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Pe Ce Cte at eee CR beds nt RE: JOHN L. LEWIS, ET AL INTERVIE:; 1TH QR = talking with men around the mine, and {cont imed) knew they were trying to zet men for the UL. 18 ., but I never heard what they were saying, and, as I said, none of them ever contacted me, because they kne: that J would do what ever the majority of the men would do. I Was satisfied with the P.E.A., the men vere treated squarely by the mms = _ a | al. io ~fMs Bop a = en -& . £2. a ; en Ps Amp =! eee O211CC°S, ana tne OLllcers were ying to go thelr nest Lor tne miners. "] didn't vo te the P.M.A. meetin, the nisht before the strike, don't knovi what went on at the mecting, and hed no advance notice of the strike. first heard of the strike in the wash house on the day of the strike. I heard that the strike was called because Elshoff refused to fire the twertv seven men who had been trying to pull men away from the P.M.A. into the ULE... The P.M.A. wanted him to fire the men, and he refused. The wage scale dispute had no nobnhns to do with the strike. I went back home that day, came to uy house, and asked me which union I with P.ILA., and si,ned a paper they had with them That summer I heard that a U.MJW. local had been organized, but no one tried ta gt me to join it. "J don't remember getting any notice of the mine opening up in Septenw of 1937. I heard anout the picket line, and went out voluntarily. ¥ neard thet the reason for the picketing was that the mine tried to reopen with UU... men. I was on the picket line for some time and fired the boilers to Kcep the vasii housc warm. Nobody told me to fire the boilers but I did it to have somethin, to do. I think that the federal injunction wag gotucn so the T.LVa. men would have to set out, and U.N. men could act into the nin:. I have no facts to back this up. "I don't remember any attempts to open th: mine in December 1937, or January, 1338. «In December of 1937 there was 2 union clection. I got word of it from a P.N.A. man, and sav a notice of it in the paper. There wes no pressure put on me to vote a certain way. I voted for F.M.A,. be- cause I knew it wes the majority, and was satisficd with it. "From the f7.1i of 1997 until the nine sd in 1939, I worked on .P.A., and had no intercst in Mine B or the unions. No onc saw me during this tine about either union. In the fall of 1939 I got 4 notice through the mail about the mine oncninz, and telling me when to report back to work. I went back some time aftcr the mine o ened, as it was in pretty bad shape when it opened. I wes still a member of the F.M.A. when I wont back to work. I changed over to the U.M.... just before the election in 1341. I could see that they were going to get the majority, and signed to keer them off my shoulders. JI didn't have any preference either way. Jimmy Hale » $3 - gy a Te et oe tae canpetioeces pear a ott vey