Lawrence Shappac, December 11, 1919, pp. 380-383.
Typewritten record.

343

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Q. Whom did you get this information from?

A. From some of the men that lived in the canyon
where he lived.

O. Did you get it from the men to whom he made
the threat?

A. Yes.

O. Can you give the names of the men he
threatened?

The attorney for the company interposed:

If the court please, we have written statements
from the men and the men have indicated a fear of
having their names known. If the commission does
not insist upon it, we would like to refrain from giving
those names, because of the fear the men have, not
what we have. We will abide by the ruling of the
commission, but wish to make that statement.

Q. (Continuing) Did you get this information
from employes working under you?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. From how many diflferent persons did you get
that information?

A. Two.

Q. When did you get that information?

A. Shortly after the strike was called.

Q. Did these men work after the strike was called
and before it was called off?

A. Yes.

Q. And during that time you got this information?

A. Yes.

Q. Did you have any other reason for refusing
him work?

A. When he came that way, threatening the men,
I thought he would not be a good employe to put
among the men afterward.^

In addition to the president and secretary of the

1 Hearing before Colorado Industrial Commission, December n,
1919, p. 428. Typewritten record.

344

THE COMPANY IN THE STRIKE OF I9I9

union, two other active union men were refused work
at this mine. The reasons given by President Welborn
to the Industrial Commission are as follows:

F. S. Barron worked on the Mexicans under di-
rection of McGunigal and prevented them from
working during the strike.

Candido Guadinola, motorman at Berwind, very
radical during the strike and created all the trouble
he could. ^

Guadinola was later employed at another mine of the
company and was elected employes' representative in
1 92 1.

Another typical case is that of Mike Glad, at Toller-
ville, another mine in the Trinidad District. Glad
was financial secretary of the local union. He also
solicited members among the other miners in this camp.
He was a very active union man. He had been criti-
cized for this by the superintendent, who, because of it,
had refused to assign a good house to him. Tollerville
had also closed down on September 22 because of the
steel strike. When it re-opened some time in December
Glad returned for his work. He was refused re-employ-
ment. Glad's statement follows:

Q. Did you work in September?

A. Yes, to the 22d of September.

Q. At what mine?

A. At Tollerville and the steel works shut down
and the mine shut down too.

Q. You worked until the shut-down of the mine?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. When did that mine resume work?

A. 1 do not know when it was started, but 1 hear
from some men that the mine was started and I go
looking for a job and they refused me, and there was
1 Ibid., p. 103.
345

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

seven men with me, six and myself were seven, and
two was refused and some of us got a job.

O. What was that, what mine?

A. Tollerville.

Q. When?

A. The first of this month.

Q. The first of December?

A. Yes, sir.

O. You appHed to whom for work?

A. 1 asked the superintendent, Mr. Hanson.

Q. Out of the seven that came, how many got
work?

A. I cannot prove it for sure, — he got five at
work, — one man say he never got a job too; myself
and my brother, they refused us, and one other man
which was coming from a distance ... he give
him a job and did not give it to me.

Q. How long had you worked at Tollerville?

A. The first of April four years ago.

Q. How long just before they shut down?

A. More than four years.

Q. What reason did he give for not employing
you?

A. 1 do not know.

Q. What did he tell you?

A. He did not tell me nothing, he just told me,
"Why 1 got nothing for you at all." After that I
turned back and go away. After me my brother come
and he asked his name and he told the truth, my name
is Antone Glad, and he say: "I got nothing for you
either."

Q. Did you ask why?

A. 1 never asked him.

O. Did you apply afterwards for work?

A. No.

Q. You only applied once?

A. I was just once up there.

Q Are you working any place now?

A. No, 1 never worked no place yet.

346

THE COMPANY IN THE STRIKE OF I919

Q. Were you the secretary of the union?

A. Yes, financial secretary and treasurer.

Q. Did the superintendent know you were?

A. Yes, he know all right; he take me one time
into the lamp house when it was not finished yet, and
he called me inside and asked me what for I organize
people, what for 1 give [union] cards to the people
in the mine, to the diggers, and I say: "Mr. Hanson,
if you was a miner and a good man and if you come to
me and bring the money to me 1 give you a card."
"There is too much places you put that money."
I say, "That is not your business, that is my business,
I send it into the national and the district." Then
he told me I am organizing people in the mine, inside
and outside, and I say: "No, any man which comes
and ask me for so and so, I give it to him in mine
house, but 1 never go outside of the house." I asked
for a house lots of time, and I got a bad house and I
asked for a house lots of times and he never give it to
me, he had one empty house, four rooms, for pretty
long time and he did not want to give it to me but
throwed me out of the camp.

Q. You applied to Mr. Hanson for work on De-
cember I ?

A. Yes.

Q. Do you know when they started to operate the
mine?

A. He picked up some men to clean it up inside
and put the mine in good position.

Q. Don't you know he did not commence hoist-
ing coal until Tuesday of this week?

A. 1 do not know.

Q. Do you know what work he gave to the four
men?

A. Yes, he said if he needs track layers he has
got them, if he needs drivers he has got them right
here. I can do any kind of jobs the same like the
other people and 1 was a pretty long time in the mine;
he give it to them but refused me.

347

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Q. Had these four men worked at that mine be-
fore the shut down?

A. Three men was working and one came from
Wisconsin. 1

David Hanson, the superintendent, testified that
Glad had threatened other men and that he did not
need miners when Glad applied for work. He did not
send for Glad, however, when he did need men. Note
further another section of his testimony. When Han-
son testified that he needed miners, William Reilly, a
member of the State Industrial Commission, asked him
if he would employ Glad if the latter applied for work.
Hanson refused to commit himself. "Are you in need
of men at present?" asked Reilly. "Yes, sir."
"Would you employ Mr. Glad if he applied?" "Pos-
sibly, if I needed men when he came around." " You
say you need men at present?" "Yes, 1 need a few.
. , . " "Cannot you answer yes or no, if you
would employ him?" The answer was, "If 1 needed
a man when he applied. "^

The superintendent's testimony about threats is as
follows :

Q. Did you make any objection to Mike Glad,
to his organizing or getting men to join the union?

A. Not for getting men to join the union, but
using intimidation.

Q. Give us the facts.

A. A couple of men quit and when they quit 1
asked what they quit for and they said because they
were afraid; that they had been asked to join the
union and that threats had been made against them.

Q. What did you say to Glad?

1 Hearing before Colorado Industrial Commission, December,
1919, pp. 371-376. Typewritten record.
. 2 Ibid.

348 •

THE COMPANY IN THE STRIKE OF I9I9

A. I told Glad if he wanted to solicit men to join
the union he could do so, but not to use threats
against them.

Q. Did they say that Glad was the man that
threatened them?

A. Yes.

Q. Who were these men?

A. I cannot recall their names; two Mexicans, a
man and his son; it has been six or eight months
ago and they left shortly afterward.

Q. Did you hear Glad make threats against them?

A. No, 1 did not.

Q. There were other men working there that were
not members of the union?

A. Yes, 1 suppose there were.

Q. Did they make complaints about Glad threat-
ening them?

A. No, just these two men.^

Some of the seventy had left the neighborhood to
find work elsewhere before the commission began its
hearings and hence their cases were not heard. More-
over, it seemed to us that the commission's method of
investigation was not thorough enough to bring out all
the facts. Indeed, as the chairman told us, no first-hand
inquiry was made by the commission outside the formal
hearings. In short, as to whether there was or was not
discrimination in the varying attitudes of superinten-
dents toward returning employes the evidence seems to
us very unsatisfactory. The point is clear, however, that,
coupled with other actions and statements by the com-
pany, the refusal to re-employ the leaders of the strikers
led the miners to believe that the company had definitely
adopted the policy of discouraging membership in the
union and of opposing its activities in other ways.

1 Ibid., p. 457.
23 349

CHAPTER XVI

THE INDUSTRIAL REPRESENTATION PLAN
VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

THE relation of the plan for employes' represen-
tation to trade unionism is the most contro-
versial phase of this study. A true interpre-
tation of this relationship is desired by everyone and yet
differences of opinion seem to be inevitable. The com-
pany has declared repeatedly that its mines are free to
union and non-union men, and this statement is em-
bodied in the written plan of employes' representation.
On the other hand, it has definitely stated over and
over again that its policy has been not to enter into an
agreement with the United Mine Workers.

The labor movement construes this latter policy as
indicating antagonism to unions. Labor sees, also, the
spread of employes' representation at a time when trade
unions are being vigorously opposed by many groups of
employers. Trade unionists observe that sometimes
these "company committees" are used as an excuse for
refusing to have any dealings with a union. Therefore,
the American Federation of Labor has adopted a policy
of opposing shop committees, labeling them "company
unions," and thereby condemning them in the minds of
trade unionists. To find the truth, with all the distrac-
tions of this controversy obscuring real issues, is a diffi-
cult task.

350

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

Yet to those who desire a settlement of industrial
conflicts upon a just and enduring basis, the facts have
significance beyond their relation to one company.
The relationship between employers and employes in
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company holds within
itself all the elements of progress and reaction, of human
needs and human aspirations, of powers and weaknesses,
of fixed ideas and new visions, out of which better in-
dustrial relations in America must be evolved. What
will the union do with this plan? What will the com-
pany do with unionism? What will both together do
for the bituminous coal industry? in this chapter we
shall try to prepare the way for the answer by outlining
events and statements which seem to us to indicate the
attitude of the company toward trade unionism since
the inauguration of the plan for employes' representa-
tion.

The Policy of No Discrimination

At the National Industrial Conference held in Canada
in September, 19 19, the Industrial Representation Plan
of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company was discussed.
Mr. King, who, as has been noted, had had so important
a part in drafting the plan, was present. The following
statement was made by Tom Moore, President of the
Canadian Trades and Labour Congress. It was, in
reality, a direct challenge to Mr. King to explain the
labor policy of the company as he had understood its
intention when the plan had been adopted four years
earlier.

"The base of the Rockefeller plan is the non-
recognition of trades unions," said Mr. Moore. " I
make that statement knowing full well the responsi-
bility of a statement of that kind. The gentleman

351

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

has referred to the Imperial Oil Company's plan.
The company will maintain an open shop, without
discrimination against unions or against any man on
the ground of creed, race, color,' etc. There are
many ways of destroying trades unions, and they
have nearly all been tried except the one of agreeing
to them but seeing that they do not operate and
function; and this is the design of the plans which
are based on the Rockefeller plan."^

Mr. King, in reply, described the plan and its begin-
nings.

" 1 would have had no part in the concern one way
or the other," he said, " if it had been even remotely
intended for the purpose of fighting the unions. I
believe in labor unions. I believe that the progress
which has been made in improving labor's condition
has been made in a larger measure through unions
than any other institution that 1 know of. But 1 do
not believe, for that reason, that everything the
unions have done is right, or that their methods, on
all occasions, are right. I believe that they are
capable of rendering services to the world yet
undreamed of; but that it will never be if there is an
attitude of antagonism on the part of the unions on
the one side and the employers on the other. It will
be done only by showing the employers, who need
educating just as much as labor does, the merits of
operating with organized labor. I believe this plan
in Colorado has had that effect.

" Up to the time that the plan went into force the
miners had not felt secure in joining unions, had not
the right openly conceded; but when the plan went
into effect they were free to join them. What is the
position in Colorado today? A very large percent-
age of the miners are organized."^

1 Canada, National Industrial Conference, September 15 to 20
1919, Official Report of Proceedings and Discussions. Labour
Department, Ottawa, 1919, p. 153.

^ Ibid., p. 160.

352

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

The clause of the plan to which Mr. King referred
has been quoted in previous chapters. It reads as
follows: "There shall be no discrimination by the com-
pany or by any of its employes on account of mem-
bership or non-membership in any society, fraternity,
or union. "^

In order to show the intention of this clause, Mr.
King described at the Canadian conference the relevant
facts in the history of the plan. When he was appointed
director of a newly created industrial relations depart-
ment of the Rockefeller Foundation, the coal strike of
19 1 3-14 was going on in Colorado. After consultation
with governmental officials and prominent citizens who
were in touch with the situation, Mr. King proceeded
to Colorado "to use that particular state as a labora-
tory in which to demonstrate what could be done as a
result of applying certain principles. "^

After a thorough investigation he arrived at two
main conclusions:

(i) "That the whole trouble might never have
taken place had employers and employes and their
representatives come together to confer over the
matters in dispute between them.

(2) "The question was one mainly of recognition
of the union. The men claimed that any man in the
company's employ who joined a union was dismissed;
that the foremen dismissed men in a summary way
and there was no right of appeal; that when a man
joined the union he was immediately thrown out of
the company's employ."

1 Industrial Representation Plan. . . . Applicable to the
Mining Camps of the Colorado Fuel and iron Company. Reprinted
March 13, 19 18. See Appendix A, page 408.

2 Canada, National Industrial Conference, September 15 to 20,
1919, Official Report of Proceedings and Discussions. Labour
Department, Ottawa, 1919, p. 158.

353

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

He "found much to substantiate" these contentions,
Mr. King said, and he concluded that:

" • • . no hope of industrial peace would ever
come in Colorado if employers were to take an atti-
tude of non-conference with their employes, or if they
were to take the position that their employes were
not to have the right to join a union, or if, when they
joined a union, the foremen were to be free to dismiss
arbitrarily any men in the company's employ."^

Upon returning East, he made these suggestions to
Mr. Rockefeller. The latter asked Mr. King to make
another trip to Colorado, saying:

"Mr. King, if you will go out to Colorado again,
and will talk to the managers of the company and
the men in regard to the principles you have laid
down, and if any influence of mine will be helpful in
getting those principles adopted, I will go out and
help you get them applied in this industry. "^

Before proceeding to Colorado again, Mr. King con-
sulted the president and secretary of the United Mine
Workers. These officials stated that they would be
satisfied at that time with the granting of the right to
individuals to join their union.

" I asked those gentlemen what they wanted to
have done in the matter of unionism in Colorado —
whether they were urging that a contract should be
entered into between the company and the men, or
whether there was any other particular stand that
they were taking. What reply did they make?
They spoke as reasonable men. They said: 'Mr.
King, the situation in Colorado has been such, owing
to the state of civil war that has existed there, that
it would be an impossible thing to expect any em-

1 Ibid., p. 158. 2 Ibid., p. 159.

354

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

ployer or group of employers to enter into an agree-
ment with the United Mine Workers at this partic-
ular time. What we would like, if possible, is the
recognition of the right of every man to join a union;
and if the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company will give
that right and see that it is lived up to, we shall be
more than satisfied at the present time.' "^

As a result of this conference Mr. King suggested to
the company that in drafting any plan a clause should
be inserted "stating that every man should have the
right to join a union; that that should be one of the
foundation principles of the plan." Mr. King con-
tinued:

"That is the reason why that clause is in the
Colorado plan. It is not there to take away from
any man the right to join a union, but to give to
every man a right which he had not had before."^

This, then, is a description, by the initiator of the
plan, of the company's labor policy with reference to
trade unions. The company agrees not to discharge
or otherwise discriminate against any man because of
his membership in a union. On the other hand, no
man will be required to join a trade union through
action either by the company or by any of its employes.
In other words, no employe or group of employes could
hold as a grievance, either to justify a strike or to make
complaint about it to the company, the failure of a
fellow-worker to join the union. The plan also pro-
vides that representatives of the workers must all be
employes of the company, and hence no trade union
official, who was not at the same time employed in the
mines, would be recognized as representing the men.

1 Ibid., p. 159. 2 Ibid., p. 159.

355

employes' representation in coal mines

These provisions must be compared with the objects
of the United Mine Workers, if the attitude of trade
union sympathizers toward the plan is to be under-
stood. The present procedure of the United Mine
Workers is to secure trade agreements developed in
negotiation between operators and miners, each acting
through their organizations and not directly dealing
with one another in separate mining companies. In a
company, therefore, which accepts no agreement with
the United Mine Workers, the guarantee of freedom for
each miner to join the union means merely that he is
free to make this choice as an individual just as if he
joined a baseball team or a debating society. It does
not affect his relations or the relations of the union to the
company. On the other hand, freedom for the men to
join a union without fear of discharge represented, as
Mr. King declared, a gain for unionism.

In the contrast between the company's conception
of dealing with its own employes, and the union man's
conception of united action to secure standard wages
and hours throughout an industry, is to be found the
essence of the conflict between employes' representa-
tion and trade unionism. Experience in Colorado seems
to show that though a truce may keep peace between
them for a while, sooner or later each must reckon with
the other. Out of the reckoning may come an institu-
tion better than either. That is the significance of the
present antagonism, sometimes quiescent, sometimes
stimulated to conflict, in the Colorado coal fields.

Changes Since 191 5
Prior to the establishment of the plan, representa-
tives of the United Mine Workers were not generally

356

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

admitted to the camps of the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company. Union organizers have told us that they
always risked a "beating up" when approaching a
mine. " For years," said one union official, " I had to
get off the train before it reached the regular station at

and enter the town unnoticed. Otherwise

1 would be certain to be deported by deputy sheriffs
who were allied with the company." Similarly, indi-
vidual employes who became members of the union
were discharged as soon as that fact was discovered by
the local officials. " It wasn't safe to open your mouth
about the union," was a typical statement. "If you
said a word showing sympathy with the union you
were immediately told to move down the canyon."
Mr. King testified, as already shown, that he person-
ally found "much to substantiate" these charges.^

With the introduction of the representation plan and
Mr. Rockefeller's visit to Colorado, conditions changed.
Union men told us that they were surprised to find that
they could again secure work in the Colorado Fuel and
iron Company mines at this time, after they had been
repeatedly refused because of their activity in previous
strikes. Membership in the union was no longer a
cause for discharge. Organizers were permitted freely
to enter the camps, and meetings were openly held,
though the company's buildings still could not be used
for them.

' Present company officials say that conditions in this respect had
been improving before 191 3 and that the more extreme criticisms might
have been true years ago, but not after 1907 or 1908. Of the state-
ment as it stands in the text, therefore, President Welborn said that
it was "true and untrue."

357

employes representation in coal mines

The Company Confers With Labor Leaders
Most striking, perhaps, was the complete change in
the attitude of the officials of the company with regard
to meeting and conferring with labor leaders. The
officials of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, prior
to 1913, refused to meet or confer with officials of trade
unions. Indeed, one of the chief criticisms of the
company made by the United States Commission on
Industrial Relations and other investigators of the
19 1 3 strike, was the refusal to meet with officials of the
United Mine Workers. In the opinion of investigators
conference might have prevented the strike. A short
time before the strike occurred, a letter asking for a
conference, signed by Frank J. Hayes, then Interna-
tional Vice-president of the United Mine Workers, and
by the policy committee of District 15 of the same
organization was sent to the company. It was not
acknowledged.

Observe the change after 191 5. In a previous chap-
ter ^ we have told how, in 1917, James Moran, who
was from Iowa and who had never been an employe of
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company or even a citizen
of Colorado, was appointed acting president of District
1 5 of the United Mine Workers, covering Colorado,
Utah, and New Mexico. With him was appointed, as
acting secretary-treasurer of the district, Warren B.
Pippin, another outsider, from Kansas. Their appoint-
ment came from the International President of the
United Mine Workers, with offices in Indianapolis.
Those two men, with the assistance of organizers,
canvassed the employes of the Colorado Fuel and

1 Page 280 ff.
358

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

Iron Company. They heard of dissatisfaction. Rightly
or wrongly they formed the opinion that the miners
preferred a union contract to the Industrial Representa-
tion Plan. They wrote a letter to the president of the
company asking for a conference. At the same time
they threatened a strike of the miners. To their
surprise they received a reply immediately. Mr.
Welborn would be glad to meet and confer with them.
Mr. Moran visited Mr. Welborn twice. They could
not agree. They concluded to call a conference.
Mr. Moran would summon the representatives of the
miners. Mr. Welborn would summon the superin-
tendents and other representatives of the management.
And the representatives came together and met in Mr.
Welborn's office. What took place there has been
described in Chapter XI ll.^ This was the first time
in the history of the relations between the company and
the union that such a conference had taken place, and it
signified a radical change in attitude toward unionism. ^
In a similarly ready spirit Mr. Welborn met in 1919
with the official strike committee of the Allied Steel
Council of Pueblo, a committee which was responsible
to the National Committee for Organizing Steel and

1 The United Mine Workers in Colorado. See pages 282-284.

2 Again, in the fall of 1918, the railroad employes of the company,
which operates the Colorado and Wyoming Railroad, became dissat-
isfied. Most of them belong to the railroad brotherhoods, and they
naturally called on their vice-presidents, again outsiders, and not
even citizens of Colorado. The vice-presidents of the Brotherhood
of Railroad Trainmen and of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
and Enginemen came to Colorado. These men were placed at the
head of a grievance committee for the employes of the company.
They asked for a conference with Mr. Welborn. He granted it
immediately. They met several times and finally an agreement was
signed, as negotiated with the company by these officers of national
trade unions.

