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RE: JOHN L. LECIS, DT AL b?ew bo Ul and my father and broth . father always snid that in n Union ‘thers is strength, and I did not bclicve that there should be two unions. If brothers were still in the UM, so I steyed in the vil) and Jet mr dues to both unions <li of the time. JI have nevcr been mat of the? all the timc, that I have been a miner, (continucd) “ren the Pell of A was formed, I aid not carc ruch which union I belong to, wacther I b.ionged to any or tvo unions, just so f could work. I went to the meetings of the Unions, of bot! unions all the time from 1932 to 1937. at first things went frirly well at the PINT meetings, and then the, got to Gquarrcliin,. +hey were fightio.:, ent quartzelling snong themselves all the time at the FICS meetings, and having fijbtis. It was always figntiay as to who was goi:g +o have the (itices ete. They were always conplaining with the copoony, ond causing a ict cf teourle at the wine. I was pretty dissusted with tus yey the ©, icaas caccjing on, fisbeving and all that, I “us pretty sutspok: ne ar soic qoite often that 1 did not think that we ought to hove tuo union, evon thaeucr © eos zcirg to noth mectings, and was a membur of both unlons. i 1 "In 1934, when there vac navtial law in this county, I was home one night when some men coue and want.a to hide some dynamite in my house. Ey wife did not like thot, and ever binee then I did not get along very well with the Progressives who vere active there because I uade them take the dynamitc away. the time fro: 1332 to 1937 we had meetings at Pedman's hal?) for the Wi. We hau no charter, but we met regularly all the vine. Joe Alb:nese, Dandrow Schrelevious, Fete Carter, went to the mectings regularly. Tory Ficteh, Cotton Annias, John Pirt ‘ut. George Jacaway and Emory Jacaway, and Chericy Bohannon used to go quite a bit. Somctimes there was only 10 or 15 of us at the mectings. Sonetines there wore as many as 50 there. I used to talk to the men out at the mine about the situation in the unions.’ Some of the men were dis,ustcd ~bout the fignting, and the checkoffs, and I used t> teil tha. that I thought they that they ail ought to belong to eae woo just one urmion, and I invited toen to. cone to the meetings at Redman's hrll of the UI. I used to joke abcut things and the unions, and once ‘handed a nan some ciparcttes and told rim to have a UM cigarette. He pre~ ferred charges on me. Ivas tried about a week before the strike started in 1937. Sove of the other mon were tried leter, ond we were all expelled from the union. I did net particularly care. I just wanted to work. I thi thet is the vay mest of the nen at the mine wore. Most of them were wilsin: to just work for Carl #ishoff, without eny union, because the unions werc enusin: so much trovibe at the mine, J do not think they were conplainirs too such about the fro PTOuTUSSI VES, they were just disjusted with ali the unions, =~ 388 ~