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omage Pat ; ; b eo bic bID “J recall that some five or six wecks before Mine ‘'B* reopened in 1937 as an open shop that the committeemen and officiais of PMA, including myself, attemptdd to INTERVIE. WITH ortanued negotiate a contract with CaRL H. ELSHOFF but that a1] he would talk about was opening the maine on an open shop basis, "on the saturday defore the mine whistle blew (November 6, 1939}, LEX EXSEL, attorney for the Mire 'B! Coal. Company, came to the offices of the Pl and advised us that the mine whistle would blow on the Mon day morning, November 6th, and that all erployees who did not appear within. two days would lose their right to a go%. ®T reported for work that Monde mormming and was given my old job back. I did not go to work wnderground for about a weck, JI assisted in getting the men placed and in making up the waiting list of those men tho had ne place to work when the mine first opened, The names of the men rho had no place to work were put in a hat, drawn from the hat, and placed on a waiting list in the order dr2vm, hen i went down to my place in the mine as a coal loader I fowmd it in substantially the same condition as when I Jef it almost two and one-half years before, I was able to load coal the first day I was at work, cS "During about the first part of July 1940, after the mine was in about normal ope rating capacity and after all men had been placed, the UM began to organize on the Hine 'B! rty. &® duly 8, 1940, after JOE .LBESE, TONY PLOTCH, Cnn CHARLES BOHANNGN and others had openly solicited Mine 'B' employecs on mine property, request- ing them to join UMe, I, together wit othcr members of the Mine Com- mittee, including ear ecerrtee eer ar ch protested to OSCaR FPLLCETTI. We pointed out that the privilege of doing organizational vork on mie property had been denied to PM, men. _J knew that the [i men mentioned above were doing organizational rork because I actually sav thei oh Rind pRopeRy-th-epptivattor -wooKs; T actually “pointed out to F.LCETTI Ults men with application books on mine property. He told me, ‘i'm just working here. I can't do anything about it,! . "Except for a fev mule drivers and other miscellaneous UMi men who were hired earlicr, the company, after July 1940, began the prace tice " mies new men brought to Mine 'B! by DMi organizers, J have seen ring at least eight or ten prospective employces to the office Of Pucriti,. FaLCEITI would ask them for their mining papars . ~269- oa r