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me ne a a I RE; JOHN L. LEWIS, ET AL. be Illinois, was interviewed ee a oe a nae ee 3, 1943, by Special Agents speaks and reads English very well, and ce a rd qt att ong a 23 him. He stated he is willing to testify, but noted that his memory as to specific dates is not too good. He claimed to have no criminal record. INTERVIEW WIT The following signed statement was cbhtained from September 8, 1943, make the following voluntary statement to a whom I know to be Special Agents of the Federal Bureat™ of Inves igation, of my own free will, with no threats or promises made me. : noe MM and was a m —_ of than union until 1952, when I joined the Mine Norkers of America, when I was working at the Peabody Mine. IJ started working at Mine B in 1934, and joined the P.N.’ ry s [ive never been an of:icer in any uni “From 1934 until 1937, things went pretty smoothly at the mine, until about six months before the strike. At that time some friction started, and some men began talking up the U.M.W. union. Some of the men talking were Bohannon, Flotch, Cartor, Austin, Sirtout, and Pasquale. Although they never talked to me about the U.N.u., it was generally kmown that they were doing it. "I went to quite a fow P.M.A. meetings. Evcry member had a chance to speak his mind, and I, as well as most of the men, was satisfied with that union. I don't remember hearing of any favoritism shown by the manage- ment to the U.M.%. before the strike. "I don't remember the P.M.A. meeting the night before the strike. A few days before the strike, I heard, at the mine, that the P.M.A. had de- manded that the management fire some men for acts done in violation of P.M.A. regulations. One of the men was AUSTIN, but I don't remember the ¥ names of any others. I heard of a P.k.A. meeting to discuss this question, but don't remember when it was. "I went to work on the day of the strike, and saw mon loading their cars short, I felt that some trouble was brewing, and didn't want any part - 10 « ee Ee mmm EEO arene eng MB a er ae coe ne cemme Somer neier