359

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

I ron Workers.^ Again, Mr. Welborn met with officials of
labor unions in October, 19 19, in the governor's office.
On one side he sat with the presidents of three other
coal companies. On the other side sat Robert Foster, a
native of Pennsylvania and personal representative in
Colorado of John L. Lewis, International President of
the United Mine Workers of America. The governor,
while not succeeding in averting the coal strike called
for November i, 191 9, had no trouble whatever in
arranging the conference.

Thus, "live and let live" was the policy of the com-
pany toward the union after 191 5. To develop the
representation plan and to display no hostility toward
the United Mine Workers may fairly be said to sum
up the company's labor policy during that period.
With the humanizing influence of the plan the old evi-
dences of conflict — such as barring union organizers
from the camps or discharging active union men — had
disappeared. Perhaps company officials did not realize
that the success of their policy had depended largely
upon the inactivity of the union during that period.
The war had given a national character to the produc-
tion of coal which had tended to obliterate private
antagonisms. Except for abortive efforts to call a
strike in 1917, the United Mine Workers had done
nothing since 191 5 to reopen the issue of what the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company intended to do with
the miners' national organization.

The national strike of 1919 was the first test of the
company's aim to develop harmonious relations with

1 This incident is described more fully in Employes' Representation
in Steel Works, by Ben M. Selekman. New York, Russell Sage
Foundation, 1924. See Chapter VI 11, Strike of the Minnequa Steel
Workers, pages 174-179.

360

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

its own employes, while warding off or ignoring "out-
side interference." How they met the test has been
described in Chapter XV. ^ For the first time in five
years orders were issued to keep organizers out of the
camps. Permission was denied to the workers to hold
union meetings in any building owned by the company.
Instructions were given to superintendents to keep
" trouble makers" out of the camps. This resulted, in a
few instances, in the discharge of local union officials be-
fore the strike. Notices to vacate company houses were
served upon a few men. Trouble makers were not to be
re-employed when they returned after the strike, and this
was interpreted by employes as meaning men who were
active in the union. A card was presented to all appli-
cants for employment after the strike to be signed by
them, expressing knowledge of the open shop policy of
the company as provided in the Industrial Representa-
tion Plan.

Admission of Union Organizers to Camps
We had gained the impression after the strike of
1919 that union organizers not in the employ of the
company would no longer be admitted to the camps
owned by the company. In the winter of 1921 we
sought to check this impression by the actual events of
1920. Union officials told us that they had been so
occupied elsewhere that active organizing had not been
pushed in the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.
Early in 1921, however, they had begun to hold meet-
ings in or near the camps of the company, and thus
far, in the first month of the year, the organizers had
not been refused admission to any camp.

^ The Company in the Strike of 1919, page 325.
361

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Not long afterward, however, while one of us was in
southern Colorado, one of the organizers of the district
telephoned that he and another organizer had been
asked that afternoon to leave one of the nearby camps
where they had gone to distribute notices of a meeting
of the union to be held the next day in a hall two miles
away. Our subsequent investigation of this incident
revealed the fact that no objectionable acts whatever
had been committed by these men, but that the super-
intendent and the camp marshal had assumed that it
was the wish of the company that organizers should be
excluded. This superintendent and those in other
camps had so interpreted the policy of the company to
us a year earlier after the strike of 1919. When the
facts were brought by us to the attention of the com-
pany in 1 92 1, its officers declared that the superinten-
dent had misinterpreted their policy and had acted
unwisely. It was decided to dispense with the camp
marshal— the local policeman— at this camp. Later,
the superintendent was transferred to another camp.

Even this repudiation of one superintendent's efforts
to keep organizers out of the mining villages owned by
the company did not end the incidents which were
giving the impression to many employes that the com-
pany was antagonistic to unionism. After we had left
Colorado, several incidents of inhospitable treatment
were reported to us by officers of the union. We made
inquiry of the company and in each instance received an
explanation in which the president disclaimed any desire
to refuse to permit organizers to enter the mining camps.

One illustration will suffice: One of the international
organizers of the United Mine Workers of America, who
is a native-born citizen of America and has lived for

362

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

thirty-eight years in Huerfano County in Colorado,
made affidavit in April, 1 92 1 , to the following effect :

"That, on the 14th day of March, A.D. 1921, while
in the performance of his duties, and in a lawful manner,
i.e., notifying the miners of Lester, Colorado, in the
county of Huerfano, said miners being in the employ
of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, a corpora-
tion, to attend if they so desired a meeting of the
aforesaid miners on the 14th day of March, at 7:00
o'clock p.m.

"That the acting superintendent of the said com-
pany, a Mr. McBrayer, did then and there order one
Nicholas Fontecchio and the said Mike Valdez to
get off of the company property, or words to that
effect, if they desired to notify the miners of a meet-
ing."

In response to our inquiry President Welborn ex-
plained this incident as follows:

" I have investigated this report thoroughly, and
find that on or about the 14th of March, Superin-
tendent McBrayer, of the Lester mine, on going to the
check-cabin found a number of men gathered, among
whom were three strangers. The check-cabin is
located on a road over which coal for use of the
camp is hauled in trucks, and as the congregation
of a body of men at this point would interfere with
traffic Mr. McBrayer asked the men to move to a
more open place 60 or 70 feet away, which they did.
No request was made on any of the men to leave the
camp. Incidentally, while talking with the group,
Superintendent McBrayer was obliged to move very
quickly to avoid a motor truck moving on a regular
mission."

The results of our correspondence in all of these
instances were similar. The union organizers believed
that to be asked "to move on" indicated the unwilling-

363

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

ness of the company to have them in the camps. The
company insisted either that the superintendent was
misinterpreted and had not intended to ask anyone to
leave the camp or that some minor official of the com-
pany had been tactless in his remarks.

When several events of this kind had been reported to
us in telegrams, letters, and affidavits, and when they
had been similarly explained by the company, we wrote
to President Welborn on April 8, 1921, suggesting that
"from our point of view as interpreters of the policy of
the company, it would be helpful to us to know whether
these incidents have led to definite instructions to all
superintendents with reference to the activities of
. union organizers in the camps and, if so, exactly what
these instructions are, and in what form they have been
issued."

On April 19, President Welborn replied, inclosing a
copy of the following notice which had been posted at
all camps on April 15, 1921:

"The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
"To Managers and Superintendents

"It has been reported that within the last two
months union organizers have been asked to leave
three of the mining camps of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company. A careful investigation has dis-
closed no foundation in fact for the alleged occurrence
in two of the camps. In the third camp it appears
that organizers were asked to leave. This action
was taken without authority and contrary to explicit
instructions. Adequate measures have since been
taken to prevent the possibility of a repetition of the
occurrence.

"Anyone is at liberty to pursue his legitimate
business in the camps of the company, so long as he

364

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

respects the rights of others and maintains himself as
a law-abiding citizen.

"The attitude of the company toward union mem-
bers and representatives is in line with the policy set
forth in The Industrial Plan of Representation
put into effect by the employes and the company in
191 5. That section of The Plan reads as follows:

" 'There shall be no discrimination by the com-
pany or by any of its employes on account of mem-
bership or non-membership in any society, fraternity
or union.' This attitude will be maintained and the
policy rigidly enforced in the future as in the past.
"J. F. Welborn, President."

Union Meetings Outside the Camps
This discussion of permission of organizers to enter
the camps of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
relates entirely to their coming as individuals to post
notices or to talk with employes. It does not relate
to the holding of meetings. Except in the incorporated
towns of Fremont County, employes of the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company always go outside their own
communities to attend union meetings. This has been
true since 191 5 as well as before then. The buildings
of the company have not been available for meetings
of the union.

As a result the miners have resorted to various
expedients. In some camps they rent the lofts of pool
halls that are stationed outside the camp and owned
privately. Where such buildings are not available,
they have walked to nearby villages or towns, distances
of several miles in some places, and rented halls for
their union meetings.

One camp is quite distant from the county seat.
There are no street cars. The taxi fare is something
24 365

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

like ^3.50 each way. There are no nearby pool halls
outside of the camps. A dancing pavilion privately
owned, however, was situated on ground belonging to
the company. In the fall of 1919, when the strike was
pending, the miners asked the owners of the pavilion
to rent it to them permanently as a center for their
union activities. The owner said that they would have
to consult the superintendent. They did. The super-
intendent told them he would have to consult Mr.
Weitzel, the general manager. They agreed to wait.
When the superintendent called Mr. Weitzel up, he was
told to buy the pavilion for the company and to raze it
to the ground. This the superintendent did, and the
men were left without this hope of a meeting place.
This incident was recounted to us again and again by
the miners in this district, as demonstrating to them the
company's antagonism to the union and its disapproval
of their activities as members.

Mr. Welborn told us that it was not correct to say
that union meetings could not be held in the camps.
It is true, he said, that "the company has not loaned its
housing facilities for union meetings. . . . They
have been frequently held in the camps. They have
had open air meetings time after time in the camps.
. . . We have not changed our policy on that point." ^

The Policy of the Y.M.C.A.
The only buildings in the camps where meetings
could be held are the schools, the churches, and the
Y.M.C.A. clubhouses. These Y.M.C.A. clubhouses pro-

^ Report of conference between representatives of the Russell
Sage F"oundation and the Colorado Fuel and iron Company, at
Denver, March 7-8, 1921. Typewritten record, p. 202.

366

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

vide the only auditoriums really suitable for general
meetings. In them were held Red Cross rallies and
other assemblies during the war, and there also the
management calls meetings for election of representa-
tives and for discussion of subjects arising under the
representation plan. Employes also are free to use the
buildings for meetings called at their own initiative.
So far as we could discover the only meetings which
have been forbidden are those of the members of the
local unions affiliated with the United Mine Workers.

When the Y.M.C.A. first began its work in the camps
of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, local councils
were organized to assist the' secretary in each camp.
They had no general supervision or uniform policy.
Because of the difficulties of this decentralized control
it was decided about 1 9 1 9 to organize a board of manage-
ment for the Y.M.C.A. in all the camps. In the spring
of 1921 this board was composed of seven members, of
whom five were officials of the Colorado Fuel and 1 ron
Company, not wage-earning employes, and two had no
connection with the company. The members of the
board are appointed by the state committee of the
Y.M.C.A., of which it is a sub-committee. Salaries and
expenses of maintenance of the club buildings are paid
from a fund partly made up of the dues of members
with the company supplying the deficit.

In our conferences with the officials of the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company, Mr. Welborn said that in the
year or year and a half since the organization of the
central board of management no request had come from
the union for the use of the Y.M.C.A. buildings. He
thought that when local councils of the Y.M.C.A. were
in control in each camp requests of this kind had been

367

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

refused on the ground that all meetings held in the
Y.M.C.A. clubhouse must be open to the general public.
Whatever the reason might be, the fact is that during the
period of our investigation, miners, superintendents, and
higher officials generally understood that the local unions
were not permitted to use the Y.M.C.A. buildings.

In discussing this policy the general manager of the
fuel department described to us the situation as he saw
it in the following question :

" If you had a force of employes in your New York
office, and if there was some particular union that
came around frequently and told your employes that
you did not treat them fairly, that you had cheated
them when you could, that your methods were all
bad, and told them everything they could against
you, and defamed the man who owned your company,
would you feel like providing a place for those people
to meet your employes and make it easy for them to
spread the propaganda?"'^

To this question we replied :

" If we owned the town our employes lived in, we
should feel that we must grant the rights of all
American citizens there to hear all sides of an argu-
ment."

It should be recalled that because of the isolation of
many of the camps and the fact that the property is all
owned by the company, the provision of a clubhouse in
each camp by the Y.M.C.A. takes the place of a
general community center. If, because the company
owns it, permission is refused to hold an orderly meet-
ing to which there would be no objection in any inde-
pendent town in the country, then the citizens of these

1 Ibid., p. 201.
368

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

mining camps are being deprived of some of their civil
liberties, including the right of assembly. It is pre-
cisely because mining companies use their opportunities
as landlords and owners to reinforce their policies as
employers, that so many camps take on a feudal aspect
where the man or the company controlling the means of
livelihood controls also the social and civic life of the
community. This is not the intention of the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company. The beauty and livableness
of its camps have been described. It has gone far
beyond other mining companies in consulting the
wishes of employes about housing, schools, and recrea-
tion. Yet it has continued to bar union meetings from
its buildings.

For the Y.M.C.A. the situation presents an impor-
tant problem. Following our conferences with the
company officials in which these questions were raised
about the policy of the Y.M.C.A., there was corre-
spondence between the general secretary of the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company associations and the industrial
department of the International Committee of the
Young Men's Christian Association, to which we have
been courteously given access. On April 1 1, 192 1, Mr.
Charles R. Towson of the International Committee
wrote to the Colorado Y.M.C.A. secretary as follows:

" 1 was much interested in your recent inquiry
regarding using the buildings for meetings of the
labor unions. ... Of course our attitude, as a
movement, is not against such use of the buildings
but it would be against opening buildings for use in
communities where labor relations or industrial
questions are acute."

On September 29, 1921, Mr. Towson wrote again:
369

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

" Regarding the use of the buildings by labor
unions, 1 would confirm my previous letter on this
subject. . . . Keep in mind my suggestion that
we do not bring about such use of the buildings at any
time and place when issues are on the horizon. If,
for example, there is an agitated or a disturbed state
of mind in any of the fields, it would be inopportune
to raise this question which would identify the Asso-
ciation with th^ issues. Our relation is one of
mutuality (not neutrality) and we must do nothing
that can be avoided that will savor of partisanship.
In harmony with this point, 1 would remind you that
any meetings held in our buildings should be of an
open public nature. The above statement does not
imply that we are opposed to the use of our buildings
for trade union meetings. It is meant to indicate
the conditions under which they should or should not
be so used."

In writing this letter Mr. Towson had in mind the
whole policy of the Association in its relation to organi-
zations of employers and employes. As throwing light
on this general policy, a report on the use of Association
buildings was called to our attention by Mr. Towson
early in 1922. At a conference of the Association of
Employed Officers of the Young Men's Christian
Association of North America, held in Springfield,
Mass., in June, 1918, the following paragraph on the
subject of "Meetings in Association Buildings" was
contained in a report of a Commission on Opportunities
among Industrial Workers:^

"A step is taken in developing the spirit of mutu-
ality when the Association building is made of use to

^ Association of Employed Officers of the Young Men's Christian
Association of North America: Conference in Springfield, Mass.,
June 7 to 1 1, 1918: Report of Commission on Ungrasped and Unde-
veloped Opportunities among Industrial Workers, p. 12.

370

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

organizations of employers and employes. Of course
there is danger if the building becomes headquarters
for labor strife, but organizations of labor and capital
exist for other things than to fight each other. The
Association can offer with the use of its premises an
atmosphere in which issues lose their bitterness and
which makes for peace. In this connection it should
be noted that it is not easy for labor to secure good
meeting places under good influences, and the Asso-
ciation should therefore be particularly glad to co-
operate."

How to apply this "principle of mutuality" to a sit-
uation in which the union meets opposition, but where
"strife" is not in evidence, is an interesting question.
The Y.M.C.A. has refused to permit union meetings
in its clubhouses on the property of the company.
The reason for this refusal is that the company does
not wish to encourage the union and objects to the
statements made by union organizers when addressing
meetings. As a result, employes of the company who
are members of the union are not given an opportunity
to use the Y.M.C.A. clubhouses in the camps for
union meetings. As we have said, life in a mining camp
is so organized that the clubhouse is a center for the
use of the community which should not be regarded as
entirely under the control of the company. It is clearly
not an application of the principle of mutuality to let
the policy concerning the use of the community club-
house be determined by the policy of the company
toward the union in its mines.

Thus, even the work of the Y.M.C.A. becomes
conditioned by this underlying confusion in thought
between the mining company as an employer and the
same company as a landlord. As a landlord, a company

37'

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

clearly has no right to control the liberty of citizens. 1 n
facing this issue the industrial department of the Y.M.
C.A. has a very big opportunity in the present stage of
improvement in the social and living conditions which
has taken place in the camps of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company. A larger interpretation can be given to
the idea of mutuality of interest than prevailed at the
time of the strike of 19 19. The real service which the
Y.M. C.A. is rendering in providing recreation and
clubhouse facilities can be enlarged if its influence is
thrown toward a more democratic community life.
Certainly its first step should be to give representation
to miners in its board of management, so that its policies
may be adopted with full consideration of the desires
of the men in whose service it is working.

The Company's Criticisms of the Union
The continued refusal of the company to enter into
any agreement with the United Mine Workers is
explained by officials of the company as due not to
opposition to trade unionism in general, but to the im-
perfections of this organization and its leaders in Colo-
rado. They recall the anxious and onerous days of
strikes in the past and the criticism directed against
the company by the public, especially in 1914. From
that strike they carried over into the days of peace a
conviction that with this union and its leadership as
they saw it then, and the factionalism which developed
after it, they could have no dealings. That some criti-
cisms of the union are deserved we have no doubt. We
have described some of the petty factional strife which
has tended to disrupt the organization in Colorado.
How far this factionalism and bad leadership are due
372

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

to the opposition wiiich the union has met is an impor-
tant question. Experience has shown that antagonism
toward a union is hkely to be countered by strikes, hos-
tihty, and ill-will. In this atmosphere bad leadership
gets its opportunity. Men's energies are absorbed in
destructive opposition. No stability seems possible. The
business of producing coal suffers.

History in Colorado shows that the company's new
attitude since 191 5 has already produced better rela-
tions, for in the strikes of 19 19, 1921, and 1922 there
were no violence, no strike-breaking, and no bloodshed
in the camps of the company. Indeed, the opposition
of the company to the union is now expressed in rather
minor irritations, as shown, for instance, in Mr. Weitzel's
testimony before the Industrial Commission in 1919:

He was asked by a member of the commission:

" Do you know of any reason why the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company could not sign an agreement
with the United Mine Workers of America?"

He replies:

"There is no reason why they could not, although
I know of numerous good reasons why they should
not."

These reasons were brought out by questions, and Mr.
Weitzel's answers were as follows:

"Since the operation of the industrial plan the
organizers representing the mine workers have been
allowed free access to the camp. Their propaganda
and talks to the men have been continual ones of
deception, like teaching of class hatred, teaching the
idea that the employes could not afford to deal with
the company, that they were being unfairly treated,

373

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

and of such general attack; 1 am sure the company
could not feel that they were justified in making a
contract with that organization."

Asked if this applied to all organizers he said that it
did to "the general run of them," and he gave two
illustrations of the kind of deception of which union
organizers were guilty. A story was circulated through
the camps at one time that Mr. Rockefeller had agreed
that if 50 per cent of the employes joined the union a
contract would be signed. The fact that the story was
told at many camps at the same time convinced Mr.
Weitzel that it originated from a common source. Mr.
Rockefeller finally had to make a signed statement
denying any such promise. Another illustration
related to the time when the Department of Internal
Revenue in 1919 asked the company to have resident
cards signed by their alien employes, as without the
card, 2 per cent of the earnings of each alien for 1918
must be collected. When some of the alien employes
refused to sign, the tax was collected and immediately
afterward it was rumored that organizers of the union
had told employes that this collection of 2 per cent was
part of the industrial plan and not authorized by the
government. "That," said Mr. Weitzel, "is a sample
of the methods that have been used to stir up and de-
ceive the employes."

Asked how long organizers had had access to the
camps of the company he replied, "Since the adoption
of the industrial plan in 191 5." He thought that camp
marshals had had authority to keep organizers out of
the camps before the adoption of the industrial plan,
and he added, "Since November ist (1919) 1 think 1
have told some of the superintendents, at least after

374

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

the Strike call was made for the strike of November
I St, not to allow the organizers to make speeches in the
camp."

In the following questions and answers by Mr.
Weitzel regarding the freedom of the union members to
hold meetings in the camps more light is thrown on the
attitude of the company toward the union:

Q. Will you state why the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company refused to allow their men to meet at
Primero, Morley, and Ideal, where there is no other
place to meet other than buildings owned by the
company?

A. They have meetings at all those places, 1 have
been informed.

Q. In any of the company buildings?

A. No. 1 have heard of meetings in the houses of
the employes.

Q. Do you know of any reason why the company
does not allow them to have either the school house,
the Y.M.C.A., or some place to meet?

A. The school houses are not owned by the com-
pany; the club buildings are under the operation of
the Y.M.C.A.; 1 do not believe from what we know
of this organization [the miners' union] and its prac-
tices that we would feel encouraged to furnish a
meeting place.

In talks with us, however, Mr. Weitzel had expressed
the opinion that an organization like the United Mine
Workers was necessary to protect the interests of the
wage-earners. "The operators have been unfair and
unreasonable enough," he said. They were them-
selves to blame for the hostile attitude of miners in
general toward their employers. Many operators
would probably be unfair if the miners had no organi-
zation to force them to deal justly. The danger, how-

375

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

ever, would be just as great if the miners' union had a
monopoly of all mine labor. In his opinion, the union
would then be as arbitrary and unreasonable as the
operators are when no union acts as a check on their
power. Mr. Weitzel spoke out of past experience in
mines in the East, one of which had a contract with
the United Mine Workers. Strikes in violation of the
contract, which were caused by a few trouble makers
at the head of the local union, had frequently shut the
mine down for two or three days. Although officials of
the district usually refused to support the men, never-
theless the loss of production had done the damage and
caused the company to lose money with no recourse.

Mr. Weitzel's testimony indicates that at the time of
the strike of 19 19 he had given orders for the first time
since the operation of the plan that organizers were to
be excluded from the camps. It is interesting to notice
that when the impression got abroad that the company
was hostile to the union, public opinion expressed itself
at once against such a policy. Even the Attorney
General of the United States took cognizance of it.
To them at that time, as to us a year later, the officials
of the company responded to these criticisms with a
positive declaration that their policy was unchanged,
that the occurrences in connection with the strike of
1919 were unusual because the strike was unusual, and
that the freedom of employes to join the union and of
organizers to enter the camps would still be assured.
The difficulty in carrying out this policy is due to the
fact that the union wants more than to be let alone, and
that men in the mines believe that the United Mine
Workers' organization is the best agency to protect
their wage scale.

376

THE PLAN VERSUS TRADE UNIONISM

That the creator of the plan, Mr. King, regarded it as
a kind of bridge to unionism, is implied in the state-
ments which we have quoted from his speech at the
National Industrial Conference in Canada in 19 18.
On that occasion he said that employers had to be
shown "the merits of operating with organized labor."
He "believed that this plan in Colorado has had that
effect." He added:

"For the first time you have the employers and
the officers of unions dealing together, and each is
beginning to see the stuff that the other is made of;
the employers are beginning to see the stamina of men
who have to contend on behalf of those who have to
struggle in the world's battle for an existence. Both
sides find there is not so much dividing them. Prej-
udice is being beaten down, because they are getting
to know there is a common humanity that unites all
of us; that men do not differ very much in individu-
ality whether they be on one side of a question or the
other."!

Mr. King did not take account of the petty irrita-
tions which divide a company from a union with which
it has consistently refused to have any dealings.
Moreover, he spoke in September, 19 19, before the
strikes of 191 9, 1921, and 1922 had again revealed an-
tagonism between the company and the union.

National Organization
Unionism in the coal mines of Colorado has spent its
energies in vain efforts to secure recognition. At that
stage, facing the constant opposition of employers, a

^Canada, National Industrial Conference, September 15 to 20,
19 1 9, Official Report of Proceedings and Discussions, Labour
Department, Ottawa, 191 9, p. 160.

377

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

trade union becomes aggressive, rather than construc-
tive. The leaders are likely to be those who can stimu-
late antagonism to the company as a first step toward
proving the need for a trade union to protect the
employes. Out of this kind of campaign develop end-
less petty causes of irritation between a company and
the leaders of a union; and the employes share in these
irritations. Behind all these petty occurrences is a
fundamental fact— the existence of a national organiza-
tion of the miners. Employes' representation is inevit-
ably, therefore, a competitor of the union unless a modus
Vivendi can be agreed upon between the company and
the union.

378

PART VI
CONCLUSION

CHAPTER XVII
AN INCOMPLETE EXPERIMENT

A ZOMPREHENSIVE 'Industrial Constitution'"
was the phrase used by Mr. Rockefeller to
describe the Industrial Representation Plan in
19 1 6.1 This suggests that in analyzing the grievances
of the coal miners, and their adjustment through the
machinery established in employes' representation, we
should ask not only whether the decisions have been
satisfactory, but whether the procedure and its lasting
results are actually illustrative of "constitutionalism in
industry," or of its beginnings. If we may interpret
this phrase in the light of democratic political theory,
it would seem to mean that a modus vivendi is adopted
in the form of a constitution or laws, and that infrac-
tions of laws, or commonly accepted rights, are dealt
with by tribunals representative of all the people in a
community. Out of decisions in particular instances
are built up principles and practice to which is given
the official sanction of all who are affected by them.
This, in other words, would be the application to in-
dustry of the building up of law and its interpretation
and enforcement in the democratic state.

The Constitution
The basis for legislation governing relations within
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, or the "constitu-

^ Rockefeller, John D., Jr.: The Colorado Industrial Plan, p. 19.
Published by Mr. Rockefeller in 1916.

25 381

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

tion," is to be found in the Industrial Representation
Plan, the mining laws of Colorado, the unwritten
habits and practices of mining, and the executive
orders and decisions of managerial officials. The plan,
as the previous discussion shows, insures to the employes
protection against discharge except for certain specified
offenses, and, if one of these be committed, the right to
written notice as a warning before discharge; the right
to hold meetings and to purchase where they please:
the right to employ check-weighmen, which is also
assured by state law; and the negative right that "there
shall be no discrimination by the company or any of its
employes on account of membership or non-member-
ship in any society, fraternity or union." As this plan
was accepted by vote of the directors on the one hand
and the employes on the other, it may be regarded as
the constitution to which all laws and all decisions in
adjusting grievances must conform.

Both the employes and the company bound them-
selves in accepting the representation plan to observe
the state mining law, thereby confirming the eight-
hour day for the men at work inside the mine, the right
to employ a check-weighman, and the safety regula-
tions enforced by the state mine inspector.

The First Agreement
The " memorandum of agreement " already described,
which was adopted with the plan for the period from Oc-
tober, 191 5, to January, 1918, to "continue thereafter
subject to revision upon ninety days' notice by either
of the parties," promised the employes a rent of not
more than ^2.00 a room per month for a dwelling
without bath; the free fencing of house lots and the re-

382

AN INCOMPLETE EXPERIMENT

moval of garbage; a rate "substantially their cost to
the company" for powder and domestic coal; suitable
bath-houses and clubhouses; eight hours of work a day
for men inside the mine and nine hours for men outside;
the semi-monthly payment of wages by check with no
deductions except those authorized by employes; and
a continuance until January i, 1918, without reduction
of "the schedule of wages and thfe working conditions
then in force," with the promise of a proportional in-
crease if prior to January i, 191 8, "a general increase
shall be granted in competitive districts."

On the subject of regularity of employment the plan
declares, "Nothing herein shall abridge the right of the
company to relieve employes from duty because of lack
of work. Where relief from duty through lack of work
becomes necessary, men with families shall, all things
being equal, be given preference."

The guarantee of continuance of the wage scale of
191 5, or increase to meet competitors' increases, with a
paragraph in the plan itself requiring that "the scale
of wages and the rules . . . shall be posted in a con-
spicuous place at or near every mine," are the only
provisions or agreements on that most vital subject —
wage rates.

Unwritten Laws and Practices
In addition to the written plan and the state laws, the
usual practice in mining and the orders and decisions
of company officials are to be regarded as part of an
agreement between the company and its employes.
For instance, the general manager of the fuel depart-
ment stated that the policy which the company expects
each superintendent to follow in allotting work-places

383

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

in the mine is not to give a man two bad places in suc-
cession, but if, necessarily, he has had to dig the coal
in a seam where the amount of rock was unusually
troublesome, he will next have a chance to dig where
the coal is free from impurities. Similarly, the aim is to
supply mine cars to the men to send out the coal as
often as they need them, since waiting for cars means
loss of earnings for the miner and less output for the
company. Sometimes these practices or regulations
have been a subject of conference with the employes, as
were the regulations for the use of the man-trip which
were discussed and adopted one by one by the miners
at Rockvale in a mass meeting presided over by the
general manager of the fuel department.^ But usually
the company determines them as questions for manage-
ment to decide.

The Judicial Function
To these unwritten laws should be added a growing
body of accepted practice if, indeed, the adjustment of
grievances in accordance with the plan is a judicial
procedure involving interpretation of law and the estab-
lishment of precedents in principle and practice. Ac-
tually, as the concrete instances have revealed, the pro-
cedure is so informal that it becomes more an executive
function of reaching decisions than a judicial one of
building the foundations of agreement between em-
ployers and employes.

Enforcement a Managerial Function
The executive power, that is, the day-to-day carrying
out of policies, and practices, and the enforcement of

1 Described in Chapter IX, How Grievances Are Adjusted, page 148.
384

AN INCOMPLETE EXPERIMENT

the agreement between the company and the employes,
may be said to be, in the last analysis, almost exclu-
sively a function of the managerial officials. They are
influenced, but not bound, by the opinions of employes.
According to the written plan "the company" — by
which is meant the managerial officials subject to the
board of directors^ — retains "the right to hire and dis-
charge,^ the management of the properties, and the
direction of the working forces," which are declared to
"be vested exclusively in the company, and, except as
expressly restricted, this right shall not be abridged by
anything contained herein."

The Legislative Function
The right to elect representatives constitutes a share
in what might be called the legislative function in the
sense in which electing congressmen constitutes a share
in law-making. But in the plan and in the practice of
carrying it out, employes' representatives are not invari-
ably consulted on any subject. They are given the right
to a hearing, but the management is not bound to abide
by their vote on any specific subject except in the single
instance of deciding on a grievance referred to a Joint
Committee on Industrial Co-operation and Conciliation
acting as arbitrators.

Employes Given No Responsibility for Decisions
Behind all the machinery of representation and ad-
ministration in a political democracy must be found the

1 "Partnership" has not been interpreted in the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company as giving representation to labor or the public on
the board of directors.

2 Since we were in Colorado this right has been made explicitly
subject to review.

385

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

sanction of the members of the community for decisions
affecting them, for laws and for the processes of law-
making and enforcement. In a democracy, the basic
theory is that this sanction follows from the share in
government given each citizen through the vote.
Whether this sanction exists as a basis for employes'
representation in the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
can only be answered by recalling the main conclusions
of preceding chapters.

The purpose of the company to treat its employes well
has had tangible evidence in housing, medical work,
safety inspection, schools, clubhouses and facilities for
recreation. The advantages of democratic procedure
and its feasibility in industrial management are recog-
nized by the company in the provisions for committees
on which employes are represented. Employes' repre-
sentatives have had an advisory relationship to all of
these phases of living conditions, but they are not given
responsibility or authority for decisions. Officials of
the company may decide any question without con-
sulting committees or employes' representatives.

Through the Joint Committees on Industrial Co-
operation and Conciliation, and through employes'
representatives, provision is also made for hearing any
grievances by an employe or a group of employes on any
subject affecting his living or working conditions. This
joint committee is, also, the one to which any difference
not satisfactorily adjusted otherwise may be referred
by the president on his own initiative or at the request
of employes' representatives. The company and em-
ployes must be equally represented when action on a
dispute of this kind is taken, and the decision of the
majority is binding. These provisions, however, all

386

AN INCOMPLETE EXPERIMENT

relate to the settlement of grievances. They do not
insure a share in determining conditions before griev-
ances occur, and hence, perchance, preventing them.
Nor do they insure any share in determining standards
for the industry as a whole.

No Participation in National Standards
Basic wage rates have not been within the scope of
negotiations through the plan. Competitors' rates are
accepted by the company as its own, and nowhere is the
"competitor" defined. In practice this has meant
accepting the rates agreed upon between the United
Mine Workers of America and the operators of the
Central Competitive Field, except during 1921 when
wages were reduced 30 per cent below those of that field
because of reductions in West Virginia, Pennsylvania,
and some other eastern districts which are for the most
part unorganized. After the nation-wide strike of 1922,
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company restored to its
miners the union scale of the Central Competitive
Field, which, as already noted, comprises Indiana, Illi-
nois, Ohio, and western Pennsylvania, a field thoroughly
organized. Thus the company may shift its base in
determining wages, and the guarantee in the representa-
tion plan to pay its employes competitors' rates becomes
an unsubstantial promise. By not sharing in the deter-
mination of the rates accepted by it, the company is in
a position of leaving to others the vital question of the
wages of its own employes, and by this policy, also, the
company places its own employes in the position of hav-
ing no share through their representation plan in this
vital matter of a wage agreement. No company can
live to itself alone, but each must have its practice con-

387

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

ditioned more or less by the practice of its competitors,
and this fact lessens the usefulness of a plan for employes'
representation which is limited to one company. We
have quoted an official of the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company as saying:

" We are ourselves at the mercy of our competitors.
If we try to sell higher than they we would lose our
customers, and if we tried to pay lower wages than
they, we would lose our employes."

The wage agreement which was made in August,
1921, by the circulation of a petition through the mines
as already described in Chapter X 11,^ resulted in a
strike in all the mines affected, and in a few others
through sympathy and a sense of common interests.
Martial law was declared by the governor in one of the
districts where the company's mines are located, troops
were sent to enforce it, and the Industrial Commission
of the state intervened. The sanction of the employes
seemed clearly lacking in this reduction, and although
the company believed that the agitation was due to the
influence of the union rather than to. discontent among
their employes, the fact remains that the strike of 1921
raised, again, the question of whether employes' repre-
sentation as it is organized and administered by the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company is likely, without
radical change, to win the adherence of miners. Will
it be regarded by them as a protection of their interests
as adequate as that which they believe is afforded them
by a national trade union? The same question was
raised when the men struck in 1919 and 1922.

We have found that employes of the Colorado Fuel

1 Wages and Security in Employment, page 232.

AN INCOMPLETE EXPERIMENT

and Iron Company join the union because tiiey see in it
their one guarantee for a security independent of the
policy of any one company. The majority do not regard
themselves as permanent employes in one mine, and
they know that conditions of employment established
in one district have an immediate effect upon wages
and employment in another district. They regard them-
selves as miners in the bituminous coal industry, and
although they are not ungrateful for the new policy of
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company and its tangible
manifestations in good housing, they are ever alert to
the call of their national organization to give a "show
of strength " in the organization throughout the country.
Every time they respond in this way to a strike call
they demonstrate their sense of dependence upon the
union to protect them by uniting miners together in
the industry. They realize that they need the protec-
tion of representatives outside the company which em-
ploys them, because they have discovered that men
employed in the company are impotent to protect
themselves or others. The fear of losing a job prevents
a man from opposing a company which gives, and can
take away, his job.

It follows that employes' representation as it has
been interpreted in this one company, has had little con-
tribution to make to the processes by which standards
for the industry as a whole are formulated.

Local rather than national organization of employes
is exactly what is desired by many employers; and
some of these welcome employes' representation be-
cause they see only that phase of it which limits its
activities to employes within a single company, and they
believe it offers an escape from their difficulties with

389

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

trade unions. Organizers and union officials irritate
them, and many are the charges of arrogance and lack
of responsibility or efficiency which employers heap
upon the leaders of unions. Some of the criticisms are
well-deserved; some are the natural result of the con-
stant opposition of employers to unionism; some are
merely efforts to justify irritation which a manager
feels in being obliged to make concessions to the de-
mands of labor.

This analysis not only is true of the coal industry but
of the railroads, the packing industry, the textile in-
dustry, and other vital services. It is foolish to deny a
divergence of interest between employers and employes.
Every dispute over wages illustrates it. The need is to
establish some means of adjusting these divergent claims
without the wasteful conflict by which the power of
each side is tested and the issue decided in favor of the
stronger. Advocates of industrial democracy contend
that the procedure for establishing principles of law as
developed in a political democracy has its analogy in
industry.

The Need for an Industrial Code
In the industrial field this building up of accepted
principles and practices in which employes share
through a democratic process is hardly yet in its be-
ginnings. In 1 92 1, when the employes of the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company went on strike against the
wage reductions which they were said to have asked for
by signing petitions, a bitter conflict was being waged
in West Virginia between the United Mine Workers
and coal operators. Senator Kenyon, reporting the

390

AN INCOMPLETE EXPERIMENT

findings of the Committee on Education and Labor of
the Senate, declared:

" Here we have the situation of two determined
bodies trying to enforce what they beHeve are rights,
which rights are diametrically opposed to one an-
other, and we have the situation of an irresistible
force meeting an immovable body."^

He urged as a remedy the adoption of an industrial
code which would give a basis for adjusting these
divergent interests.

At that very moment the stage was set for the long
and serious strike of coal miners throughout the coun-
try in 1922. The strike revealed the chaotic condition
of the bituminous coal industry and the need for
organized and orderly leadership to protect the inter-
ests of workers and investors and to serve the public
efficiently without the suffering of prolonged strikes
or lockouts. Here was an instance of a break in rela-
tionships in mines hitherto operating in accordance
with an agreement of the operators with the United
Mine Workers. Paramount among the issues of the
strike was the conflict between the wish of the union to
maintain the plan of formulating a national agreement
and the desire of the operators to arrive at agreements
by districts, or states, through negotiations between
companies and miners in each district. Thus, the issue
which is raised in an analysis of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company, between negotiation limited to one
company and negotiation between a company and a
national union, is repeated in this issue nationally be-
tween national agreements and district agreements.

' West Virginia Coal Fields, Report of Senator William S. Kenyon,
from the Committee on Education and Labor, p. 2. 67th Congress,
2d Session, undated.

391

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

At bottom it is undoubtedly true that this is a contest
for power. To the union, national organization appears
to give the maximum power. To the employer, negotia-
tion limited to his own plant means fundamentally
more power, more freedom in reaching decisions. Yet,
again, this brings us face to face with the idea of settling
controversy through power. Stability cannot be at-
tained that way.

An Opportunity in Colorado
The urgent need for better human relationships and
a sounder basis for achieving them than now prevails
in the bituminous coal industry gives significance to
the experience of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
since 191 5. If Mr. King's idea of the plan as a possible
bridge to an agreement with the trade unions and Mr.
Rockefeller's thought of it as an industrial constitution
can be achieved, then the company may exert a pro-
found influence on human relations in the coal industry
throughout the country.

In an article by Mr. Rockefeller on Co-operation in
Industry, published by the International Labour Office
in 1 92 1, employes' representation is described as "a
method of providing representation which is just, which
is effective, which is applicable to all employes whether
organized or unorganized, to all employers whether in
associations or not . . . and which, while developed in a
single industrial corporation as a unit, may be expanded
to include all corporations in the same industry and
ultimately all industries."^

1 Rockefeller, John D., Jr.: Co-operation in Industry, p. 13.
Reprinted from International Labour Review, Vol. 11, No. i, April,
1 92 1 .

