In 1912, after repeated conferences, the net result was the restoration
of the Interstate agreement as it existed before 1906. The special
burden of which the Illinois operators had been complaining was not
removed; yet they were compelled by the union to remain a party to the
Interstate agreement. The union justified its special treatment of the
operators in Illinois on the ground that the run-of-mine rates were 40
percent below the screened coal rates, thus compensating them amply for
the "slack" for which they had to pay under this system. The Federal
report on "Restriction of Output" of 1904 substantiated the union's
contention. Ultimately, the United Mine Workers unquestionably hoped to
establish the run-of-mine system throughout the central competitive
field.
The union, incidentally to its policy of protecting the miners, has
considerably affected the market or business structure of the industry.
An outstanding policy of the union has been to equalize competitive
costs over the entire area of a market by means of a system of grading
tonnage rates paid to the miner, whereby competitive advantages of
location, thickness of vein, and the like were absorbed in higher labor
costs.
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