THE IMPACT OF WORLD WAR I ON WESTERN

PENNSYLVANIA’S COAL ECONOMY

Profits, Promises, and Patriotism

Historical Arguments

Increased demand for coal during the war era: Encouraged the opening of many new mines and the use of

mining practices that had a negative impact on the environment and on conservation.

Allowed operators to garnish huge profits in the name of patriotism.

Provided miners with better living and working conditions and, for many, gave access to unionization.

Decreased demand for coal after the war: Left many mines abandoned or in states of disrepair Allowed large operators to consolidate the industry. Provided the opportunity for operators to challenge the

patriotism of miners and break the UMWA

Case Study

UMWA District 2, Territory 6 Indiana and Jefferson Counties

Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company

1915: Shifting Balance of Power

From mid-1915 to the end of the war, demand for coal exceeded production capacity.

This reality initially shifted the power relations between coal operators and miners in favor of labor as companies sought to maximize output and profit.

Wartime Labor Shortage

Increased demand for miners as old mines were enlarged and new mines opened

Shortage of labor due to: Sharp decrease in immigration Movement of miners into higher paying factory work Miners leaving for military service

Labor Unrest

Coal operators pinched between the need to fill contracts and the demands of workers Worker demands included pay increase, end to car

pushing, unionization, closed shop, check-off, increased safety

One of the districts largest companies, R&P experienced a number of wildcat strikes in the late months of 1915 Company President Lucius Robinson blamed “radical

agitation of officials here in this region”

R&P Strategies to Stabilize Labor

Provide miners with sufficient railroad cars and good working places so they could “produce the largest tonnage they are capable of” This would increase earnings without increasing the

tonnage rate Improve housing

Made extensive repairs on older housing Built new single-family housing

“attracted some labor we would not otherwise get”

Additional Strategies to Stabilize Labor

Improved amenities and leisure facilities Amusement halls Nickelodeans Bandstands Ball fields Swimming pools

These concessions were operator investments in their own facilities. Continued to refuse pay raises, unionization in their

non-union mines, the closed shop in their union mines, and any alterations in work rules.

1916: Wage Concessions

Philadelphia Agreement (April 1916) Central Competitive Field, which did not include

District 2 5% advance in tonnage rate to 75¢ 5% advance in day wage to $2.98 5% advance in dead work

Robinson complained that “radical elements” within the union had made “excessive demands…especially on the day wage scale, working conditions, and the closed shop, together with other annoying features.”

Concerned about District 2 demands to be included in CCF Would raise day wages by another 25¢

Summer of Unrest: 1916

Mines operated at full capacity and profits soared Miners increased wages did not offset alarming

inflationWildcat strikes over wages and hours broke

out all over District 2 R&P maintained a cadre of 60 scabs in Punxsutawney

that could quickly be moved to the site of a strike Threatened to withhold the wages of striking miners

as payment for damages Dissatisfaction was so widespread that R&P was

increasingly forced to grant concessions

R&P President Lucius Robinson to owner Adrian Iselin, Jr. (July 1916): “There never has been a time in the history of my

connection with mining when it has been so annoying and almost impossible to keep things going as at present. There is not only a great shortage of labor, but those working are thoroughly dissatisfied although they are enjoying not only steady work but the highest wages ever paid with conditions better than ever known….We have made concessions which are absolutely wrong for proper discipline...but it is no time to fight these matters.”

Regarding miners’ demands for higher wages, Robinson advised Iselin: “We think it better perhaps to make considerable

concessions especially from the fact that… there seems to be a great demand for this class of labor, especially on the street work here locally even at $2.50 or $2.75 per day,” and advised Iselin that the company should “make the best of a bad situation using best judgment as we see the situation from day to day and struggle along to keep our mines going. It is a most exasperating and wearing process.”

