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32 THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN.
A NEUTRAL SURVEY OF THE
CONCILIATION BOARDS WORK.
A survey of the work accomplished in the
anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania by the
conciliation board established by President Roosevelt's
coal strike commission, leaves no doubt
in the minds of intelligent observers that a renewal
of hostilities in this storm center of industrial
warfaie would be a blunder of which
neither mine workers nor mine operators are
likely to be guilty. How great has been the service
performed through this unique agency ot
industrial conciliation can best be understood by
a comparison of the conditions of the last three
years with those of the period following the strike
of 1900.
After the companies had terminated the struggle
of 1900 by granting a ten per cent, increase in
wages and other concessions, although the mine
employes returned to work, it was soon apparent
that conditions were very far from satisfactory.
No sooner was the general strike ended than
numerous disturbances broke out in every part of
the region. Petty strikes, excited by a variety
of causes, followed each other in great numbers.
At one colliery the men went out because they
were not paid semi-monthly; at another because
certain discharged drivers were not re-employed.
Sympathetic strikes of this latter description were
most numerous, particularly among engineers and
machinists. Great friction was caused by the
refusal of many mining companies to permit the
inspection, by union men, on company grounds,
of the working cards of employes. The natural
result of this situation was a deepening of the
feelings of hostility and distrust with which
operators and mine workers regarded each other.
and which led inevitably to the strike of 1902.
Strikingly different and vastly improved has
been the situation in the anthracite region since
the principles of conciliation and arbitration have
been applied to settle the difficulties which are
still constantly arising. In place of continued
discord and repeated strikes has come an almost
complete absence of disturbance. Both parties
to every controversy have their representatives
on the board, and in but few cases—17 out of 141,
to be exact—has it been necessary to refer a matter
in dispute to the final decision of the umpire.
The complaints brought before the board have
concerned almost every issue which can arise between
operators and mine workers, including the
right of discharge, the methods of paying for
different kinds of work, and the hours of labor.
In all but a few cases, as above remarked, the
board has been able to reach an agreement.
The conciliation board is no longer an experiment,
but an assured success. it has brought
peace to a region where peace seemed impossible.
and it has succeeded in keeping in smooth and
orderly operation an industry whose earnings
would, in its absence, in all probability have fallen
far short of the splendid figures which they have
attained. Both parties to the three-year agreement
have loyally observed its provisions. In
view of the remarkable success of the conciliation
board, it is difficult to conceive of a situation
arising at the termination of the agreement which
would make its renewal impossible. With the
assurance of high wages and steady employment.
no considerations of formal recognition of the
union or exclusive contracts With union men
should prevail to disturb the harmony of industrial
conditions so successfully established the
past two years and more.
Even looking at the situation from the selfinterest
point of view of the anthracite carrying
railroads, they have benefited perhaps more than
the mine workers from the operation of the
board. Following 1900, whenever the mine employes
at any colliery had a grievance they usually
struck and the plant continued in idleness
until the demands of the men were satisfied.
During that period of eighteen months, the
union mine employes lost not a single demand
upon the operators, through their use of the
strike as a weapon of force. But under the
conciliation board, if the men have a grievance
they must continue at work until it is settled by
the board, or by the umpire its organization provides,
the result being that the mine employes
lost nearly two-thirds of the formal grievances
presented by them before that tribunal and the
umpire. Under conditions permitting them the
free use of the strike they would, no doubt, have
secured the greater part of these demands.
The anthracite industry needs peace; it is to
the interest of operators, mine workers and consumers.
There is no condition existing at the
present time to justify a resort to force when the
agreement between the mining companies and
their employes expires next March. The responsibility
for a failure to continue the present relations
through a tribunal similar to the conciliation
board will rest heavily upon the party who
fails to conserve and support the general desire
for industrial peace in the anthracite industry.
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