392

AN INCOMPLETE EXPERIMENT

By what plan of administration this extension would
take place Mr. Rockefeller does not show. As to the
relation of this larger plan to unions, he says, "Just
what part labor organizations and employers' associa-
tions can best take in such a plan remains to be worked
out, but certain it is that some method should be de-
vised which will profit to the fullest extent by the ex-
perience, the strength, and the leadership of these
groups."^

The possible relation between a union and a shop
committee or a plan of employes' representation in a
single establishment was outlined in the report of the
President's Industrial Conference in 1920. In this re-
port it was pointed out that,

"Some industries have extended the principles
of employe representation beyond the individual
plant. The voluntary joint councils which have
thus been set up in the clothing industry, in the
printing trade, and elsewhere are fruitful experiments
in industrial organization. "^

As to the separate functions of the union and the
shop committee in such an alliance, the President's
Industrial Conference gave the following analysis:

"The union has had its greatest success in dealing
with basic working conditions, and with the general
level of wages in organized and partially organized
industries and crafts. It has also indirectly exerted
an influence on standards in unorganized trades.
There is no reason to suppose that in the future this
influence will not continue.

"Local problems, however, fall naturally within
the province of shop committees. No organization

1 Ibid.

- Report of President's Industrial Conference, 1920, p. 12.
393

employes' representation in coal mines

covering the whole trade and unfamiliar with special
local conditions and the questions that come up from
day to day, is by itself in a position to deal with these
questions adequately, or to enlist the co-operation of
employer and employe in' methods to improve pro-
duction and to reduce strain. Except for trades in
which the union itself has operated under a system of
employe representation, as it does in shipbuilding
and in the manufacture of clothing and in other
trades, these internal factors are likely either to be
neglected or to be dealt with in a way which does not
make for satisfactory co-operation."^

In considering such a division of functions between a
national union and a local plan of employes' representa-
tion, the question would arise as to whether the exist-
ence of employes' representation would not weaken the
position of the union by taking over some functions
now carried by the officers of the organization. On this
point the President's Industrial Conference had this
to say:

"The existence of employe representation in plants
operating under union agreement does not necessarily
reduce the scope of the union representative's work.
But matters are more likely to come to him as ques-
tions of the application of an agreement rather than
as mere grievances. In other words he has greater
opportunity for service in negotiation of an essen-
tially conciliatory nature. The fortunate results of
such development have been evident in industries
in which employe representation and trade unions
have for some time been functioning harmoniously ."^

In the article already quoted, Mr. Rockefeller sug-
gests the attitude in which the whole effort to devise a

1 Ibid., pp. lo. II. 2 Ibid., p. II.

394

AN INCOMPLETE EXPERIMENT

plan for improving human relations in an industry must
be approached :

"The attitude of the leaders in industry as they
face this critical period of reconstruction . . ." must
be, he says, one "which takes cognizance of the in-
herent right and justice of the co-operative principle
underlying the new order, which recognizes that
mighty changes are inevitable, many of them de-
sirable, and which does not wait until forced to adopt
new methods, but takes the lead in calling together
the parties to industry for a round-table conference
to be held in a spirit of justice, fair play, and brother-
hood, with a view to working out some plan of co-
operation which will ensure to all those concerned
adequate representation, will afford to labor a voice
in the forming of industrial policy, and an oppor-
tunity to earn a fair wage under such conditions as
should leave time, not alone for food and sleep, but
also for recreation and the development of the higher
things of life."^

Next Steps in the Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company

Even if such a conference were possible, however, and
if its purpose were to begin to consider "just what part
labor organizations and employers' associations can
best take in such a plan," whereby "a method of pro-
viding representation . . . developed in a single in-
dustrial corporation . . . may be expanded to include
all corporations in the same industry," the difficulties
in the way would be very great in Colorado.

If the aim were not to urge acceptance of any pre-
conceived plan, but truly to work out a better scheme

1 Rockefeller, John D., Jr.: Co-operation in Industry, pp. 15, 16.
Reprinted from International Labour Review, Vol. II, No. i, April,
1921.

395

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

than now exists, then certainly it would be necessary to
include in the conference representatives of the United
Mine Workers. More than half a million men followed
its leadership in the strike of 1922, whereas the number
of miners working in accordance with the Colorado
Industrial Representation Plan is about 5,000. On the
other hand, this particular plan has had so much public-
ity, and has been copied so widely,^ that it presents
definitely a challenge to the trade union movement,
and must be considered by the unions on its merits
and not ruthlessly condemned as their natural enemy.

Yet it would require abundant grace on both sides to
think together with an open mind. The United Mine
Workers openly and bitterly denounce the Rockefeller
Plan. The Colorado Fuel and Iron Com.pany sees
"numerous good reasons "^ for not signing a contract
with the union. No fruitful conference would be possible
unless each approached it with the will not to press the
solution of its own group for acceptance, but rather to
think first of the needs of the man in the mines, and then
to work out the agreement which will best meet those
human needs. From this would follow, we are confi-
dent, a spirit and method of managing the industry
which would better serve, also, the public interest.

If the partnership of labor is, indeed, to be the aim,
then a substantial basis for partnership must be estab-
lished. The problem of establishing basic wage rates
must be considered. The area of competition, which,
according to company officials, determines the wages

1 Similar plans are in operation in the International Harvester
Company, the Standard Oil Company, the Pennsylvania Railroad,
several large meat-packing companies, and elsewhere.

* See page 373 for the general manager's statement on this point to
the Colorado Industrial Commission.

396

AN INCOMPLETE EXPERIMENT

the company can pay, must be clearly defined, and
representation of employes must be made real in de-
ciding the rates which must prevail in that competitive
area.

The need of the man in the mines to have a direct
means of bringing his grievances to management, is,
in a sense, a local rather than a national need. It is thjs
day-to-day negotiation in the mine which makes con-
vincing the theory of employes' representation as a
means of co-operation within a single company. It is
urgently important that the miners should have this
local representation. In the plan for employes' rep-
resentation, however, grievances must be adjusted either
by company officials or by a joint committee in which
the miner is represented solely by fellow-employes,
over whom, in the last analysis, the representatives
of management have the power of discharge. If the
question under consideration be one in which manage-
ment needs only a clearer understanding of the wage-
earners' point of view to enable it to reach a just
decision, the joint conference may be a sufficient pro-
tection of the employes' interests. If, however, a decision
satisfactory to the wage-earners requires some sacrifice
by management or by stockholders, then the problem
is, how, without a representative independent of the
particular company, and without a treasury wherewith
to pay his salary, or other expenses, can employes claim
the same attention from management and boards of di-
rectors that they can secure through the activities of a
union? This is the fundamental issue between trade
unionism and employes' representation. What would be
the effect if the company should agree to the employ-
ment of any man outside the company whom the em-
26 397

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

ployes might choose for that office? How can employes'
representation protect the whole group of miners in
their effort to secure and maintain an adequate wage
scale?

On the other hand, the trade union movement has
had too little to say about co-operation in efficient pro-
duction. It has worked for mass action over an entire
industry, with the strike as its chief weapon. It has
been too little concerned in the relations between a
company and its own employes in their common task of
producing goods cheaply and efficiently for the benefit
of the public. Are the unions showing wisdom in their
uncompromising fight against the so-called company
union?

Experience seems to show that a representation plan
cannot hold the confidence or interest of employes if it
is confined to the purveying of grievances to manage-
ment. What are the specific points on which manage-
ment in the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company could
agree always to put questions to the vote of employes'
representatives? How can there be coupled with this
specific right enough participation in management to
give employes' representatives a genuine responsibility
for the results of their decisions?

The experiment which Mr. King planned and which
Mr. Rockefeller has so often and so effectively inter-
preted to the public is as yet incomplete. Its fruits so
far have been better living conditions and better rela-
tionships between managerial officials and miners. An
"industrial constitution" for the company or for the
industry, or a partnership for labor, it has not yet be-
come.

398

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

PLAN OF REPRESENTATION OF EMPLOYES OF
THE COLORADO FUEL AND IRON COMPANY

IN THE Company's Mining Camps of Colorado
AND Wyoming

I
REPRESENTATION OF EMPLOYES

1. Annual Meetings for Election of Employes' Repre-

sentatives

EMPLOYES at each of the mining camps shall annually
elect from among their number representatives to act on
their behalf with respect to matters pertaining to their
employment, working and living conditions, the adjustment of
differences, and such other matters of mutual concern and
interest as relations within the industry may determine.

2. Time, Place, and Method of Calling Annual Meet-

ings, AND Persons Entitled to be Present and
Participate in the Election of Representatives
The annual meetings of employes for the election of their
representatives shall be held simultaneously at the several
mining camps on the second Saturday in January. The meet-
ings shall be called by direction of the President of the Com-
pany. Notices of the meetings, indicating their time and
place, as well as the number of representatives to be elected,
shall be publicly posted at each camp a week in advance, and
shall state that employes being wage-earners in the employ of
the Company at the time of the meeting and for at least three
months immediately preceding, but not salaried employes,
shall be entitled to be present and vote.^ Special meetings
shall be similarly called when removal, resignation, or other
circumstance occasions a vacancy in representation.

Hln 1919 a plan of representation similar in principle to the one
given in this appendix was put into effect for salaried employes.
B. M.S.]

401

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

3. Method of Conducting Meetings, and Reporting

Election of Representatives

Each meeting for the election of employes' representatives
shall choose its own Chairman and Secretary. At the ap-
pointed hour, the meeting shall be called to order by one of
the employes' representatives, or, in the absence of a rep-
resentative, by any employe present, and shall proceed to the
election of a Chairman and Secretary. The Chairman shall
conduct, and the Secretary record, the proceedings. They
shall certify in writing to the President of the Company the
names of the persons elected as the employes' representatives
for the ensuing year.

4. Basis and Term of Representation

Representation of employes in each camp shall be on the
basis of one representative to every one hundred and fifty
wage-earners, but each camp, whatever its number of em-
ployes, shall be entitled to at least two representatives. Where
the number of employes in any one camp exceeds one hundred
and fifty, or any multiple thereof, by seventy-five or more, an
additional representative shall be elected. The persons elected
shall act as the employes' representatives from the time of
their election until the next annual meeting, unless in the
interval other representatives may, as above provided, have
been elected to take their places.

5. Nomination and Election of Representatives

To facilitate the nomination and election of employes' rep-
resentatives and to insure freedom of choice, both nomination
and election shall be by secret ballot, under conditions cal-
culated to insure an impartial count. The Company shall
provide ballot boxes and blank ballots, differing in form, for
purposes of nomination and election. Upon entering the meet-
ing, each employe entitled to be present shall be given a
nomination ballot on which he shall write the names of the
persons whom he desires to nominate as representatives, and
deposit the nomination ballot in the ballot box. Each em-
ploye may nominate representatives to the number to which
the camp is entitled, and of which public notice has been given.
Employes unable to write may ask any of their fellow em-
ployes to write for them on their ballots the names of the
persons whom they desire to nominate; but in the event of
any nomination paper containing more names than the num-

402

PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

ber of representatives to which the camp is entitled, the paper
shall not be counted. The persons — to the number of twice as
many representatives as the camp is entitled to— receiving
the highest number of nomination votes shall be regarded as
the duly nominated candidates for employes' representatives,
and shall be voted upon as hereinafter provided. (For
example: If a camp is entitled to two representatives, the four
persons receiving the largest number of nomination votes shall
be regarded as the duly nominated candidates. If the camp is
entitled to three representatives, then the six persons receiving
the largest number, etc., etc.)

6. Counting of Nomination and Election Ballots

The Chairman shall appoint three tellers, who shall take
charge of the ballot box containing the nomination votes, and,
with the aid of the Secretary, they shall make out the list of
the duly nominated candidates, which shall be announced by
the Chairman. The meeting shall then proceed to elect rep-
resentatives by secret ballot, from among the number of can-
didates announced, the same tellers having charge of the bal-
loting. If dissatisfied with the count, either as respects the
nomination or election, any twenty-five employes present may
demand a recount, and for the purposes of the recount the
Chairman shall select as tellers three from the number of those
demanding a recount, and himself assist in the counting, and
these four shall act, in making the recount, in the place of the
Secretary and the tellers previously chosen. There shall be no
appeal from this recount, except to the President of the Com-
pany, and such appeal may be taken as hereinafter provided,
at the request of any twenty-five employes present and
entitled to vote.

7. Appeal in Regard to Nomination or Election

The Chairman of the meeting shall preserve for a period of
one week both the nomination and election ballots. Should
an appeal be made to the President within seven days in regard
to the validity of the nomination or election, upon a request in
writing signed by twenty-five employes present at the meet-
ing, the Chairman shall deliver the ballots to the President of
the Company for recount. Should no such request be received
within that time, the Chairman shall destroy the ballots. If
after considering the appeal the President is of the opinion
that the nomination or election has not been fairly conducted,

403

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

he shall order a new election at a time and place to be desig-
nated by him.

8. General Proceedings at Meetings

At annual meetings for the election of representatives, em-
ployes may consider and make recommendations concerning
any matters pertaining to their employment, working or living
conditions, or arising out of existing industrial relations, in-
cluding such as they may desire to have their representatives
discuss with the President and officers of the Company at the
Annual Joint Conferences of the Company's officers and em-
ployes, also any matters referred to them by the President,
other officers of the Company, the Advisory Board on Social
and Industrial Betterment, or by any of the several Joint Com-
mittees appointed at the preceding annual Joint Conferences
of officials and employes of the Company. A record of the
proceedings shall be made by the Secretary of the meeting and
certified to by the Chairman, and copies delivered to each of
the representatives, to be retained by them for purposes of
future reference.

DISTRICT CONFERENCES, JOINT COMMITTEES

AND JOINT MEETINGS

1. District Divisions

To facilitate the purposes herein set forth, the camps of the
Company shall be divided into five or more districts, as
follows: The Trinidad District, comprising all mines and coke
oven plants in Las Animas County; the Walsenburg District,
comprising all mines in Huerfano County; the Canon District,
comprising all mines in Fremont County; the Western Dis-
trict, comprising all mines and coke oven plants located on the
Western Slope; the Sunrise District, comprising the iron mines
located in Wyoming.

2. Time, Place and Purpose of District Conferences

District conferences shall be held in each of the several
districts above mentioned at the call of the President, at
places to be designated by him, not later than two weeks
following the annual election of representatives, and at in-
tervals of not more than four months thereafter, as the

404

PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

operating officers of the Company, or a majority of the rep-
resentatives of the employes in each of the several districts,
may find desirable. The purpose of these district conferences
shall be to discuss freely matters of mutual interest and con-
cern to the Company and its employes, embracing a considera-
tion of suggestions to promote increased efficiency and pro-
duction, to improve working and living conditions, to enforce
discipline, avoid friction, and to further friendly and cordial
relations between the Company's officers and employes.

3. Representation at District Conferences

At the district conferences the Company shall be rep-
resented by its President or his representative and such other
officials as the President may designate. The employes shall
be represented by their elected representatives. The Com-
pany's representatives shall not exceed in number the rep-
resentatives of the employes. The Company shall provide at
its own expense appropriate places of meeting for the con-
ferences.

4. Proceedings of District Conferences

The district conferences shall be presided over by the Presi-
dent of the Company, or such executive officer as he may
designate. Each conference shall select a Secretary who shall
record its proceedings. The record of proceedings shall be
certified to by the presiding officer.

5. Joint Committees on Industrial Relations

The first district conferences held in each year shall select
the following joint committees on industrial relations for each
district, which joint committees shall be regarded as perma-
nent committees to be entrusted with such duties as are herein
set forth, or as may be assigned by the conferences. These
joint committees shall be available for consultation at any
time throughout the year with the Advisory Board on Social
and Industrial Betterment, the President, the President's
Executive Assistant, or any officer of the Operating Depart-
ment of the Company.

(a) Joint Committee on Industrial Co-operation and Con-
ciliation, to be composed of six members;

(b) Joint Committee on Safety and Accidents, to be com-
posed of six members;

405

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

(d) Joint Committee on Recreation and Education, to be
composed of six members.

6. Selection and Composition of Joint Committees

In selecting the members of the several joint committees on
industrial relations, the employes' representatives shall, as
respects each committee, designate three members and the
President of the Company or his representative, three mem-
bers.

7. Duties of Joint Committees on Industrial Co-opera-

TiON AND Conciliation

The Joint Committees on Industrial Co-operation and Con-
ciliation may, of their own initiative, bring up for discussion at
the Joint Conferences, or have referred to them for considera-
tion and report to the President or other proper officer of the
Company at any time throughout the year, any matter per-
taining to the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes,
terms and conditions of employment, maintenance of order
and discipline in the several camps, Company stores, etc., etc.

8. Duties of Joint Committees on Safety and Accidents

The Joint Committees on Safety and Accidents may, of
their own initiative, bring up for discussion at the Joint Con-
ferences, or have referred to them for consideration and report
to the President or other proper officer of the Company at any
time throughout the year, any matter pertaining to the inspec-
tion of mines, the prevention of accidents, the safeguarding of
machinery and dangerous working places, the use of explo-
sives, fire protection, first aid, etc., etc.

9. Duties of Joint Committees on Sanitation, Health

AND Housing

The Joint Committees on Sanitation, Health and Housing
may, of their own initiative, bring up for discussion at the
Joint Conferences, or have referred to them for consideration
and report to the President or other proper officer of the
Company at any time throughout the year, any matter per-
taining to health, hospitals, physicians, nurses, occupational
diseases, tuberculosis, sanitation, water supply, sewage sys-
tem, garbage disposal, street cleaning, wash and locker rooms,
housing, homes, rents, gardens, fencing, etc., etc.

406

PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

10. Duties of Joint Committees on Recreation and Edu-
cation

The Joint Committees on Recreation and Education may,
of their own initiative, bring up for discussion at the Joint
Conferences, or have referred to them for consideration and
report to the President or other proper officer of the Company,
at any time throughout the year, any matter pertaining to
social centers, club houses, halls, playgrounds, entertainments,
moving pictures, athletics, competitions, field days, holidays,
schools, libraries, classes for those who speak only foreign lan-
guages, technical education, manual training, health lectures,
classes in first aid, religious exercises, churches and Sunday
schools, Y. M. C. A. organizations, etc., etc.

1 1. Annual and Special Joint Meetings

In addition to the district conferences in each of the several
districts, there shall be held in the month of December an
annual joint meeting, at a time and place to be designated by
the President of the Company, to be attended by the President
and such officers of the Company as he may select and by all
the employes' representatives of the several districts. At this
meeting reports covering the work of the year shall be made by
the several joint committees and matters of common interest
requiring collective action considered. A special joint meeting
of any two or more districts may be called at any time upon
the written request to the President of a majority of the rep-
resentatives in such districts or upon the President's own
initiative, for the consideration of such matters of common
interest as cannot be dealt with satisfactorily at district con-
ferences. Notice of such special joint meetings shall be given
at least two weeks in advance.

Ill

THE PREVENTION AND ADJUSTMENT OF
INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES

I. Observance of Laws, Rules and Regulations

There shall be on the part of the Company and its employes,
a strict observance of the federal and state laws respecting
mining and labor and of the Company's rules and regulations
supplementing the same.

407

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

2. Posting of Wages and Rules

The scale of wages and the rules in regard to working con-
ditions shall be posted in a conspicuous place at or near every
mine.

3. No Discrimination on Account of Membership or
Non-Membership in Labor or other Organizations

There shall be no discrimination by the Company or by any
of its employes on account of membership or non-membership
in any society, fraternity or union.

4. The Right to Hire and Discharge, and the Manage-
ment OF the Properties

The right to hire and discharge, the management of the
properties, and the direction of the working forces, shall be
vested exclusively in the Company, and, except as expressly
restricted, this right shall not be abridged by anything con-
tained herein.

