At first the project was apparently favored by the employing interests of the district, but they faced about when they saw that the miners' union (No. 220) "practiced solidarity" and apparently used the carpenters' union as their tool. At any rate the miners' union "passed a motion that all men working in and around the mines as carpenters must become members of the Miners' Union." This demand was ignored.[350] The Mine Owners now issued a statement setting forth that because of the "unreasonable agitation" by the I. W. W. "... we hereby pledge ourselves to absolutely refuse to employ any man in any capacity who is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, ..." and "that the Mine Owners will recognize any miners' union, that is independent of the Industrial Workers of the World...."[351] Pressure from the Mine Owners' Association finally brought about a referendum on the question of unscrambling. A canvass taken on March 20, 1907, showed a large majority in favor of the miners and the town workers meeting separately but continuing in other respects as one union.[352] Nevertheless, the situation continued to grow more acute, and during the spring the I. W. W. and the W. F. M. were involved in a desperate struggle for their existence in Goldfield.[353] From March 10, 1907, according to St. John's account of it, until April 22, the W. F. M. and the I. W. W. at Goldfield, Nevada, fought for their existence (and the conditions they had established at that place) against the combined forces of the mine owners, business men, and the A. F. of L. This open fight was compromised as a result of the treachery of the W. F. M. general officers. The fight was waged intermittently from April 22 till September, 1907, and resulted in regaining all ground lost through the compromise, and in destroying the scab charters issued by the A. F. of L. during the fight. The fight cost the employers over $100,000.[354] The American Federation of Labor locals in Goldfield during this period were more or less at the mercy of the I. W. W. and the Western Federation. It is admitted that A. F. of L. men who were obnoxious to the I. W. W.s were handled without gloves. Some A. F. of L. members were forced out of town by the more radical unionists who confessed that "they were probably not provided with all the luxuries of modern civilization."[355] This I. W. W. account of the situation continues: