The Coal Wars: the absolutely insane history of early unionization

[Nomad4Ever]

During a recent wikipedia rabbit hole, I discovered an insane piece of US history I have never heard talked about. Everyone knows about company towns, but what I didn't know what that there was a period between the 1890s and the 1930s where there were straight up sporadic small scale conflicts between organizing union workers and the private union busters/private military of the coal companies. The things these companies were able to get away with sounds like something from a movie that's trying a little to hard to make their evil villain corporation seem evil;

Mining families lived under the terror of Baldwin-Felts detective agents who were professional strikebreakers under the hire of coal operators. During that dispute, agents drove a heavily armored train through a tent colony at night, opening fire on women, men, and children with a machine gun.[3] They would repeat this type of tactic during the Ludlow Massacre in Colorado the next year, with even more disastrous results. (Source)

Some of these events happened barely even 100 years ago, which is just crazy to me. One such event is particularly crazy. The Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921 was the largest armed conflict on US soil since the civil war. It reads like something out of a wild west movies.

Agents from Baldwin-Felts strike breakers went to Matewan and evicted several striking worker's families from their company housing. As they went to leave they were confronted by the chief of police, Sid Hatfield who was pro union. He presented the deputized several miners and told the agents, one of whom was a Felt brother, that they were under arrest. Albert felt then presented a warrant for Hatfield's arrest. The mayor was made aware of the situation and came out to investigate, looked at the warrant for Hatfield's arrest and declared it was bogus. A gunfight ensued, which resulted in the Felt brother and his agents being killed along with the mayor. The felts pressed charges on Hatfield for another unrelated incident after he was acquitted of the murder charges, but it appeared he would get off. Before the end of the trial however another one of the Felt brothers ambushed him along with several other Baldwin-Felt company agents.

Along with him traveled a good friend, Ed Chambers, and their wives.[25] As they walked up the courthouse stairs, unarmed and flanked by their wives, a group of Baldwin-Felts agents standing at the top of the stairs opened fire. Hatfield was killed instantly. Chambers was bullet-riddled and rolled to the bottom of the stairs. Despite Sally Chambers' protests, one of the agents ran down the stairs and shot Chambers once more, point-blank in the back of the head.[26] Hatfield's and Chambers' bodies were returned to Matewan, and word of the slayings spread through the mountains.

The Felt agents were not convicted of the assassination that took place in broad daylight on the steps of the court house, claiming they were acting in self defense. The miners were furious at the murder, as Hatfield had become something of a symbol of unionization and workers rights.

On August 7, 1921, the leaders of the United Mine Workers (UMW) District 17, which encompasses much of southern West Virginia, called a rally at the state capitol in Charleston. These leaders were Frank Keeney and Fred Mooney, who were veterans of previous mine conflicts in the region. Both were local, well-read and articulate. Keeney and Mooney met with Governor Ephraim Morgan and presented him with a petition of the miners' demands.[29] When Morgan summarily rejected the demands, the miners became more restless and began to talk of a march on Mingo to free the confined miners, end martial law and organize the county. But Blair Mountain, Logan County, and Sheriff Chafin stood directly in the way.

 

[Questerr]

The corporations of today dream about being able to kill workers who want to unionize… and we know because they do exactly that in other countries.

Google the death squads that companies like Coca-Cola and Nestle have hired in the third world to kill union organizers.

 

[Nomad4Ever]

An estimated 13,000 armed workers, led by Bill Blizzard (a totally real sounding name), formed a militia and began marching towards Mingo county to free the other imprisoned union workers. Meanwhile, the coal company got word of the incoming workers and brought in their private military along with the police to begin setting up defensive positions. President Harding threatened to deploy MB-1 bombers on the miners.

Meanwhile, the anti-union Sheriff Chafin[31] had begun to set up defenses on Blair Mountain. He was supported financially by the Logan County Coal Operators Association, creating the nation's largest private armed force of nearly 2,000.

The workers arrived and there was a brief attempt at negotiations, which quickly fell apart.

By August 29 battle was fully joined. Chafin's men, though outnumbered, had the advantage of higher positions and better weaponry. Private planes were hired to drop homemade bombs on the miners. A combination of poison gas and explosive bombs left over from World War I were dropped in several locations near the towns of Jeffery, Sharples and Blair.

The battle lasted for a week, after which the national guard arrived. Many of the miners were veterans and did not want to fire on national troops. In the end, it is estimated 50-100 miners were killed with hundreds wounded, along with 20-30 police and Baldwin-Felts private military forces killed.

In the short term, the local unions were crushed and the coal companies consolidated control in the area. However, in the long term the event generated much national news and sympathy for unions. A few years later, FDR would be elected and many of the insane behaviors the coal companies engaged in would be cracked down on.

It is absolutely shocking to me that this is such a brushed over part of US history. Private armies working with coal companies, the police, and army, engaging with other Americans on an open battlefield seems like an incredible piece of the US story.

 

[reflechissez]

Harlan County, USA - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This happened in 1973.

 

[soylentgreen]

Well to be fair there is as this link suggests an endless number of massacres to choose from.

https://www.zinnedproject.org/collection/massacres-us/

Here is a list of some of the countless massacres in the history of the United States.

Most of these massacres were designed to suppress voting rights, land ownership, economic advancement, education, freedom of the press, religion, LGBTQ rights, and/or labor rights of African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asians, and immigrants. While often referred to as “race riots,” they were massacres to maintain white supremacy.

 

[Tigerace117]

An estimated 13,000 armed workers, led by Bill Blizzard (a totally real sounding name), formed a militia and began marching towards Mingo county to free the other imprisoned union workers. Meanwhile, the coal company got word of the incoming workers and brought in their private military along with the police to begin setting up defensive positions. President Harding threatened to deploy MB-1 bombers on the miners.


The workers arrived and there was a brief attempt at negotiations, which quickly fell apart.

The battle lasted for a week, after which the national guard arrived. Many of the miners were veterans and did not want to fire on national troops. In the end, it is estimated 50-100 miners were killed with hundreds wounded, along with 20-30 police and Baldwin-Felts private military forces killed.

In the short term, the local unions were crushed and the coal companies consolidated control in the area. However, in the long term the event generated much national news and sympathy for unions. A few years later, FDR would be elected and many of the insane behaviors the coal companies engaged in would be cracked down on.

It is absolutely shocking to me that this is such a brushed over part of US history. Private armies working with coal companies, the police, and army, engaging with other Americans on an open battlefield seems like an incredible piece of the US story.

It’s not shocking in the slightest when you think about the fact that the US spent decades clashing with a nation that claimed to represent “the workers”. To the paranoid minds of Cold War America, labor militancy was a short step from communism.

 

[Bear5131]

The corporations of today dream about being able to kill workers who want to unionize… and we know because they do exactly that in other countries.

Google the death squads that companies like Coca-Cola and Nestle have hired in the third world to kill union organizers.

Yet America loves her Coke and cheap stuff from China

The America consumers greed always gets them what they want