5. Employes' Right to Caution or Suspension Before
Discharge

There shall be posted at each property a list of otTenses for
commission of which by an employe dismissal may result with-
out notice. For other offenses, employes shall not be dis-
charged without first having been notified that a repetition of
the offense will be cause for dismissal. A copy of this notifica-
tion shall, at the time of its being given to an employe, be sent
also to the President's Industrial Representative and retained
by him for purposes of future reference. Nothing herein shall
abridge the right of the Company to relieve employes from
duty because of lack of work. Where relief from duty through
lack of work becomes necessary, men with families shall, all
things being equal, be given preference.

6. Employes' Right to Hold Meetings

Employes shall have the right to hold meetings at appro-
priate places on Company property or elsewhere as they may
desire outside of working hours or on idle days.

7. Employes' Right to Purchase Where They Please

Employes shall not be obliged to trade at the Company
stores, but shall be at perfect liberty to purchase goods
wherever they may choose to do so.

408

PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

8. Employes' Right to Employ Checkweighmen

As provided by statute, miners have the right to employ
checkweighmen, and the Company shall grant the said check-
weighmen every facility to enable them to render a correct
account of all coal weighed.

g. Employes' Right of Appeal to President of Company
Against Unfair Conditions or Treatment

Subject to the provisions hereinafter mentioned, every em-
ploye shall have the right of ultimate appeal to the President
of the Company concerning any condition or treatment to
which he may be subjected and which he may deem unfair.

10. Duty of President's Industrial Representative

It shall be the duty of the President's Industrial Represen-
tative to respond promptly to any request from employes'
representatives for his presence at any of the camps and to
visit all of them as often as possible, but not less frequently
than once every three months, to confer with the employes or
their representatives and the superintendents respecting work-
ing and living conditions, the observance of federal and state
laws, the carrying out of Company regulations, and to report
the result of such conferences to the President.

11. Complaints and Grievances to be Taken Up First
With Foremen and Superintendents

Before presenting any grievance to the President, the Presi-
dent's Industrial Representative, or other of the higher officers
of the Company, employes shall first seek to have differences
or the conditions complained about adjusted by conference, in
person or through their representatives, with the mine super-
intendent.

12. Investigation of Grievances by President's Indus-
trial Representative

Employes believing themselves to be subjected to unfair
conditions or treatment and having failed to secure satisfac-
tory adjustment of the same through the mine superintendent
may present their grievances to the President's Industrial
Representative, either in person or through their regularly
elected representatives, and it shall be the duty of the Presi-
dent's Industrial Representative to look into the same imme-
diately and seek to adjust the grievance.

409

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

1 3'. The Right of Appeal to the Superior Officers of the
Company Against Unfair Treatment, Conditions,
Suspensions or Dismissals

Should the President's Industrial Representative fail to sat-
isfactorily conciliate any difference, with respect to any
grievance, suspension or dismissal, the aggrieved employe,
either himself or through his representative — and in either
case in person or by letter — may appeal for the consideration
and adjustment of his grievance to the Division Superintend-
ent, Assistant Manager or Manager, General Manager or the
President of the Company, in consecutive order. To entitle an
employe to the consideration of his appeal by any of the
higher officers herein mentioned, the right to appeal must be
exercised within a period of two weeks after the same has been
referred to the President's Industrial Representative without
satisfactory redress.

14. Reference of Differences in Certain Cases to
Joint Committees on Industrial Co-operation and
Conciliation

Where the President's Industrial Representative or one of
the higher officials of the Company fails to adjust a difference
satisfactorily, upon request to the President by the employes'
representatives or upon the initiative of the President himself,
the difference shall be referred to the Joint Committee on
Industrial Co-operation and Conciliation of the district, and
the decision of the majority of such Joint Committee shall be
binding upon all parties.

15. Representation on Joint Committees to be Equal

When Considering Adjustment of Differences

Whenever a Joint Committee on Industrial Co-operation
and Conciliation is called upon to act with reference to any
difference, except by the consent of all present the Joint
Committee shall not proceed with any important part of its
duties unless both sides are equally represented. Where agree-
able, equal representation may be effected by the withdrawal
of one or more members from the side of the Joint Committee
having the majority.

16. Umpire to Act With Joint Committees in Certain
Cases

Should the Joint Committee on Industrial Co-operation and
Conciliation to which a difference may have been referred fail

410

PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

to reach a majority decision in respect thereto, if a majority
of its members so agree, the Joint Committee may select as
umpire a third person who shall sit in conference with the
Committee and whose decision shall be binding upon all
parties.

17. Arbitration or Investigation in Certain Cases

In the event of the Joint Committee on Industrial Co-
operation and Conciliation failing satisfactorily to adjust a
difference by a majority decision or by agreement on the
selection of an umpire, as aforementioned, within ten days of
a report to the President of the failure of the Joint Committee
to adjust the difference, if the parties so agree, the matter
shall be referred to arbitration; otherwise it shall be made the
subject of investigation by the State of Colorado Industrial
Commission, in accordance with the provisions of the statute
regulating the powers of the Commission in this particular.
Where a difference is referred to arbitration, one person shall
be selected as arbitrator if the parties can agree upon his
selection. Otherwise there shall be a board of three arbitrators,
one to be selected by the employes' representatives on the
Joint Committee on Industrial Co-operation and Conciliation
in the district in which the dispute arises, one by the Com-
pany's representatives on this Committee, and a third by the
two arbitrators thus selected.

By consent of the members of the Joint Committee on In-
dustrial Co-operation and Conciliation to which a difference
has been referred, the Industrial Commission of the State of
Colorado may be asked to appoint all of the arbitrators or
itself arbitrate the difference. The decision of the sole arbi-
trator or of the majority of the Board of Arbitration or of the
members of the State of Colorado Industrial Commission
when acting as arbitrators, as the case may be, shall be final
and shall be binding upon the parties.

18. Protection of Employes' Representatives Against

Discrimination

To protect against the possibility of unjust treatment be-
cause of any action taken or to be taken by them on behalf
of one or more of the Company's employes, any employes'
representative believing himself to be discriminated against
for such a cause shall have the same right of appeal to the
officers of the Company or to the Joint Committee on Indus-

411

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

trial Co-operation and Conciliation in his district as is accorded
every other employe of the Company. Having exercised this
right in the consecutive order indicated without obtaining
satisfaction, for thirty days thereafter he shall have the further
right of appeal to the Industrial Commission of the State of
Colorado, which body shall determine whether or not dis-
crimination has been shown, and as respects any representa-
tive deemed by the Commission to have been unfairly dealt
with, the Company shall make such reparation as the State of
Colorado Industrial Commission may deem just.

IV
SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BETTERMENT

1. Executive Supervision

The President's Executive Assistant, in addition to other
duties, shall, on behalf of the President, supervise the adminis-
tration of the Company's policies respecting social and indus-
trial betterment.!

2. Co-operation of President's Executive Assistant

With Joint Committees in Carrying Out Policies of
Social and Industrial Betterment

In the discharge of his duties, the President's Executive
Assistant shall from time to time confer with the several Joint
Committees, on Safety and Accidents, on Sanitation, Health
and Housing, on Recreation and Education, and on Industrial
Co-operation and Conciliation, appointed at the Annual Joint
Conferences, as to improvements or changes likely to be of
mutual advantage to the Company and its employes. Mem-
bers of the several Joint Committees shall be at liberty to
communicate at any time with the President's Executive
Assistant with respect to any matters under their observation
or brought to their attention by employes or officials of the
Company, which they believe should be looked into or
changed. As far as may be possible, employes should be
made to feel that the President's Executive Assistant will wel-
come conferences with members of the several Joint Commit-

1 [As already told in Chapter V, The Representation Plan, the
functions of the executive assistant were taken over in the summer of
1917 by the president of the company. In 1920 a vice-president of the
company was made responsible for industrial relations, including the
program for "social and industrial betterment." B. M. S.]

412

PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

tees on matters of concern to the employes, whenever such
matters have a direct bearing on the industrial, social, and
moral well-being of employes and their families or the com-
munities in which they reside.

3. Advisory Board on Social and Industrial Betterment

In addition to consulting, from time to time, the several
Joint Committees or their individual members, the President's
Executive Assistant shall be the Chairman of a permanent
Advisory Board on Social and Industrial Betterment, to
which may be referred questions of policy respecting social
and industrial betterment and related matters requiring execu-
tive action.

4. Members of Advisory Board

The Advisory Board on Social and Industrial Betterment
shall be composed of such of the Company's officers as the
President may designate.

5. Regular and Special Meetings of Advisory Board

The Advisory Board shall meet at least once in every six
months, and may convene for special meetings upon the call
of the Chairman whenever he may deem a special meeting
advisable.

6. Powers and Duties of the Advisory Board

The Advisory Board shall have power to consider all matters
referred to it by the Chairman, or any of its members, or by
any committee or organization directly or indirectly con-
nected with the Company, and may make such recommenda-
tions to the President as in its opinion seem to be expedient
and in the interest of the Company and its employes.

7. Supervision of Community Needs by President's

Executive Assistant

The President's Executive Assistant shall also exercise a
general supervision over the sanitary, medical, educational,
religious, social, and other like needs of the different industrial
communities, with a view of seeing that such needs are suit-
ably and adequately provided for, and the several activities
pertaining thereto harmoniously conducted.

27 413

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

8. Method of Carrying Out Improvements

Improvements respecting social and industrial betterment
shall, after approval by the President, be carried out through
the regular company organization.

9. Hospitals and Doctors

In camps where arrangements for doctors and hospitals
have already been made and are satisfactory, such arrange-
ments shall continue.

In making any new arrangement for a doctor, the employes'
representatives in the camps concerned, the President's Execu-
tive Assistant, and the Chief Medical Officer shall select a
doctor, and enter into an agreement with him which shall be
signed by all four parties.

10. Company Periodical

The Company shall publish, under the direction of the
President's Executive Assistant, a periodical which shall be a
means of communication between the management, the em-
ployes and the public, concerning the policies and activities of
the Company. This periodical shall be used as a means of
co-ordinating, harmonizing, and furthering the social and in-
dustrial betterment work, and of informing employes of the
personnel and proceedings of conferences, boards, and com-
mittees, in which they are interested. It shall record events
pertaining to social and industrial activities, and be a medium
for making announcements with reference to the same, and for
diffusing information of mutual interest to the Company and
its employes.

11. Cost of Administering Plan of Representation and
OF Furthering Social and Industrial Betterment
Policies

The promotion of harmony and good-will between the Com-
pany and its employes and the furtherance of the well-being
of employes and their families and the communities in which
they reside being essential to the successful operation of the
Company's industries in an enlightened and profitable man-
ner, the expenses necessarily incidental to the carrying out of
the social and industrial betterment policies herein described,
and the plan of representation, joint conferences and joint
meetings, herein set forth, including the payment of traveling

414

AGREEMENT RESPECTING CONDITIONS

expenses of employes' representatives when attending joint
conferences and annual joint meetings, and their reimburse-
ment for the working time necessarily lost in so doing, shall
be borne by the Company. But nothing herein shall preclude
employes of the Company from making such payment to their
representatives in consideration of services rendered on their
behalf as they themselves may voluntarily desire and agree to
make.

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT RESPECTING

EMPLOYMENT, LIVING AND WORKING

CONDITIONS

BETWEEN THE COLORADO FuEL AND I RON COMPANY AND ItS

Employes in the Coal Mines and Coke Oven Plants
IN THE State of Colorado

October, 1915, to January, 1918

It is mutually understood and agreed that in addition to the
rights and privileges guaranteed the employes and the Com-
pany, in the Industrial Representation plan herewith, the
following stipulations respecting employment, living and
working conditions shall govern the parties hereto from the
date of their signatures hereon until January i, 1918, and shall
continue thereafter subject to revision upon ninety days
notice by either of the parties:

\. Rent of Dwellings, Light and Water

The charge to employes for dwellings without bath shall not
exceed two dollars per room per month.

The present uniform charge of forty cents per electric light
per month, with free light on porches, shall not be increased.

There shall be no charge for domestic water, except in cases
where the Company is obliged to purchase the same; in such
cases the charges shall be substantially cost to the Company.

II. Prices of Powder and Domestic Coal

The rates to be charged employes for powder and domestic
coal shall be substantially their cost to the Company.

415

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

III. Fencing of Employes' Homes and Garbage Removal

To encourage employes to cultivate flower and vegetable
gardens, the Company agrees to fence, free of charge, each
house lot owned by it.

The Company will continue its practice of removing gar-
bage free of charge.

IV. Bath and Club Houses

As the need becomes manifest, the Company will continue
its present policy of providing, as rapidly as possible, suitable
bath houses and social centers in the nature of club houses, for
its employes at the several mining camps.

V. Hours of Labor

Eight hours shall constitute a day's work for all employes
working underground and in coke ovens. This shall mean
eight hours exclusive of the noon hour and the time required
to go and come from the mine opening to the place of employ-
ment.

Nine hours shall constitute a day's work for all other outside
labor, except firemen and engineers.

VI. Semi-monthly Payment of Wages

All employes shall be paid semi-monthly by check.
No deductions shall be made from earnings, except where
authorized by employes.

VII. Wage Schedule and Working Conditions

No change affecting conditions of employment with respect
to wages or hours shall be made without first giving thirty
days notice, as provided by statute.

The schedule of wages and the working conditions now in
force in the several districts shall continue without reduction,
but if, prior to January i, 1918, a general increase shall be
granted in competitive districts in which the Company does
not conduct operations, a proportional increase shall be made.
For this purpose a joint meeting of the miners' representatives
and proper officers of the Company shall be called within
thirty days after the increase in competitive districts is effec-
tive to discuss and determine an equitable method for fixing
the new scale in the districts affected.

416

AGREEMENT RESPECTING CONDITIONS

We hereby certify that the Plan of Representation and
Agreement as set forth were discussed and unanimously
adopted at a joint conference of the officers of The Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company and the representatives of its em-
ployes, held at Pueblo, today, Saturday, October 2, 191 5, and
referred by the conference for approval to the Board of
Directors of the Company and to the Company's employes
at the several mining camps, on the understanding that the
same should be voted upon by secret ballot, and if adopted by
the Board of Directors on the one hand and a majority of the
Company's employes on the other, should become binding
upon the parties thereto.

(Signed) C. J. Hicks,

Representing the Company.

(Signed) W. E. Skidmore,

Representing the Employes.
(Joint Secretaries of the Conference.)

Pueblo, Colorado, October 2, 1915.

I hereby certify that the Plan of Representation and Agree-
ment referred for approval to the Board of Directors of the
Company by the joint conference of the officers of The
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company and the representatives of
its employes, held at Pueblo on Saturday, October 2, 191 5,
was today duly considered by the Board of Directors and
unanimously adopted.

(Signed) J. A. Writer,

Secretary of the Board of Directors of
The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.

We hereby certify that the Plan of Representation and
Agreement referred for approval to the Company's employes
at the several mining camps by the joint conference of officers
of The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company and the representa-
tives of its employes, held at Pueblo on Saturday, October
2, 191 5, was voted upon by secret ballot on Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday, October 4, 5, 6, 7 and on Monday,
October 25, 191 5, and that having examined the official returns
duly certified to by the tellers elected to take charge of the
vote at the several camps, we find that the total number of
votes cast was 2,846, of which number 2,404, or 84.47 ?£•" ^^^^

417

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

of the total votes cast, were in favor of, and 442, or 15.53 P^r
cent, were against the proposed Plan and Agreement.

(Signed) C. J. Hicks,

Representing the Company.

(Signed) W. E. Skidmore,

Representing the Employes.

Sopris, Colorado, October 26, 191 5.

Signed on behalf of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
(Signed) J. F. Welborn,

President.
(Signed) J. A. Writer,
(Company Seal) Secretary
Denver, Colorado, October 20, 191 5.

Signed on behalf of the employes of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron Company,

(Signed) Joe Lucero,

Date— Oct. 21, 19 15. Representative at Morley Camp.

(Signed) J. R. Walton,

Date— Oct. 21, 1915. Representative at Morley Camp.

(Signed) W. E. Skidmore,

Date — Oct. 21, 1915. Representative at Sopris Camp.

(Signed) F. Turra,

Date — Oct. 21, 1915. Representative at Sopris Camp.

(Signed) Harry J. Shoupe,

Date— Oct. 22, 191 5. Representative at Primero Camp.

(Signed) John Pernich,

Date — Oct. 22, 191 5. Representative at Primero Camp.

(Signed) A. Dennison,

Date — Oct. 22, 191 5. Representative at Frederick Camp.

(Signed) Vincenzo Blondo,

Date— Oct. 22, 191 5. Representative at Frederick Camp.

(Signed) Joe Nacearatto,

Date— Oct. 22, 191 5. Representative at Segundo Camp.

(Signed) Dan Morelli,

Date— Oct. 21, 191 5. Representative at Berwind Camp.

(Signed) Attilio Bevaqua,

Date — Oct. 22, 191 5. Representative at Tabasco Camp.

(Signed) Mike Ritz,

Date— Oct. 22, 191 5. Representative at Rouse Camp.

418

AGREEMENT RESPECTING CONDITIONS

Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-
Date-

-Oct. 22

-Oct. 22
-Oct. 22
-Oct. 22
-Oct. 22
-Oct. 22
-Oct. 22
-Oct. 22
-Oct. 22
-Oct. 22
-Oct. 22
-Oct. 22
-Oct. 22

-Oct. 2 5
-Oct. 25
-Oct. 25
-Oct. 28

(Signed) Charles Mitchell,

191 5. Representative at Rouse Camp.

(Signed) D. R. Patterson,

191 5. Representative at Lester Camp.

(Signed) William Brown,

19 1 5. Representative at Lester Camp.

(Signed) D. Garcia,

191 5. Representative at Ideal Camp.

(Signed) Camillo Battiste,

191 5. Representative at Cameron Camp.

(Signed) Joe Ward,

191 5. Representative at Walsen Camp.

(Signed) R. S. Wiley,

191 5. Representative at Robinson Camp.

(Signed) S. T. Thomas,

191 5. Representative at Robinson Camp.

(Signed) Byron Richards,

1915. Representative at Coal Creek Camp.

(Signed) Richard Madonna,

191 5. Representative at Coal Creek Camp.

(Signed) Walter Patrick,

1915. Representative at Fremont Camp.

(Signed) Nick Keseric,

191 5. Representative at Fremont Camp.

(Signed) Charles Ossola,

191 5. Representative at Fremont Camp.

(Signed) Luis Lusik,

1915. Representative at Rockvale Camp.

(Signed) Louis Cerutti,

191 5. Representative at Rockvale Camp.

(Signed) George A. Lewis,

191 5. Representative at Gulch Camp.

(Signed) F. E. Songer,

191 5. Representative at Floresta Camp.

419

APPENDIX B

JOINT REPRESENTATION OF EMPLOYES AND

MANAGEMENT AND PROCEDURE

IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

ADOPTED BY EMPLOYES AND MANAGEMENT OF ThE

Colorado Fuel and Iron Company at the Mines,

October, 1915, and at the Steel Works and

Quarries, May, 1916, as Consolidated by

A Joint Committee of Employes and

Management December 20, 1921

The Consolidated Form Adopted by the Annual

Meetings of Employes' and Management's

Representatives at Pueblo on

December 29-30, 1921

PREAMBLE

FOR the purpose of maintaining and further developing
harmony and right understanding within The Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company, the following method of joint
representation and procedure in industrial relations has been
adopted:

PART I

REPRESENTATION OF EMPLOYES

I. For the purpose of fixing the basis of representation, the
divisions and subdivisions of existing properties are as follows:

DIVISION SUBDIVISIONS

{A — Transportation, Pig Machine and
Cinder Dump.
B— All other Blast Furnace Men.

^T™?r" "'"■^'' """"^ f A-Open Hearth; Spiegel Plant.

