In the past, when we worked above and beyond the eight-hour shift, sometimes even pulling a double shift, it was on a volunteer basis and in exceptional cases involving an interruption to operations, such as a breakdown of hauling lines, a tearing of brake cables, etc. Now, however, this sort of thing has become mandatory, and anyone who does not care to submit to this longer work time is dismissed from the mine and, if possible, given such a reference that he will not be able to find work at another mine. For instance, last year at the Bonifazius Mine, a placard posted in the pit house by the mine manager informed miners of the following: “From now on, work hours are extended to 4 p.m.; anyone not wishing to comply with this regulation will be dismissed”. And since we know that the situation is exactly the same in other mines, this threat forces us to extend our shift until 4 p.m. until we are no longer capable of doing so. Since most miners already enter the mine at 5 a.m., that amounts to an eleven-hour workday. Whoever leaves work earlier, i.e., steps into the pithead baths earlier, faces punishment. As a result, a ten- to eleven-hour shift has been introduced at most mines. Additionally, it usually takes another two hours to transport workers. No matter how encouraging it may be when the mines report brisk sales of their products, our bodies cannot possibly endure such long shifts. [ . . . ] It is with good reason that the local Board of Inquiry on Recruitment for the Royal Military Service has noticed that overwhelming numbers of miners are unfit for military service. Nothing else can be expected when young people have to work all day in underground spaces, in bad weather and damp areas; when they work in mines where transportation involves a pulley system and must endure cold drafts in sweat-dampened mining attire for hours until they are raised into the light of day at the end of each shift. The chest in particular becomes prematurely constricted from excessive work in the mine. But if this overexertion affects the health of these people in such a way that they can no longer work in the mines by age 35 or perform as well as the younger people who have not yet sacrificed their strength, and if the miners’ physician usually gives them the medical reference “still fit for light iron and steel work,” then they are not entitled to a disability pension from the miners’ health insurance and pension fund. If such light mining work is not available, if they are forced to look for suitable work with private employers, then they lose their rights as members of the miners’ guild completely, and the most pitiable fortune awaits them in their premature old age. Indeed, the enterprises are so ruthless that during intermittent periods of weaker sales, they do not (or at least seldom) dismiss the younger or recently hired workers, who are much better able to find work elsewhere, but almost always the older miners, namely those who have served for years, often in defiance of death, sacrificing their energy for the benefit of their employers. [ . . . ]
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