| Date | 1894 |
|---|---|
| Location | United States |
| Participants | 180,000 |
| Deaths | ~5 |
Thebituminous coal miners' strike was an unsuccessful national eight-week strike by miners ofbituminous coal in the United States, which began on April 21, 1894.[1]
Thepanic of 1893 hit thecoal mining industry particularly hard. Wage cuts in the industry began immediately, and wages were slashed again in early 1894.
By the late spring of 1894, theUnited Mine Workers, which had a mere $2,600 in its treasury and a paid membership of 13,000, called a general strike in the bituminous coal mining industry. The demand was for wages to return to the level they were at on May 1, 1893.
Initially, the strike was a major success. More than 180,000 miners inColorado,Illinois,Ohio,Pennsylvania andWest Virginia struck. In Illinois, 25,207 miners wenton strike, while only 610 continued to work through the strike, with the average Illinois miner out of work for 72 days because of the strike.[2]
But the mine owners were unwilling and/or unable to restore wages. Some owners adjusted wages slightly upward, but most refused to budge.
In some areas of the country, violence erupted between strikers and mine operators or between striking and non-striking miners. On May 23 nearUniontown, Pennsylvania, 15 guards armed with carbines and machine guns maliciously attacked a group of 1500 strikers, killing 5 and wounding 8.[3] On May 24 and 25 inLaSalle, Illinois, a firefight erupted between strikers and 40 sheriff's deputies. The deputies eventually ran out of ammunition and were forced to flee, most of them wounded.[4] The situation in LaSalle remained tense into early July, when a posse of 60 well-armed men was raised to fend off a force of 2000 miners.[5] On June 13 in McLainesville, Ohio (west ofBellaire), strikers armed with stones and clubs clashed withNational Guard troops.[6] In Iowa, the National Guard was mobilized to protect miners in Givens andMuchakinock who had not joined the strike.[7][8][9]
As the depression deepened, the miners were unable to hold out. By late June, almost all the miners had returned to work.
The strike shattered the United Mine Workers. A year after the strike, the union's secretary-treasurer wrote to theAmerican Federation of Labor (AFL), declaring, 'The National is busted...' The union almost ceased to exist. It suspended publication of its newsletter and ceased paying per capita dues to the AFL.
It would be a quarter of a century beforeJohn L. Lewis would turn the Mine Workers into a successful union again.
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