B — Bessemer Department.
C— East Side Producers.

420

Bessemer.

CONSOLIDATED PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

Third-Rail Mill. .
Fourth— Old Mills,

Fifth— East Mills.

Sixth— Wire Mill,

Seventh— Shops.

A— Soaking Fits and Rail Mill.
B— Finishing and Loading Depart
ment.

{^=

C-

A-

G-

A-
B-
C-
D

Bolt and Spike Mills.
i2-inch and 20-inch Mills.

-Rod and lo-inch Mills.
-14-inch Mill and Shipping Depart-
ment.
-40-inch Mill.
-East Side Boilers

Rod Dock; Cleaning House;

Drawing Room.
Nail Mill and Rumbler Room.
Galvanizing Department; Pot

Room, and Bundling Room.
-Barb and Bale Tie Departments.
■Field Fence.
Shipping Department and Cooper

Shop.
Electrical, Mechanical, Boiler

Plant and Yard.

Eighth— By-Product Coke / ._
Plant I g.

[A-

Ninth— Yard \ q_

I D-
Tenth— C. & W. Transpor- r (-.
tation s

A-
Iron Mines \ B-

r. ■ ' A-

Ouarries

-Foundry.
-Machine Shop.
-Boiler Shop.

-Carpenter, Scale, Pattern, Smith,
Pipe Shops and Store House.
-Roll Shop.

-Electrical Shop; Power Plant.
-Masons.

-C. & W. Shop and Car Men.
-Pipe Foundry.

-Batteries.

-Remainder of Coke Plant.

-C. & W. Trackmen.
-Floating and Contract Gangs.
-Locomotive Cranes and Stables.
—Watchmen.

& W. Transportation Men, except
Blast Furnace Men.

—Sunrise.
—Chicago.
-C. & W. Ry., Northern Division,

-Lime.
-Calcite.

421

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

MoRLEY ( ^-East Side Mine.

L B— Slope Mine.
Starkville

Engle

SopRis / A— Number One Mine.

\ B— Number Two Mine.

Primero / A— First North Mine.

I B — East Side Mine.
Frederick

Berwind

Toller

Tabasco

Segundo / A— Washeries and Coke Ovens.

\ B— C. & W. Ry., Southern Division.
Rouse

Lester

Ideal

Cameron / A— No. i.

\ B-No. 2.

,,, „ ' f A— Old Walsen.

Walsen Robinson I b- Robinson No. i.

[ C — Robinson No. 2.

PiCTOU
JOBAL

Kebler No. I
Kebler No. 2
Coal Creek
rockvale
Fremont
Emerald
Crested Butte
Elk Mountain

As additional properties are added to the operations, they
shall be entitled to representation on the same basis.

422

CONSOLIDATED PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

2. Annual Election of Employes' Representatives

Employes in each division or subdivision shall annually elect
from among their number, representatives to act on their
behalf with respect to matters pertaining to their employment,
living and working conditions, the adjustment of differences,
and other matters of mutual concern and interest.

3. Time and Method of Calling Annual Elections and

Persons Entitled to Participate

The annual nomination and election of representatives shall
be held during the first half of the month of January, unless
deferred by common consent.

The nomination and election shall be called by direction of
the President of the Company.

Notice of nomination and election, indicating the time and
place thereof and the number of representatives to be elected
in the division or subdivision, shall be conspicuously posted a
week in advance and shall state that employes being wage
earners at the time and for at least three months immediately
preceding the month in which elections are held, shall be
entitled to vote. No foreman or official having authority to
employ or discharge, or any salaried employe, shall have
the right to vote. Where meetings are held for election,
no such person shall be present.

4. Eligibility for Office of Representative

Only an employe who is a citizen of the United States, who
is 2 1 years of age or over, and who is and has been an employe
of the Company continuously for at least one year imme-
diately preceding the month in which elections are held, shall
be qualified for nomination and election as a representative.

5. Basis and Term of Representation

Representation of employes shall be on the basis of one
representative to every 150 wage earners or major fraction
thereof, but each division, whatever its number of employes,
shall be entitled to at least two representatives, and each
subdivision shall be entitled to at least one representative.

Inasmuch as the numbers of shift men and tonnage men
are about equal in and around coal mines, it is recommended
that one representative be chosen from each group.

Representatives shall be elected for a term of one year or
until their successors are elected and qualified.

423

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

6. Nomination and Election of RtPRESENTATivEs

Nomination and election of representatives shall be by
secret ballot under conditions that insure freedom of choice
and an impartial count.

Procedure for conducting nominations and elections shall
be agreed upon by the employes' representatives and the
management at each operation.

For purposes of nomination and election, the management
shall provide ballot boxes and blank ballots, the ballots to be
of one color or form for nominations, and of another for
elections.

7. Method of Nomination

Each employe entitled to vote shall be given a nomination
ballot, on which he shall write the names— or if unable to
write, he shall have the duly authorized tellers or a fellow
employe, in the presence of the tellers, write the names— of
the fellow employes in his division or subdivision whom he
desires to nominate as representatives, and himself deposit the
nomination ballot in the ballot box. Each employe may
nominate representatives to the number to which the division
or subdivision is entitled, and which shall be stated on the
ballot.

In the event of any nomination ballot containing more
names than the number of representatives to which the
division or subdivision is entitled, the ballot shall not be
counted.

The persons, to the number of twice as many" as the number
of representatives to which the division or subdivision is
entitled, receiving the highest number of nomination votes,
shall be regarded as the duly nominated candidates for rep-
resentatives; provided, that in case two or more names shall
be tied for nomination, and each shall have received a suffi-
cient number of votes to nominate him, then all such names
shall be included on the election ballot.

Except as hereinafter provided, the tellers shall make out in
alphabetical order a list of the duly nominated candidates,
which shall be posted in each subdivision not later than the
day preceding the election.

8. Method of Election

The election of representatives shall be held by secret ballot
from among the candidates nominated, whose names, in

424

CONSOLIDATED PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

alphabetical order and the number of candidates each voter
may vote for, shall be placed on the election ballots, the same
tellers having charge of the balloting; provided, that where
mass meetings are held for the purpose of election the em-
ployes shall write their choice on the election ballots. In case
of a tie vote, another ballot shall be taken on the candidates
who were tied.

9. Appeal in Regard to Nomination or Election

The tellers shall preserve, properly sealed, for a period of
two weeks, both the nomination and election ballots. Should
an appeal be made to the President within seven days in regard
to the validity of the nomination or election in any division,
upon a request in writing signed by twenty-five employes in
such division who participated in the election, the tellers shall
deliver the ballots to the President of the Company for re-
count. Should no such request be received within that time,
the tellers shall destroy the ballots. If, after considering the
appeal with the local Committee on Co-operation, Conciliation
and Wages, the President is of the opinion that the nomination
or election has not been fairly conducted, he shall order a new
election in the division concerned at a time to be designated
by him.

10. Special Elections

Special elections shall be similarly called when removal,
resignation, permanent transfer or other circumstance causes a
vacancy in representation.

A representative shall immediately and automatically cease
to hold office upon severance of his relations with the Com-
pany or upon his permanent appointment to such a position
as would disqualify him from voting or acting as a representa-
tive.

1 1. Recall

A representative may be recalled on petition signed by a
majority of the eligible voters in his division or subdivision,
but such representative shall be eligible for nomination as a
candidate at the election called to fill the vacancy caused by
his recall.

12. Meetings of Employes

Meetings of employes in any division or subdivision, or
conferences of employes' representatives, may be held at such

425

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

times as will not interfere with operations, to consider and
make recommendations concerning any matters pertaining to
their empIo\ment, living and working conditions, or arising
out of existing relations, including such as they may desire to
have considered at the joint conferences, also any matters
referred to them by the President, other officers, or by any of
the joint committees.

PART II
JOINT MEETINGS AND JOINT CONFERENCES

Steel Works, Iron Mines and

Limestone Quarries. ' Coal Mines.

JANUARY
Annual nominations and elec- Annual nominations and elec-
tions of representatives, first tions of representatives, first
half January. half January.

Committee and joint committee
meetings, first joint confer-
ence, last half. First joint conference, last half.

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY
Second joint conference, first half. Second joint conference

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER
Third joint conference, first half. Third joint conference.

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Annual joint meeting. Annual joint meeting.

426

CONSOLIDATED PLAN OF REPRESENTATION
JOINT CONFERENCES AND JOINT COMMITTEES

1. Arrangement OF Districts

Joint conferences shall be held and joint committees shall
be selected as follows:

For the Trinidad District, comprising the coal mines and
the coke ovens in Las Animas County, and the Southern
division of The Colorado & Wyoming Railway Company.

For the Walsenburg District, comprising the coal mines in
Huerfano County.

For the Canon District, comprising the coal mines in Fre-
mont County.

For the Western District, comprising the coal mines on the
Western Slope.

For the Sunrise District, comprising the iron mines in Wyo-
ming, and the northern division of The Colorado & Wyoming
Railway Company.

For the Minnequa District, comprising the steel works and
limestone quarries, and the middle division of The Colorado &
Wyoming Railway Company. (For convenient working pur-
poses each quarry may have its own joint committees.)

2. Time, Place and Purpose of District Joint Confer-

ences

Joint conferences shall be held at the call of the President,
at places to be designated by him, in January, May and
September each year. Special joint conferences may be held
as the President of the Company or a majority of the em-
ployes' representatives may find desirable.

The purpose of these joint conferences shall be to discuss
freely matters of mutual interest and concern, embracing a
consideration of suggestions to promote increased efficiency
and production, to improve living and working conditions, to
enforce discipline, avoid friction, and to strengthen friendly
and cordial relations between management and employes.

3. Representation at Joint Conferences

At the joint conferences the employes shall be represented
by their elected representatives. The management shall be
represented by such officials as the President may designate.

The management representatives with voting power may
equal but not exceed in number the representatives of the
employes.

427

employes' representation in coal mines

The Company shall provide appropriate places of meeting
for the conferences.

4. Procedure of Joint Conferences

The joint conferences shall be presided over by the Presi-
dent, or such officer as he may designate.

Each conference shall select a secretary, who shall record its
proceedings, which shall be certified to by the presiding officer,
and of which a copy shall be sent to the President's Industrial
Representative.

5. Joint Committees on Industrial Relations

The first joint conferences held in each year shall select the
following joint committees, each committee to be composed of
twelve members for the steel works, Minnequa District, and of
six members for each of the other districts, of whom the em-
ployes' representatives shall designate one-half and the man-
agement one-half:

Joint Committee on Co-operation, Conciliation and Wages;

Joint Committee on Safety and Accidents;

Joint Committee on Sanitation, Health and Housing;

Joint Committee on Recreation and Education.

These joint committees shall be regarded as permanent
committees, available for consultation at any time throughout
the year with the Advisory Board, the President, the Presi-
dent's Industrial Representative or any of the other officers.

Each joint committee shall select a chairman and a secre-
tary, and arrange its own procedure and hold meetings at
least quarterly.

Questions brought before a joint committee shall be fully
and definitely presented in person or in writing, and the rec-
ords of the joint committee should show the disposition made
and the final actions taken on each matter considered.

The secretary of each permanent committee shall prepare in
writing a full report of the proceedings of the committee for
submission to the annual joint meetings.

6. Duties of Joint Committees, General

Each of the joint committees may of its own initiative bring
up for discussion at the joint conferences, or have referred to it
for consideration and report to the President or other officer at
any time throughout the year, any matter pertaining to its
duties as herein set forth.

428

CONSOLIDATED PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

7. The Joint Committees on Co-operation, Conciliation
AND Wages shall have to do with any matters pertaining to

the prevention and settlement of disputes, terms and condi-
tions of employment, including wages, hours and other work-
ing conditions; maintenance of order and discipline, company
stores and other similar matters. At the coal mines a local
employes' representative shall accompany the committee on
inspection trips.

8. The Joint Committees on Safety and Accidents shall
have to do with any matters pertaining to the safeguarding of
machinery and dangerous working places, the prevention of
accidents, the investigation of fatal accidents, the use of
explosives, fire protection, first-aid and other similar matters.
At the coal mines a local employes' representative shall accom-
pany the committee on inspection trips.

9. The Joint Committees on Sanitation, Health and
Housing shall have to do with any matters pertaining to

health, hospitals, physicians, nurses, occupational diseases,
sanitation, water supply, sewage system, garbage disposal,
street cleaning, wash and locker rooms, houses, rents, gardens,
fencing and other similar matters. At the coal mines a local
employes' representative shall accompany the committee on
inspection trips.

10. The Joint Committees on Recreation and Education
shall have to do with any matters pertaining to social centers,
clubhouses, playgrounds, entertainments, moving pictures,
athletics, competitions, field days, schools, libraries, classes for
those who speak only foreign languages, technical and voca-
tional education, manual training, churches and Sunday
Schools, and other similar matters. At the coal mines a local
employes' representative shall accompany the committee on
inspection trips.

11. Annual Joint Meetings

Annual joint meetings of all representatives of the employes
and of the management, including members of the several
joint committees, shall be held during the month of December
in places and in groups to be designated by the President,
except at Sunrise where each committee shall be represented
by one of its members to be elected by the committee.
28 429

employes' representation in coal mines

At these meetings, condensed reports covering the work of
the vcar shall be made by each of the joint committees and
matters of common interest, requiring collective action, con-
sidered.

12. Special Joint Meetings

Special joint meetings of any two or more districts or groups
may be called at any time upon the written request to the
President of a majority of the representatives in such districts
or groups or upon the President's own initiative for the con-
sideration of such matters of common interest as cannot be
dealt with satisfactorily at district conferences. Notice of such
special joint meetings shall be given at least two weeks in
advance.

PART III

THE PREVENTION AND ADJUSTMENT OF
DISPUTES

1. Observance of Laws, Rules and Regulations

There shall be on the part of the management and of the
employes, a strict observance of the federal and state laws
and of the Company's rules and regulations.

2. Wages and Rules Open to Inspection

The wage rates and the rules governing working conditions
shall where practicable be posted in a conspicuous place in
each subdivision and at each mine. They shall at all tinies be
kept on file by the superintendent and shall be open to inspec-
tion by any representative or other employe upon request.

3. No Discrimination on Account of Membership or

Non-Membership in Labor or Other Organizations

There shall be no discrimination by the management or by
any of the employes on account of membership or non-mem-
bership in any society, fraternity or union.

4. The Selection and Direction of Working Forces

The management of the properties and the direction of the
working forces, including the right to hire and discharge, shall
be vested in the Company, and, except as expressly restricted,
these rights shall not be abridged by anything contained

430

CONSOLIDATED PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

herein. However, the fairness of any action under this para-
graph shall be a proper subject for review, according to the
general provisions expressed herein.

When it becomes necessary, through lack of work, to reduce
the number of employes, length of service and other things
being considered, men with dependents shall be given prefer-
ence.

In making promotions, primary consideration shall be given
to length of service and ability to do the work required.

5. Employes' Right to Caution or Suspension Before

Discharge

There shall be posted in each division and subdivision, and
made available to every employe, a list of offenses for com-
mission of which by an employe, dismissal may result without
notice.

For offenses other than those posted, employes shall not be
discharged without first having been notified in writing that a
repetition of the offense will be cause for dismissal.

A copy of this notification shall, at the time of its being
given to an employe, be sent to the President's Industrial
Representative and to the manager of the department.

6. Employes' Right to Hold Meetings

Employes shall have the right to hold meetings at appro-
priate places on Company property or elsewhere, as they may
desire, outside of working hours or on idle days. Meetings
during working hours may be held at the mines only with the
consent of the local management.

7. Employes' Right to Purchase Where They Please

Employes shall not be obliged to trade at the Company
stores, but shall be at liberty to purchase goods wherever they
prefer.

8. Checkweighmen at Coal Mines

As provided by statute, coal miners have the right to employ
checkweighmen, and the management shall grant the said
checkweighmen every reasonable facility to enable them to
render a correct account of all coal weighed.

9. Duties of President's Industrial Representative

It shall betheduty of the President's Industrial Representa-
tive to attend meetings and conferences, to respond promptly

431

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

to any request from employes' representatives for his presence,
and to visit all of them frequently, and at least once every
three months, to confer with the employes or their representa-
tives and the management respecting working and living con-
ditions, the observance of federal and state laws, the carrying
out of the Company regulations, and to report the result of
such conferences to the President.

10. Employes' Right of Appeal to President of Com-
pany Against Unfair Conditions or Treatment

Subject to the provisions hereinafter mentioned, every em-
ploye shall have the right of appeal to the President of the
Company concerning any condition or treatment to which he
may be subjected and which he may deem unfair.

11. Complaints and Grievances to Be Taken Up First
With Foremen and Superintendents

Before presenting any grievance to the higher officers, em-
ployes should first seek to have differences or the conditions
complained about adjusted by conference, in person or through
their representatives, with the foreman or superintendent,
preferably in the order named.

12. Investigation of Grievances by President's Indus-
trial Representative

Employes believing themselves to be subjected to unfair
conditions or treatment may present their grievances to the
President's Industrial Representative, either in person or
through their representatives, and it shall be the duty of the
President's Industrial Representative to look into the same
immediately and seek to adjust the grievance.

13. Employes' Right to Appeal to the Superior Officers
OF the Company Against Unfair Treatment, Condi-
tions, Suspensions or Dismissals

Should the President's Industrial Representative fail satis-
factorily to conciliate any difference with respect to any
grievance, suspension or dismissal, the aggrieved employe,
either himself or through his representative— and in either case
in person or by letter— shall have the right of appeal for the
consideration and adjustment of his grievance to the Manager,
General Manager, or the President, preferably in consecutive
order.

432

CONSOLIDATED PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

To entitle an employe to the consideration of his appeal by
any of the higher officers herein mentioned, the right to the
appeal must be exercised within a period of two weeks after
the same has been referred to the President's Industrial Rep-
resentative without satisfactory results.

14. Reference of Differences in Certain Cases to
Joint Committees on Co-operation, Conciliation and
Wages

A difference which has been taken up, but not adjusted
satisfactorily by any official, may be presented to the Joint
Committee on Co-operation, Conciliation and Wages, and the
decision of the majority of such joint committee shall be bind-
ing upon all parties.

15. Representation on Joint Committees to be Equal
When Considering Adjustment of Differences

Whenever the Joint Committee on Co-operation, Concilia-
tion and Wages is called upon to act with reference to any
difference, except by the consent of all present, the joint com-
mittee shall not proceed with any important part of its duties
unless both sides are equally represented.

Where agreeable, equal representation may be eflfected by
the withdrawal of one or more members from the side of the
joint committee having the majority.

16. Umpire to Act With Joint Committees in Certain
Cases

Should the Joint Committee on Co-operation, Conciliation
and Wages, to which a difference has been referred, fail to
reach a majority decision in respect thereto, if a majority of its
members so agree, the joint committee may select as umpire a
third person who shall sit in conference with the committee
and whose decision shall be binding upon all parties.

17. Arbitration or Investigation in Certain Cases

In the event of the Joint Committee on Co-operation, Con-
ciliation and Wages failing satisfactorily to adjust a difference
by a majority decision, or by agreement on the selection of an
umpire, if the parties to the dispute so agree, the matter shall
be referred to arbitration; otherwise it may be made the sub-
ject of a request for investigation by the State Industrial
Commission of Colorado. (Note i.)

433

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

Where a difference is referred to arbitration, one person
shall be selected as arbitrator if the parties can agree on his
selection; otherwise there shall be a board of three arbitrators,
one to be selected by the employes' representatives on the
Joint Committee on Co-operation, Conciliation and Wages,
one by the management's representatives on this committee,
and a third by the two arbitrators thus selected.

By consent of the members of the Joint Committee on Co-
operation, Conciliation and Wages, to which a difference has
been referred, in Colorado, the State Industrial Commission
may be asked to appoint all of the arbitrators, or itself
arbitrate the difference.