Fall 1916

Rank-and-file miners, led by John Brophy, demanded Complete unionization of District 2 Closed shop Elimination of car pushing Changes in the pay scale:

Raise of 5¢ per ton 10¢ extra per ton for coal under 4 feet 8 hours work for 10 hours pay Time-and-a-half for overtime Double time on Sunday

Operators’ Association granted a 10¢ bonus on all earnings beginning January 1, 1917 Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson convinced companies to pay

a bonus of 5¢ per ton for car pushing.

Robinson characterized Brophy as the leader of the “radical element” within the miners R&P agreed to unionize a few of their smaller mines Much to Robinson’s dismay, Brophy was elected

District President in December and took office in April 1917 Platform:

Initiation of a drive for full unionization Closed shop Elimination of the wage differential with the CCF Elimination of car pushing

Shifting Balance of Power

By the time Brophy took office on April 1, 1917, the balance of power had begun to shift again, this time in favor of the operators

US entrance into the war on April 6 brought government control to the mining industry Miners derived some benefits from government

control, but their ability to press for change was restricted, both by regulation and by pressure to show patriotism

THE LEVER ACTTHE WASHINGTON

AGREEMENT

Central Events of 1917

The Lever Act

Food and Fuel Control Act (Lever Act) August 1917 Allowed the President to regulate the production,

price, and distribution of coal Set prices Establish rules for employment and wages

Properties of operators who refused to conform could be placed under government control

Fuel Administration (under Harry Garfield) was established to administer the Act

The Washington Agreement

Contract to last until April 1, 1920 or the end of the war, whichever came first

National scale that covered all miners, both union and non-union Added 10¢ to tonnage rate Added $1.40 to day rate ($5) Added 15% to dead work Operators were allowed to add 45¢ per ton to the

price of coal

Washington Agreement

Miners were given protection to join the UMWA Operators had to observe the wage scale, but did not

have to sign a contract with the UMWAPenalty clause fined miners $1 day per miner

for strikingSafety issues and car pushing were not

addressedConservation issues were not addressedHarry Garfield regularly lectured miners

about the patriotism of sacrifice and work

District 2 miners sought the elimination of car pushing and gaining the closed shop as part of the District scale under the Washington Agreement

Garfield refused their demandsDistrict 2 officials linked the union’s demands with

Wilsonian war rhetoric: “We will take up the word ‘union,’ and combining it with the

glorious thought of Liberty and Democracy which has ever been our inspiration, we will move firmly onward…first to assist in destroying this old world of hate, oppression and blood. Second, to prepare ourselves so that we can be in a position to participate in the building up of a new world of Righteousness.”

District 2 used the protection of the Washington Agreement to conduct organizing drives Added about 4500 members 1919 District membership was roughly 45,000,

making District 2 the second largest district in the UMWA

R&P refused to sign contracts with the union in their newly organized mines Companies had to comply with the wage scale, but did

not have to sign a contract with the UMWA

Washington Agreement exacerbated the negative impact of inflation on miners As inflation increased, so did the gap between miners’

wages and the cost of living, especially for those who were forced to shop at company stores

Bureau of Labor Statistics 1913-1919: price of food increased by 86% Wages of day workers in mining rose 75% Shortage of railroad cars meant that tonnage workers

could not maximize their earnings

Miners’ petitions for wage increases were denied

Operators received another 60¢ per ton increase in February 1918 Coal profits rose dramatically during the war period

15% in 1916 24% in 1917 35% in 1918

According to Brophy, the cost of the “necessaries of life” for miners rose by 20% in 1918

Post War Economy

Once the war ended, the demand for coal began a dramatic decline, but inflation continued to grow

Miners’ annual earnings declined dramatically 1918—$1583 1919—$1000

Coal industry immediately faced a crisis of overdevelopment There were too many mines and too many miners

As soon as the Armistice was signed (Nov 11, 1918) miners began to agitate for a wage raise. Desperate to combat inflation, cash in on industry’s

wartime profits and the promises of post-war prosperity Operators argued that the Washington Agreement

remained in effect because the war had not officially ended

By the beginning of 1919, operators began to lower wages in defiance of the Washingon Agreement, discontinue pay for dead work, and limit work to union activists.

