MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, ME I' The largest American labor union, whose declared object is "to unite mine employees that produce or handle coal or coke in or around the mines, and ameliorate their condition by means of coneiliation, arbitration. or strikes." The officers consist of a president, viee-president, and secretary-trea.nrer, who, together with one deleonte from each of the 35 districts into which the jurisdiction of the United Mine Workers is divided• constitute the National Execul ive Board, which has the power to levy assessments and to 'triter general strikes by a two.third. vole. 'rho government of the union is thns highly central ized. In organization the United Mine Workers is all 'industrial union,' aiming to unite nit only miners, but all skilled and unskilled laborers working about coal mines, except mine managers and top bosses. This policy of industrial organ ization has broivlit the union into conflicts with the unions of the Stationary Firemen and of the Blacksmiths. in operation the United Mine Workers is a typical 'new union' of the aggressive type. It maintains no extensive system of fra ternal benefits, but devotes the greater part of its revenue to the support of strikes and the or ganization of new II111011s. Thus, out of the total expenditures of 82,050.505 in 1902, $109,017 was devoted to salaries and expenses of organizers and ;n.590,201 to the relief of strikers, leaving only $.`"1.557, less than 15 per cent., for all other pur poses. The control of local strikes rests partly with the national officers. Any local union may strike provided it obtains the consent of the dis trict officers and the national president, but in case either disapprove, an appeal for the per mission strike may be made to the executive board. Any local union striking in violation of
the above provisb_ns shall not be sustained or recognized by the national officers." This seems to constitute the only penalty for unauthorized strikes. In the bituminous districts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania strikes have lieen practically eliminated by the annual joint conference, or collective bargaining, between the miners and operatives, in which a scale of prices fur the following year is adopted and the settle ment of further differences provided for by local boards of arbitration. The United =Aline Workers was organized January 25. 1890, hut its member ship decreased rather than increased until the great bituminous coal strike of 1897, during which year the average membership was only 9731. Since that time the membership has in creased by leaps and lion nil s, and in December, 1901, the national union had 195,01)0 paid up members. distributed among 25 districts and about 1200 local unions. The greatest gains were coincident with the anthracite strikes of 1900 and 1902, the latter of which, lasting more than five months and involving 147.000 workmen, is perhaps the most important strike in American history. Mr. ,Tohn Mitchell was elected president of the union in 1598, and now (1903) receives a salary of 83000 per annum. The official journal is The United Mine Pl'orker, published weekly at Indianapolis. See UNIONS.