The decision of the sole arbitrator, or of the majority of the
board of arbitration, or of the members of the Colorado State
Industrial Commission, when acting as arbitrators, as the case
may be, shall be final and shall be binding upon the parties.
(Note I.)

Note I. The state of Wyoming has no tribunal corresponding
to the Industrial Commission of Colorado; therefore the provisions
of this plan relating to the Industrial Commission do not apply to
Wyoming.

i8. Protection of Employes' Representatives Against
Discrimination

To protect against the possibility of unjust treatment be-
cause of any action taken or to be taken by him, any employes'
representative believing himself to be discriminated against
shall have the same right of appeal as is accorded every other
employe.

PART IV
SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BETTERMENT

I. Executive Supervision

A Vice-President or other executive officer, to be known as
the Industrial Relations Executive, shall, on behalf of the
President, supervise the administration of the Company's
policies respecting social and industrial betterment, and the
administration of the Joint Representation of Employes and
Management and Procedure in Industrial Relations.

434

CONSOLIDATED PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

2. Co-operation of Vice-President or Other Executive

Officer With Joint Committees in Carrying Out
Policies of Social and Industrial Betterment

The Industrial Relations Executive shall from time to time
confer with the several joint committees as to improvements
or changes likely to be of mutual advantage to the Company
and its employes. Members of the several joint committees
shall be at liberty to communicate at any time with the Indus-
trial Relations Executive, as well as with the President's
Industrial Representative, with respect to matters under their
observation or brought to their attention by employes or
officials of the Company, which they believe should be looked
into or changed. As far as may be possible, employes should
be made to feel that the Industrial Relations Executive will
welcome conferences with members of the several joint com-
mittees on matters of concern to the employes whenever such
matters have a direct bearing on the industrial, social and
moral well-being of employes and their families or the com-
munities in which they reside.

3. Advisory Board on Social and Industrial Better-

ment

In addition to consulting, from time to time, the several
joint committees or their individual members, the Industrial
Relations Executive shall be the chairman of a permanent
Advisory Board on Social and Industrial Betterment, to
which may be referred questions of policy respecting social
and industrial betterment and related matters requiring
executive action.

4. Members of Advisory Board

The Advisory Board on Social and Industrial Betterment
shall be composed of such of the Company's officers as the
President may designate.

5. Regular and Special Meetings of Advisory Board

The Advisory Board shall meet at least once in every six
months, and may convene for special meetings upon the call
of the chairman whenever he may deem a special meeting
advisable.

435

EMPLOYES REPRESENTATION IN COAL MINES

6. Powers and Duties of the Advisory Board

The Advisory Board shall have power to consider all mat-
ters referred to it by the chairman, or any of its members, or
by any committee or organization directly or indirectly con-
nected with the Company, and may make such recommenda-
tions to the President as in its opinion are in the interest of the
Company and its employes.

7. Supervision of Community Needs by Industrial Rela-

tions Executive

The Industrial Relations Executive shall also co-operate in
matters pertaining to the sanitary, medical, educational,
religious, social and other like needs of the different com-
munities related to the operating properties of the Company,
with a view to seeing that such needs are suitably and ade-
quately provided for, and the several activities pertaining
thereto harmoniously conducted.

8. Method of Carrying Out Improvements

Improvements respecting social and industrial betterment
shall, after approval by the President, be carried out through
the regular Company organization.

9. Medical Department— Doctors

In making any new arrangement for a doctor at a camp or
dispensary, the chief medical officer and the Industrial Rela-
tions Executive shall select the doctor and enter into an agree-
ment with him, subject to approval by the Joint Committee
on Sanitation, Health and Housing at the steel works and of
the local employes' representatives at the mines and quarries.

10. Company Periodical

The Company shall publish, under the direction of the
Industrial Relations Executive, a periodical which shall be a
means of communication between the management, the em-
ployes and the public, concerning the policies and activities
of the Company. This periodical shall be used as a means of
co-ordinating, harmonizing and furthering the social and in-
dustrial betterment work, and of informing employes of the
personnel and proceedings of conferences, boards and com-
mittees, in which they are interested. It shall record events

436

CONSOLIDATED PLAN OF REPRESENTATION

pertaining to social and industrial activities, and be a medium
for making announcements with reference to the same, and for
diffusing information of mutual interest to the Company and
its employes.

11. Cost of Administering Joint Representation and
OF Furthering Social and Industrial Betterment
Policies

The promotion of harmony and good will between the Com-
pany and its employes and the furtherance of the well-being
of employes and their families and the communities in which
they reside being essential to the successful operation of the
Company's industries in an enlightened and profitable man-
ner, the expenses necessarily incidental to the carrying out of
the social and industrial betterment policies herein described,
and the joint representation and joint conferences herein set
forth, including the payment of expenses of employes' rep-
resentatives when attending joint conferences and annual
joint meetings, and their reimbursement for the working time
necessarily lost in so doing, shall be borne by the Company.
But nothing herein shall preclude employes of the Company
from making, in lieu of payment by the Company or in addi-
tion to it, such payment to their representatives in considera-
tion of services rendered on their behalf as they themselves
may voluntarily desire and agree to make.

12. Provision FOR Amendment

This agreement of Joint Representation of Employes and
Management may be altered or amended by majority vote of
the regularly elected representatives of the employes and
a majority vote of the representatives of the management
appointed for such purpose in any joint meeting of all rep-
resentatives of the employes and management regularly called,
upon at least a thirty days' notice.

[The Memorandum of Agreement Respecting Employment,
Living and Working Conditions which is printed in Appendix
A, pages 415 to 421, is also appended to the original of this
consolidated form of the Plan of Representation. B. M. S.]

437

INDEX

Accidents: joint committee on,
64, 137, 138; responsibility for,
in mines, 138

Adjustment of grievances. See
Grievances

Age limit in the plan. See Pen-
sions

Air course, in coal mines, 42

Allied Steel Council, 359

American Federation of Labor:
appeal of, to workers, 4; atti-
tude toward shop committees,
350

Anderson, Judge A. B., 304, 328

Annual meetings: of joint com-
mittees, 67; for electing rep-
resentatives, 60-62, 74, 80, 86

Appendices, 401-438

Arbitration: provision for, 66;
and appeal, 67

Ballots: representatives selected
by, 25, 80; two-color plan for,
27; secret, 61; in coal mines.
81-84, 87

Bath-houses, first built at Mor-
ley, 1 20-1 21

Beach, Ben, 90, 91, 169, 171, 172,
173 and 174 (footnotes)

Beginnings of Employes' Rep-
resentation, 9-27

Bituminous Coal Commission,
wage increase granted by, 88,
237, 238, 247

29 441

Boards: adjustment of griev-
ances by, proposed, 15; col-
lective bargaining through, 16,
18

Bowers, L. M., 16, 17, 19, 103

Bribes, unfounded rumors of, 50
(footnote), 104, 152

Brushing, in coal mines, 45-46

Camp and Plant, 4, 115, 116, 139,
122 (footnote), 145 (footnote)

Camps: in Colorado, described,
118-119; architecture in, 119,
123, 129; housing standards,
1 19-129; first bath-house in,
120; water for, 121 (footnote),
122; rentals, 123, 126, 129;
congestion in, 124; gardens,
125; housing complaints in,
127; coal charges in, 128;
medical service in, 129-136;
safety committees for, 137-139;
educational work in, 139-143;
safety inspectors for, 137, 145;
nationalities of miners, 146;
union organizers excluded from,
325-328, 334, 335, 357, 361;
denied for union meetings,
365-375

Cass, Alfred C, 4

Central Competitive Field, 235,
237, 238, 239, 273, 293, 303,
304, 305, 307, 387

Check- weighmen: "trade agree-
ment" for, 72, 382; grievances
and, 187, 216-219; work of,

INDEX

216; election of, 217; author-
ity of, 218; criticism of, 292

Coal: prices charged in mine
camps, 128; grievances over
inspection of, 178, 186, 187;
delivery of, to employes, 190;
increased price of, 240, 242
(footnotes), 245; market for,
246; miners' wage scale, 248;
tonnage during 1919 strike,
311-316,323

Coal mines: described, 41-43;
working places in, allotment of,
43-44, 50; pick mining, 44;
machine mining, 45; classes of
workers in, 46; foreman's re-
sponsibilities, 46, 50; fire boss,
47; state inspector, 47; chief
mine inspector, 48; superin-
tendent, 48; workers' supplies,
51; dead work, grievances of,
51-52; mine cars, 53; nature
of work in, 53-55; hazards in,
54; location of, and map, 60;
reporting grievances in, 76, 89,
96, 150-152; voting in, and
elections, 80-84, 86, 92; lamp
house in, 81; report of state
inspector, 81 (footnote); num-
ber of miners in Colorado, 84
(footnote) ; determining wages
in, 97-98; abusive officials in,
104, 108; securing safety in,
106 (footnote); adjustment of
grievances in, 148-177; report
on Starkville, 178, 179-186;
discussion of grievances at
Walsen, 186-188; timidity of
representatives, 188-194, 197;
pension plan for, 197-202;
wages and security of employ-
ment in, 232-265; table giving
wage scale in, 248; reports of
Industrial Commission on,
247-256; regularity of output,
246; size of force and output
during 1919 strike, 311-316,
323; shut down of, 312; num-

ber in Trinidad District, 313;
report on West Virginia Coal
Fields, 391. See also Central
CompelUive Field

Coal Mining as an Occupa-
tion, 41-55

Code, need for an industrial, 390-
391

Collective bargaining: defense
of, by ]\Ir. Rockefeller, 13, 14,
30-32; Mr. Welborn defines, 37

Colorado and Wyoming Railway,
150, 359 (footnote)

Colorado Coal and Iron Com-
pany, consolidation of, 4

Colorado Fuel Company, con-
soUdation of, 4

Colorado Industrial Plan, The, by
John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 26

Colorado Miners in the
Strike of 1919, 303-323

Commission on Industrial Rela-
tions: study by, in 1914, n;
report on Colorado strike, 13,
20, 21 (footnotes)

Committees: on Mines and Min-
ing, 12; proposed, on griev-
ances, 12, 20; suggested for
representatives, 21-22; joint,
63-67, 116, 139, 149, 156, 386;
work of, 1 1 5-147; advisory
relation of, and membership,
116; on housing, 11 7-1 29;
health and medical service,
129-136; safety and accident,
137-139; education and rec-
reation, 139-143, 391; respon-
sibilities of, 144-147

Company in the Strike of 19 19,
The, 325-349

Company's Purposes in Em-
ployes' Representation, 28-
37

442

INDEX

Conferences: need for, 30, 31;
district, 63, 67, 404; representa-
tives' part in, 75, 79, 87; Na-
tional Industrial Conference,
in Canada, 351-353, 377; with
labor leaders, 358; President's
Industrial Conference, report
of, 393-394; and the partner-
ship of labor, 395-398; plan
for joint, 427-431

Congestion, in company houses,
124

Consolidation: Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company incorpor-
ated, 4; of plans, and name of,
59 (footnote) ; representation
form adopted in 1921, 421

Constitutionalism in industry,
381

Co-operation, Conciliation, and
Wages, Joint Committee on,
64 (footnote), 156

Co-operation in Industry, by John
D. Rockefeller, Jr., 392, 395
(footnote)

Corwin, Dr. R. W., 115, 129, 130,
134

Cross-bars: definition of, 43;
rates for setting up, 207-216,
230; grievances over, 209-
215; tests in setting, 210

Dalrymple, James, 117

Dead work, described, 51

Dennison, Archie, 212, 213

Dennison, T. N., 156

Discharge: responsibility of
mine officials for, 94, 99-103,
106-111; strike caused by, 95;
power of, and limitations, 100-
102, 109, 234, 382; and ad-
justment of grievances, 154-

155, 166-175; employes' fear
of, 189, 357; of union organ-
izers, 326-328, 335, 341

Discrimination: discussion of
company's pohcy toward un-
ions, 330, 351-356, 373; report
of National Industrial Con-
ference on, 351-355; changed
conditions since 1915, 357,
358, 361; against union or-
ganizers, 362-365; against
union meetings, 365-372; and
the constitution, 382

District conferences. See Con-
ferences

Districts: groups of mining, 60
(footnote), 313; strength of
United Mine Workers in, 313-
324; number of miners in, and
output, 311-316, 323; strike
records for, in 19 19, 314-324;
federal troops for, 317, 321-324

Doyle, Edward L., 11

Dutchess Bleachery. See Shar-
ing Management with the Work-

Education: and the plan, 33;
joint committee on, 64, 65,
140, 142 (footnote); model
school house plan, 115 (foot-
note) ; company equipment
for, 117, 139-142; activities to
promote, 140-142; co-opera-
tion of school boards, 141-143;
domestic science and manual
training, 141; opposition to
committee on, 143; Commit-
tee on Education and Labor,
391

Education and Labor, Commit-
tee on, 391

Eight-hour day, history of, and
United Mine Workers, 241

443

INDEX

Elections: of employes' repre-
sentatives, 25, 60, 74, 80, 86,
92; procedure for, and secret
ballots, 61, 80-84; reports on,
80-84; annual meetings for,
86-89, 92; district confer-
ences, 87-88; of conference
delegates, 272-273; for district
offices, 279; voting methods,
for the plan, 290; criticized by
trade unions, 292

Employes: question of protect-
ing interests of, 5; annual
meetings of, for electing rep-
resentatives, 60-61, 74-75, 80,
86-87; status of, and the plan,
79-80; need of special rep-
resentatives for, 89-94; and
the power of discharge, 100-
102; insecurity of employ-
ment, fear of, loo-ioi; com-
munity interests of, and the
plan, 143-147, 386; questions
of, concerning grievances, 150-
152; discrimination against,
by mine officials, 153-156, 166-
175; point of view of, misun-
derstood, 17s; share of, in
determining wages, 232-234,
240, 250; petition reduction in
wages, 248, 263; on wage
agreement, 257-258; freedom
of, to join unions, 276; resolu-
tion of, denouncing the plan,
299; Mr. Welbom explains
policy of company toward,
300-302; miners in the strike
of 1919, 303-324; Representa-
tion Protective Association,
318; discharge of "trouble-
makers," 326-328, 335, 341
(footnote); denied responsi-
bility for decisions, 385-386;
an industrial constitution for,
381; participation in national
standards, 387-390; industrial
code for, 390-391; employes'
representation, analyses of,

392-395; plan of representa-
tion for, 401-418; and man-
agement, joint representation
and industrial procedure for,
421-438

Employes' Representation Pro-
tective Association, 318

Employes' Representatives,
The, 74-98

Entries, in coal mines, 43

Falls: in coal mines, 42, 52;
grievances over cleaning up,
219-227; notes regarding, 219-
222; rates of pay for, 223-227

Fire bosses: as safety inspectors,
47, 220; as representatives,
85; attitude of, 86

Fitch, John A., 9

Foremen: responsibilities of, 46,
49, 50, 103, 107; mining laws
respecting, 46; and bribe tak-
ing, 50 (footnote), 104, 152;
abusive, 104; safeguarding
authority of, 109; and adjust-
ment of grievances, 166-175,
179-184, 188-194, 205, 221,
227; criticism of pension plan
by, 199

Four parties to industry, 28-29,
78

Fuel Administration: report on
wages, 236, 237; and United
Mine Workers, 283

Garfield, Fuel Administrator, 236

Geography: distance of mining
communities from Denver, 3;
map of industrial properties,
opposite 60; mining districts,
outline of, 60; of mining cen-
ters, 271, 313

444

INDEX

Gilbert, William C, 89, 90, 91,
157, 224, 225

Glad, Mike, 345, 348, 349

Grand River Coal and Coke
Company, consolidation of, 4

Grievances: committees for, pro-
posed, 12, 20; methods of
reporting, 23; of coal miners,
49, 50, 52, 53, 54; committee
for adjustment of, 65; arbi-
tration for, 66; representatives'
share in reporting, 76, 89;
mines reporting, 96; adjusted
by representatives, 96-97; of
discharge, 99-102; responsi-
bility of superintendents and
foremen in adjusting, 103, 106-
iio; on housing conditions,
126-127; methods of adjust-
ing, a test of the plan, 148;
Mr. Rockefeller on, 148; right
of appeal in, 149; procedure
for settlement of, 149; statis-
tics on number of, 150, 151,
152; scope of, 151-155; re-
port of Joint Committee on,
156-162; satisfactory local
settlement of, 163-165; un-
satisfactory adjustments of,
165-175; better understand-
ing necessary between manage-
ment and employes, 175, 176;
unreported, 177-203; Stark-
ville report on, 178-186; in
Walsen District, 186-188; rep-
resentatives' attitude on, 188-
196; personnel department
for, 197; and the service re-
tirement plan, 198-202; over
compensation, 204-231; over
cross-bars, 207-216; over
weights, 216-219; over falls,
219-227; over rock, 228-
231; reduction in wages pro-
vokes, 249-265; by union
officials, 282; over conditions
for securing work, 298; resolu-

tion against the plan, 299; in
strike issues of 1919, 303, 306,
318, 329-349; protests against
"red card," 329-333; of strikers
over assignment of work-
places, 337-349; a strike for
re-employment, 339-349; ad-
justments of, since 191 5, 357,
360; difficulty of holding
union meetings, 365-375; joint
committees for hearing, 386,
397; local needs for settle-
ment of, 397; prevention and
adjustment of disputes, plan
for, 431-435. See also Dis-
charge

Grievances Over Compensa-
tion, 204-231

Griffiths, David, 25, 70, 152,
153, 154, 155, 164, 170, 171,
172, 173 (footnote), 174, 178,
185 and 206 (footnotes), 207,
209, 216, 217, 223, 297 (foot-
note)

Hayes, Frank J., 11

Health: joint committee on, 64,
65; pioneer welfare work in
Colorado, 115, 116; and medi-
cal service, 129-134; pamph-
lets on, 130, 131; Minnequa
Hospital Medical Department
rules, 130-13 1 ; physical ex-
amination, objections to, 134-
136

Hicks, Clarence J., 68 (footnote)

Hire and discharge : right to, and
the plan, 72, 73, 99-101, 184;
limitations of discharge, 102,
106, 109

History: and growth of Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company, 4;
of trade unionism, 4, 7; of
1913 strike, 9-13; and revision
of representation plan, 59,

445

INDEX

421; of early welfare work,
115

Hours of work: i)lan of agree-
ment for, 71; grievances over,
160, 161, 162; memorandum
of agreement on, 233, 234;
United Mine Workers and the
eight-hour day, 241

Housing: joint committee on,
64, 65; mining camp described,
118-119; uniformity of design,
119; centralized administra-
tion of, 120; improved stan-
dards in, 120-125; problems of
equipment, 126; complaints,
127; question of design and
rental, 128-129

How Grievances are Ad-
justed, 148-176

Human relationship: and social
philosophy of the plan, 7;
three questions of, 8; back-
ground of need for better, 9,
55, 176; studies of problems
in, 24; views of Mr. Rocke-
feller on, 29-32, 392; Mr.
Welbornon,36, 37; representa-
tion a means of restoring, 59,
62-73; policy of advisory
board on, 68; a trade agree-
ment for, 71; power of dis-
charge and, 100, 184, 197; in
sharing decisions, 202; union-
ism and the plan, 351, 377, 398

Incomplete Experiment, An,
381-398

Industrial Bulletin, 69, 92 (foot-
note), 14s, 152, 156, 247, 249
(footnote), 250 (footnote), 306,
317 (footnote)

Industrial Commission: of Colo-
rado, 66, 67, 89; hearings be-
fore, 92, 117 (footnotes), 249,
300, 325, 331; action of, to

restore wage scale, 249; wage
reports of, 249, 250, 251-256;
on reduction in wages, 256,
260, 264; orders prosecution
of strikers, 261, 305; inquiry
of, on discrimination against
employes, 331, 340, 349

"Industrial constitution": basis
for, 70, 381-382; an experi-
ment, 398

Industrial Co-operation and Con-
ciliation, Joint Committee on,
64, 65, 66, 116, 149, 156-162,
188 9