Case Study: Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal

R&P President B.M Clark was also president of the Operators Association R&P, as one of the largest producers in the region,

provided an example that other coal operators felt free to follow

As soon as the armistice was signed in November 1918, R&P began to move their non-union mines toward a pre-war status: Reinstituted pre-war wage rates Reinstituted pre-war work rules Curtailed work for union activists Ended the practice of work sharing

Union Response

UMWA District 2 Territory 6, which included R&Ps non-union mines protested the actions of R&P. Their resolutions invoked the District’s wartime demonstrations of patriotism: “Since the United States went to War with the Empire of

Germany, the miners of this country have done their patriotic duty to produce all the coal the Government need and also contribute to the Red Cross and other War Activities. And now since the Armistice have been signed instead of giving the workers better conditions and better living they try to crush us down to starvation.”

Operator Response to Charges of Autocracy

Operators countered by linking the activities of miners with the emerging nation-wide Red Scare. Interpreted all union activity and miner protest as

Communist-led activity Issued dire warnings of an imminent Bolshevik

revolutionBacked by the press, judiciary, and police,

operators in District 2 generated a full-blown red scare in the spring of 1919 in order to counter the militancy of miners.

The Indiana Evening Gazette regularly linked miner activities with Boshevism and revolution. April 18 headline: “Bolshevik Agents Blamed for Attempt

to Dynamite Tipple of Homer Coal Co.” The article read in part: “The labor unrest throughout

the country, flamed into a fever heat by agents of the Radicals who are threatening to revolutionize Europe and the United States, has come to a head in numerous incidents relative to destruction of property.”

The same article reported that 500 striking miners had marched from Homer City to Graceton and back led by “a large American flag to which long streamers of red silk were attached.”

The Defense Society of Indiana County

On April 23, the Gazette reported that “the events of the past few weeks and months, in which Bolshevik tendencies were slowly assuming a desperate character finally compelled the authorities to take a hand in the suppression of further threatened disorders.”

The prior evening, Indiana Burgess James Crossman had called a meeting of “all patriotic man of Indiana, who believe that the flag of our country should not be desecrated by Red streamers or carried by organizations to protect them from unlawful acts.”

The meeting, according to Crossman, was held as “a protest against anarchy, which already has gained a decided foothold in Indiana County, and to formulate plans to prevent the raising of the Red flag of disintegration by an assemblage of Radicals, who would overthrow the government and institute a reign of terror.”

At the end of the meeting, the American Defense Society of Indiana County was formed. The Society immediately enrolled “some 400 simon-

pure patriots” who were sworn in as deputy sheriffs to assist County Sheriff Harry Boggs.

Following the meeting, “impromptu gatherings were held for several hours and all with one central thought—America First….Patriotism was the keynote and Americanism was what resulted.”

According to the Gazette, “it was the finest expression of utter patriotism, with disregard of possible danger.”

The final paragraph of the Gazette’s lengthy report threw down the gauntlet: “Action has been taken, the men have signified their

willingness, yea eagerness, to serve the Commonwealth, the organization is formed, the die has been casted and the defy issued to the Bolsheviki or other advocates of lawlessness and disorder, by whatever name they choose to call themselves. Indiana County is ready for action. It is to be hoped that actual conflict will not be necessary, but should the occasion rise then the American Defense Society of Indiana County will rise with it. And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave, o’re the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

May Day “Insurrection”

Assuming the atmosphere of a military unit, the members of the Defense Society were organized into squads and “put through tactics by officers qualified for such work.”

As May Day approached, Sheriff Boggs issued a proclamation which prohibited mass meetings, demonstrations and parades, and received a unit of the State Police to aid in patrolling the area.

The holiday passed quietly, with the exception of the arrest of a well-known business man and Socialist who was charged with inciting to riot for refusing to remove a red flower from his lapel.

