On this day in Labor History the year was 1894.
The nation was in the grip of deep depression.
Unemployment soared.
Workers wages and hours were cut dramatically in virtually every industry.
Coal miners were hit especially hard.
At a meeting in Columbus Ohio, the United Mine Workers called for a nationwide strike.
Even though the union only had about 20,000 official members, more than six times that many walked off the job.
The strike stretched from Washington State, to Alabama, to the Appalachian coal fields.
Violent skirmishes broke out when scab workers attempted to enter the mines and replace the striking miners.
One such example, occurred near Uniontown, Pennsylvania where armed guards killed five strikers and wounded 8 more.
In five states the militia was called out due to the unrest. Where the strikers were not able to turn away the scab labor, they employed a different tactic.
They attempted to stop delivery of the mined coal.
In Illinois for example, striking miners piled railroad ties and other debris on the railroad tracks to stop the coal trains from running.
This interference with the trains meant that the federal government had the justification it needed to enter into struggle.
A U.S. judge ordered an end to stopping train traffic.
The New York Times declared, “The power of the federal government being behind the writ, all the force necessary to move the train will be used.”
The strike stretched on for weeks.
But in the end, the strikers could not combat the coal mine owners, local militias, hired security, and scab labor.
The strike was broken.
The United Mine Workers faced a severe setback to their organizing that was not overcome for more than two decades.
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Labor History in 2:00 brought to you by the Illinois Labor History Society and The Rick Smith Show