Industrial Plan, The, by John D.
Rockefeller, Jr., 381

Industrial relations, method of
joint representation and pro-
cedure in, 421-438

Industrial Representation Plan:
purposes of, 3, 37, 80; how
regarded, 6; gauging the value
of, 7; estabhshed in 1915, 9,
277; nucleus of, 14-20; draft-
ing of, 26, 289; board of direc-
tors approve, 27; new spirit in,
essential, 29; human relations
fostered by, 30-34, 36, 59; and
trade unionism, 35; name of,
revised, 59, 69; cost of ad-
ministering, 70; reprint of
agreement, 74 (footnote), 416;
functions of representatives in,
74-78, 86, 89; financial status
of representatives, 77; discus-
sion on lack of confidence in,
89-92; responsibility of super-
vising officials, 99-111; pub-
lications and the, 145; funda-
mental rights granted by, 147;
results of, shown in three
points, 148; condemnation of,
191-196; men not consulted in
arranging the, 201; safeguard-
ing wages by, 232, 240, 250,
257, 259, 262, 265, 269, 293;

446

INDEX

attitude of. toward the union,
283, 35o-5()0, 365, 372, 392-
395; attitude of unions to-
ward, 286-294, 350, 356, 396.
398; activities of union against,
295-302; resolution to abolish,
299; strength of, in Walsen-
burg District, 315; and "red
card" of employment, 329-
333^339') policy of no discrimi-
nation by, 351-356; changes
by, since 1915, 356-357; basis
for an industrial constitution,
381, 398; no participation in
national standards, 387-389;
President's Industrial Confer-
ence on, 393-394; in the part-
nership of labor, 396-398

Itidiistrial Represenlation Plan,
401

Industrial Representation
Plan versus Trade Union-
ism, The, 350-378

Insecurity of employment: and
the power of discharge, 100-
102, 234; authority of Indus-
trial Commission to investi-
gate unemployment, 259 (foot-
note)

Inspector of Coal Mines, Annual
Report of the State, 81 (foot-
note)

Inspectors: duties of state mine,
47; chief mine inspector, 48;
testimony of, on coal mines,
117; of housing, 120, 125, 127;
for safety in mines, 137

Interest in the plan, 87, 93, 144,
147, 175, 182, 191-196, 199, 214

International Harvester Com-
pany, 396 (footnote)

Interstate Commerce, Commit-
tee on, hearings before, on
wage increase, 239, 242

Iron mines, in Wyoming, 60
(footnote), 121

Jerome, John L., 4

Johnson, George O., 305, 328

Joint committees: number of,
and functions, 63-67; reports
of, at annual meetings, 67;
on safety and accidents, 64,
137; on sanitation, health and
housing, 64, 1 1 7-1 29; on rec-
reation and education, 64, 139-
143; on industrial co-opera-
tion and conciliation, 64, 65,
66; annual meetings for, 67;
on grievances, 149, 156, 386

Joint Representation of Em-
ployes and Management, title
of plan, 59, 69 (footnotes)

Kebler, JulianA.,4, 115, 116, 140

Kenyon, Senator, 390, 391 (foot-
note)

King, Harry, 158

King, W. L. Mackenzie, 11, 13,
14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 24, 26, 119,
140, 277, 351, 352, 353, 354,
355, 357, 377, 392, 398

Labor and Capital— Partners, by
John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 66,
148 (footnotes)

Labor pohcy of the plan, 351,

381-383, 392-393
Lawson, John, 11, 278, 279, 280
Lewis, John L., 304, 360

Lime quarries, location of, 60
(footnote)

Loaders, in coal mines, 45, 205

447

INDEX

Ludlow: tragedy of strike at, lo,
II, 260, 269; memorial statue,
269

Machine mining, processes of, 45
^lain haulage way, in coal mines,

Man-trip: definition of, 43;
rules for use of, 158; a source
of grievance, 195

Man- way, 155

Map, of industrial properties,
opposite 60

Martial law: and the strike of
1921, 260, 261, 262; when
rescinded, 262

Matteson, B. J., 70, 90, 91, 166,
168 and 169 (footnotes), 206
(footnote), 219, 221, 223, 224,
225, 297, 298 (footnote), 321

McLennan, John, 11

Medical service: pioneer work-
ers in, 115, 130; of Minnequa
Hospital, 129-134; pamphlet,
130; Medical Department in-
formation, 131; charges for,
132; satisfaction of employes
with, 133; complaints, 134;
physical examination, 134-
136

Meetings: duties of representa-
tives at, 86; special 87; lack
of interest in, 88; right to hold,
147; plan for joint, 427-431

Memorandum of Agreement:
wage schedule of, 232, 233;
guarantees of, 382-383; prac-
tices that supplement, 383-
384; judicial and legislative
functions, 384, 385; respect-
ing employment, living and
working conditions, 416-420

Mine cars: relation of, to earn
ings, 53; a source of grievance,
159. 180

Miners: work of, in coal mines,
43~55; classes of, 46; hazards,
54; need of better human rela-
tions with, 55; number of, 59,
84, 147, 159, 251, 252, 254,
311-316, 323, 396; election of
representatives for, 61, 74-84,
89, 92; nationahty, 146; ad-
justment of grievances, 148-
176; unreported grievances,
177-196; age hmit for em-
ployment, 197-203; conditions
that affect earnings of, 204,
208, 216, 219, 228; wages and
security of employment, 232-
265, 387, 396; eight-hour day,
history of, 241; standards of
living and wages for, 242, 243;
purchase of automobiles bj"^,
243, 244; wage scale for, and
classes of, 248; in the strike of
1 9 1 9, 303-3 24 ; working statis-
tics of, 311-316, 323; sheriff's
proclamation to, 320; ex-
cluded from company camps,
325-329, 335, 340; union
meetings of, 365-375; na-
tional organization of, 377,
378; basis for legislation gov-
erning, 381-386; in the part-
nership of labor, 397-398

Mines. See Coal mines; Iron
mines; Quarries

Mines and Mining, Committee
on, 12

Minnequa District, steel works
and lime quarries in, 60 (foot-
note)

Minnequa Hospital: location
and supervision of, 65, 129;
efficiency of, 116, 133-134;
medical department rules, 130-
13 1) 135; charge to employes,
131, 132; fund, 132

448

INDEX

Minnequa Steel Works: method
of voting at, 83; closing of,
312; report on, 360 (footnote)

Mitchell, John, 11

Moore, Tom, 351

Moran, James, 279, 281, 282,
283, 284, 358, 359

Murphy, Starr J., 21, 23

National Industrial Conference:
in Canada, 351-353, 377; re-
port of proceedings, 352, 353,
377

Nationality: of miners, 146,
309; Mexicans discriminated
against, 153

National organization, 377-378

Neelley, E. L., 319, 320, 321

Osgood, John C, 4

Output of coal mines, 31 1-3 16,
323

Parties to industry, Mr. Rocke-
feller describes, 28

Partnership: question of estab-
lishing, 5-8; "zone of agree-
ment" in, 6; doubts and pre-
judgment of, 6-7; gauging
results of, 7-8; introduction of
representation plan, 24-27;
four parties in industry, 28;
defense of, by Mr. Rockefeller,
29-32; an appreciation of,
34 ; Mr. Welborn defines, 36-3 7 ;
Dutchess Bleachery plan of,
80 (footnote); as interpreted
by the company, 385, 396;
needs and problems of, 396-
398

Pennsylvania Railroad, 396 (foot-
note)

Pensions: and age limit plan,
197-202; Service Retirement
Board, 198; opposition to
company's policy for, 199-201

Personal relationship, 9, 29, 59,
68, 69, 78, 80, 100, 144, 174

Physical examination: com-
pany's policy of, defined, 130;
employes object to, 134-136;
information, rules, and in-
structions regarding, 130, 131,
13s

Pick mining, processes of, 44

Piece workers, and company
men, 46

Pillars, in coal mines, 44

Pippin, Warren B., 279, 281, 358

Plan of representation in mining
camps, 401-420

Posters, 333

President's Industrial Confer-
ence, report of, 393-394

President's industrial representa-
tives: duties of, 69, 70, 151;
"chief" representative, 70;
reports of, 127, adjustment of
grievances by, 149-155; sub-
jects for consideration by, 150,
152-155

Problem of Employes' Repre-
sentation, 3-8

Props, definition of, 42

Pueblo steel works, consolida-
tion of, 4

Quarries, hme, in Wyoming, 60
(footnote)

Recreation and Education, Joint
Committee on, 64, 140, 142
(footnote)

449

INDEX

Red card of employment, 27,
329-333, 339

Re-employment: policy of com-
pany toward striking em-
ployes, 325-349; exclusion
from, 328, 335, 341-349

Rent: trade agreement for, 71,
382; of company houses, 123,
126, 129; ground rental, 195

Representation in Industry, by
John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 29

Representation Plan, The,
59-73

Representatives: qualifications
of, 61; annual elections, 60-
61, 74-75, 80-84, 86; responsi-
bilities of, 62, 69, 70, 74-76, 78;
president's, duties of, 69, 70;
" chief industrial representa-
tive," 70; for employes, 74-
98; payment for services of,
77, 89-94, 190; function of, at
joint district conferences, 79,
116; occupations, 84-86; reso-
lution advocating paid, 92;
discharge of, 94-95; past
activities of, 96; reports of,
127; and responsibility for
decisions, 147; failure of, to
report grievances, 177-194;
lack of confidence in, 182, 191-
194, 197; attitude of, on pen-
sion plan, 201; wage adjust-
ments by, 204-207, 216, 219,
228; legislative function of, 385

Responsibilities of Local
Mine Officials, 99-111

Retirement plan. See Pensions

Rock: grievances over pay for
handling, 228-231; unfair scale
for, 228; compensation for,
how adj.usted, 229-231

Rockefeller Foundation, studies
of industrial relations by, 24,
353

Rockefeller, John D., Jr., 6, 9, 11,
13, 16, 18, 20, 24, 25, 26, 28,
29, 30, 32, 66, 119, 121, 148,
277, 289, 354, 374, 381, 392,
393, 394, 395 (footnote), 398

Russell Sage Foundation, 80

(footnote), 215, 366

Safety: provisions for, in coal
mines, 46, 47, 48; joint com-
mittees on, 63, 64, 116, 137,
145; supervisors, activities of,
65; mine superintendents and
foremen insure, 106 (footnote);
mine inspectors for, 137-138

Safety and Accidents, Joint Com-
mittee on, 64

Sanitary and Sociological Bulle-
tin, 134 (footnote)

Sanitation, Health and Housing,
Joint Committee on, 64, 65

School House on the Unit Plan,
The Modern Model, by Dr. R.
W. Corwin, 115 (footnote)

Schools: model plan for, 115
(footnote); co-operative work
of, 139-142; bulletin, 139;
Joint Committee on Recrea-
tion and Education, 140, 142
(footnote); improvements in,
and classes, 1 41-14 2

Segundo Coke Ovens, grievances
at, 159, 160, 162

Selekman, Ben M., 80 (footnote)

Separation of executive and
productive forces, 3, 55, 60

Service Retirement Plan, 198

Shappac, Lawrence, 342, 343

450

INDEX

Sharing Management with the
Workers, by Ben M. Selek-
man, 80 (footnote)

Sheriff's proclamation, 320

Shift men, in coal mines, 46

Shot-firer, in coal mines, 220

Social and Industrial Better-
ment, Advisory Board of, 68

Standard Oil Company, 396
(footnote)

Steel: mills, location of, 60
(footnote) ; number and super-
vision of workers, 59, 65;
Minnequa Steel Works, 83,
312, 360; Allied Steel Council,
359

Steel and Iron Workers, Na-
tional Committee for Organ-
izing, 359

Stickel, M. J., 68, 129 (footnotes)

Strikes: response to calls for, 5;
obstruct co-operation, 6; his-
tory of 1913 strike, 9-13, 277,
278, 279; tragedy of Ludlow,
10, 260, 269; demands that
provoked, 10; study of, by
Commission on Industrial Re-
lations, 11; truce for, pro-
posed by President Wilson,
12-13; correspondence con-
cerning plans to prevent, 14-
20; end of, in 1914, 25; de-
plored by Mr. Rockefeller, 26;
discharge of representative
causes, 95; United Mine
Workers threaten to call, 223;
wage reduction causes, 249,
260-262, 264; martial law
declared in, 260, 261; plan
was outcome of, in 1915, 277;
union activities versus the
plan, 269-302; years occurring
in, 276; threatened in 1917,
280-284; of 1919 and 1921,

284-285, 303; of 1922, 285;
need of resources for, 295;
Colorado miners in 19 19 strike,
303-324; Washington wage
agreement, 303; failure of
negotiations, 304; national
issues of, 306, 307; report of
union organizer, 307; annual
report of Mr. Welborn, 308,
310, 317; company's efforts to
prevent, 308-309; extent of,
in Colorado Fuel and Iron
Company, 310-324; mines
closed during, 312; tables of
statistics, 311, 314, 316, 323;
troops for, 317, 321-323; Em-
ployes Representation Protec-
tive Association, resolution
for, 318-319; sheriff's proc-
lamation, 320; union organ-
izers excluded from camps,
325-328; strikers forfeit right
to re-employment, 328, 338-
349; company's policy in pre-
venting, 325, 335; conference
might have prevented, 358;
unions blamed for, 376; and
the experiment of the plan, 391

Sunrise District, iron mines in,
60 (footnote)

Superintendents: duties and re-
sponsibilities of, 48-49, 80,
103, 106; power of discharge
by, 94, 99, 100, 102, 109, 166;
as community organizers, 105,
107; safeguarding authority of,
109, no; of housing, 120, 125;
and adjustment of grievances,
149, 153, 166-175, 180, 184-
194; criticism of pension plan
by, 199

Tafoya, John, 160, 162, 163
(footnote)

Thomas, J. P., 155, 156, 162, 163,
167 (footnote), 216

451

INDEX

Three Years' Truce: President
Wilson proposes, 1 2 ; terms of,
12-13; and plans of company
otVicials, 20-23; attitude of
newspapers on, 21

Towson, Charles R., 369, 370

"Trade agreement": conditions
of, 70-72; guarantee of rights,
72-73; on wage rates, 235;
and the policy of discrimina-
tion, 351-356

Trade unions: American Federa-
tion of Labor, 4; appeal for
members, 4-5 ; co-operative
relations obstructed by, 6;
benefits from, 7; recognition
of, and strikes, 10, 16-17;
versus employes' representa-
tion, 35; protection by, and
the plan, 388-390; national
agreement for, 391, 394; Mr.
Rockefeller on relation of, to
the plan, 393, 396; funda-
mental issues of, 397, 398. See
also United Mine Workers

Troops: service of, in 1919
strike, 317, 321-324; resolu-
tion requestmg, 321-322

United Mine Workers: organ-
ization of, and appeal to
workers, 4; on co-operation of
capital and labor, 5; in 19 13
strike, 10, 11, 13, 14; attitude
of, on grievances, 16, 17;
order strike, 91; official of,
160; men loyal to, 192;
agreement with, 196; deter-
mine wages, 235, 236, 237, 239,
240, 241, 244; attitude of to-
ward the plan, 269-302 ; " inter-
national" office of, 270; mem-
bership of, 270; district or-
ganization, 271, 272-275; na-
tional and local representation,
272, 273, 274; history of rela-

tions between company and,
275-277; factionalism in, 277-
280; and the strike 'threat of
1917, 280-284; in strikes of
1919 and 1921, 284-286; crit-
icisms of the plan, 286-293;
improvements due to, 294;
activities of, against the plan,
295-302; and injunction to
rescind strike order, 304,
305; district strength of, 313;
miners' response to strike call
of 1919, 324; organizers ex-
cluded from company camps,
325-337; strike for re-em-
ployment, 339-349; and the
policy of the plan, 350, 354-
356, 373; company confers
with, 358-361; admission to
camps, 361-365; meetings,
expedients for holding, 365-
371; poHcy of Y.M.C.A. to-
ward, 366-372; company's
criticism of, 372-377; basic
wage rates and, 387, 396; and
the partnership of labor, 395-
398

United Mine Workers in
Colorado, The, 269-302

Unreported Grievances, Some,
177-203

Ventilation, standards for, in
mines, 42

Vice-president, duties of, and
title, 69 (footnote)

Victor-American Fuel Company,
196, 281

Voting: of miners, on representa-
tion plan, 27; for representa-
tives, 61, 80-84, 87, 93; red
card for voters, 329-333, 339

Wages: "trade agreement" for,
71-72; for employes' repre-

452

INDEX

sentatives, 77, 89-92, 190;
determining, by representa-
tives, 97-98; grievances over,
unreported, 186-187, 204-231;
daily adjustments in, 205-207;
for setting up cross-bars, 207-
216; and problem of weights,
216-219; for cleaning up falls,
219-227; for handling rock,
228-231; and security in em-
ployment, 232-251; schedule
of, and working conditions,
233 ; increase of, procedure for,
235-245; Fuel Administration
report on, 236, 237; Bitumi-
nous Coal Commission grants
increases in, 237, 238, 247;
part of the plan in determining,
240, 245; and the United Mine
Workers, 240-241; American
standard of living and, 242,
243; in 1920, 245-246; reduc-
tion of, in 1921, 247-264;
strike forces restoration of,
249, 265; Industrial Com-
mission report on, summarized,
247-256, 259; table showing
scale of, 248; agreement for
thirty days' notice of change
in, 257-258; strike follows re-
duction of, 261, 264; function
of the plan in determining, 262;
miners sign petition to reduce,
248, 263; union scale commit-
tee, 272; not determined by the
plan, 292-293; United Mine
Workers effect increase in, 293;
Washington wage agreement,
303; an issue in the 19 19
strike, 303, 306; baric wage
rates, 383, 387, 396

Wages and Security in Em-
ployment, 232-265

Washington wage agreement, 303

Water, for mining camps, 121
(footnote), 122

Weigh-bosses: as representa-
tives, 85; duties of, 216

Weights: wage problems over,
216-219; check-weighmen for,
216-218; weigh-bosses, 216;
plan policy for, 218

Weir-Ratkovitch case, 169, 170,
172, 173

Weitzel, E. H., 11, 19, 23, 89, 91,
92, 93, 138, 156, 157, 158, 160,
170, 171, 173, 174 (footnote),
206, 209, 211, 212, 213, 242,
243, 244, 245, 335, 336, 366,
373, 374, 375, 376

Welborn, J. P., 11, 16, 18, 20, 21,
22, 36, 92, 132, 147, 148, 167
(footnote), 174, 193 (footnote),
201, 202, 223, 263, 282, 283,
284, 299, 300, 302, 306, 307,
308, 315 (footnote), 317, 325,
327, 328, 330, 331, 338, 341
(footnote), 345, 357, 359, 360,
363, 364, 366, 367

Welfare: protection of workers
by representatives, 96-97;
protective measures of the
plan, 99, 106, 109, 116; medi-
cal activities, 115, 129-134;
and housing standards, 120-
125; safety committees in
mines, 137-139, 145; part of
the management in, 147; and
the policy of the plan, 175,
386, 396, 412-417; social and
industrial betterment plan,
435-438

West, George P., 13 (footnote)

Western District, coal mines in,
60 (footnote)

West Virginia Coal Fields, report
on, 391

White, John P., 283

453

INDEX

Wilson, William B., Secretary of
Labor, i8, 304, 331

Wilson, Woodrow, President, 12,
20, 21, 236, 289, 304, 321

Working places: described, 43-

44; allotment of, 49, 53, 383;

assignment of, to strikers, 337-

339
Work of Committees, The, 115-

147

Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion, 82, 96, 118, 124, 125, 142
(footnote), 150, 164, 177, 308;
club houses denied to union
meetings, 366-372; claim of
principle of mutuality by, 370

"Zone of agreement," 6; place of
housing in, 129

454

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Full text of "Employes' representation in coal mines; a study of the industrial representation plan of the Colorado fuel and iron company"

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