1919 Strike

UMWA convention in September called for: The six-hour day/five day week 60% wage raise Abolition of the penalty clause for striking Strike date of November 1, if demands went unmet

Operators insisted that no wage negotiation could be held until April 1, 1920 when the Washington Agreement expired

On November 1, 1919 the nation’s 450,000 unionized miners went on strike, including the 45,000 union miners in District 2

On December 9, President Wilson intervened with promises of: An immediate 14% wage increase A Presidential commission to investigate the industry

and assist in further wage negotiationsThe UMWA accepted the agreement and

returned to work.

In Central Pennsylvania, the strike was presented in the press as continued evidence of a Bolshevik threat to the nation. On the evening of November 1, the Indiana Evening Gazette

reported that although there had been no disturbances of a “radical nature…plans have been completed for stern action should the ‘red’ element start any trouble.”

Although the Gazette allowed that “the members of the United Mine Workers of America, as a body, are of a peaceful nature,” disturbances would no doubt be “the work of the Bolshevik element or other malcontents who wish to spread their radical doctrine throughout the United States and destroy existing government.”

James Maurer, president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor, addressed the widespread fear spread by the newspapers at a convention of District 2 miners the week before the strike began: In Western Pennsylvania today there is no such thing as

civil liberties for the working man, no such thing as free speech or free public assemblage….And when one of us objects or protests then we find from one end of the country to the other they cry out loud, oh, he is a Bolsheviki. The newspapers are opposed to us and of course we have no right to expect anything else. The same people that we organized ourselves against also control the newspapers, and in them they lie the most glaring lies.”

At the same convention, District Secretary-Treasurer Richard Gilbert, framed the upcoming struggle in terms of patriotism.

For Gilbert, the sacrifices made during the war era entitled workers to full political and economic democracy at home.

In language sprinkled with allusions to Lincoln, Wilson, the Bible, and even Jack London, Gilbert evoked the memory of the 81 members of District 2 who had made the “supreme sacrifice” during the war.

Richard Gilbert

These young men were members of our Organization, they have paid the supreme sacrifice in order to make the world they were told and no doubt believed safe for democracy….It is up to us to see that they have not died in vain, and we can best show our fond remembrance by bringing about that Democracy for which they believed they died to save....Shall the sacrifice of so much life and happiness, the blood shed on the battlefields of Europe be but the basis of other wars...or shall this destruction of life and happiness be the seed out of which will usher in a new and higher social order in which war and poverty shall cease and in which real progress will begin.

If the Trades Unionists succeed in carrying out their policy of economic reconstruction, then the day of true Democracy will be ushered in poth politically and industrially, then we shall have permanent peace and no drop of blood shed in the late war will be shed in vain; on the other hand, if Labor fails through any cause to carry out its policy then the sacrifices will be useless. Even now here and there we see signs of the coming iron heel of the Military state to throttle free speech and the press and the right of free assembly....

These 81 boys gave their lives as a sacrifice to their Country to save Democracy and we must see that the Democracy they died to save is made possible or we will be false to ourselves and to their memory....By all the memories of the past; by all the impulses of the present; by all the noblest instincts of our own souls; with the touch of his Sovereignty upon us, God make us faithful to the work and to them.” Richard Gilbert, October 1919

ON THE ISSUES OF THE DAY:THE MALDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH

THE UNITY OF THE WORKING CLASSES

A MESSAGE FROM THE PAST

“Don’t let them divide you on racial questions. Don’t let you Americans be divided on account of foreigners. They tried to divide the foreigners against the Italians. They said the Italians are after your jobs. They are trying to get us fighting among ourselves, don’t you see. Don’t fall for it. Don’t let them get you divided on religion. No matter what the other fellow’s religion is, respect him for it as much as you expect him to respect you for your religion. Remember, men get their religion usually from their mother’s knee and when you insult their religion you generally attack the memory of their dear mother and what are you going to gain….The other class is sticking. The capitalist class is sticking as they never did before....So, don’t let them get you divided, boys.” James Mauer, October, 1919