◆ SpookStack

Re: JOHN L, LEVIS, ET AL b- Ce 2 lp NTERVIE. VITH "I believe the general feeling among the miners at Mine "EB" was that the 33 or so miners who was sent up for bombings had been framed. I was always satisfied with the P.M.A,. officials and felt it was a good local, I never suspected any of them of doing anything wrong with the money of the local. I think it was a good union. "Between 1922 and the time of the strike in 1937 I never saw any TV... men picket Mine "EB", So far as I know the U.M.7. did not hand or sent out any pamphlets to the Progressives cither at the mine or at the mons home. Frior to the time of the strike I was never approached to swing over to the U.V.4. and know of no spies in the P.M.A. local, during this period as I recall things went smoeth and there was no trouble. IJ never knew or haard anything about anv parties being civen by Elshoff for U.M.%, officials or men. % ~7 on sy sa on Ls wy > "l remember that in Yar, i937 the Union contracts ran out and that we worked for avhile without a contract. As I understood it they expected to make a contract and oy pay in increase would be retroactive te April first. I think it was who told us this and that he told us out at Mine "E", I knew of no reason to believe that P.t.A. couldn't set as good a contract as U.). . anc we expected the P.M.A. would get a contract, I dont remember any complaints being made over the mens pay in April and dont recall and work stopnazes or ether trouble at this time. "I didn't go to the meeting the night before the strike but as I renember it I knew the meeting vas to be held. J think this was a special meetin> and dont recall how I heard of it. On the morning of the day the strike started I went to work as always. I didn't hear any argument over vaces that day but do renember hearing talk of some men having been expelled from P.i.4. I did not see or hear anything of cars coming up and of the mine being loaded short. -hen 1 came up out of the mine and went home thut night I did not know there was going to be any strike. I came back to the mine to go to work the next day and found the mine shut down, it was then I heard that the mine was closed because the P.M.A. men refused to work with the expelled miners, A short time after the mine closed J Signed & petition for F.N.A. “o one forced me to sign this,and as far as I know everyone who signed it did so because they wanted to. I heard that the U.1.7, got out a petition that summer but no one asked me to sign it and I dont know anything avout the methods used to get men to sizn. I also remember later on signing another F.M.A. petition, I also signed this one as the other Lecause J] wanted F.i.A. as my union, I heard nothing about anyons being forecd to sign this petition. "In the summer of 1937 I heard that U.N... was forming a new local in Springfield, but no one asked me to join it. I did hear that ~326 =