The Morewood Mine Riot

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The following is a condensed version of the events that took place in 1891. A more detailed account is available in the book, "The Shots Fired at Morewood" by Emöke Pulay.

In 1890 the UMWA scale committee drew up a list of demands for the upcoming year. The last year's scale of wages was due to expire in February 1891. The demands submitted to the operators included; weighing of the coal at the tipples, an eight hour work day, extra pay for working in a wet place, for working with another man, or for narrow work, approximately a 10% raise for most miners, a limit on house rent, a mandatory 3 day notice for strikes/lockouts/quitting or firing a man, and that "none but union men shall be employed and non-union men shall be discontinued in service" as soon as their places can be filled. Unfortunately the coke business was suffering a depression at the time. In December 1890, twenty per cent of H.C. Frick's coke operations were shut down due to a lack of demand for coke. The scale committee presented the proposed scale in January 1891 to the operators who refused it and instead demanded a decrease of 10% in wages due to the poor condition of the coke market. On February 2, 1891 both sides agreed to a work stoppage that would begin on February 10th. At this time labor leaders expressed willingness to compromise not when it came to paying below the present rate of wages. The large operators were inflexible and a region-wide suspension of work began. The H.C. Frick company stated: "This should not be considered as a lockout or a strike, merely a suspension of work pending the adjustment of wages, and we want it distinctly understood that we will be ready at all times in the future...to take up the wage question with you or your representatives." Both sides took this agreement in a friendly spirit, each seeing it to their own advantage; theoperators saw no opportunity to sell coke at the time and the labor leaders thought the work stoppage would deplete the current coke supply and help drive the price up enough to induce the operators to pay higher wages.

By March the labor leaders were willing to return to work at the 1890 wages but the operators were under no pressure to back down. On March 25, the H.C. Frick Coke company and McClure coke company posted at nearly all of their works a sliding scale of wages, in which wages would be determined by the selling price of coke, based on a $1.75 per ton minimum. The scale, which was to last for three years, gave the men a nine-hour day, precluded the possibility of striking, and was signed on an individual basis with each man who wanted to work. It was also accompanied by this notice:
We have this day posted a sliding scale, under which we propose to operate this plant after work is resumed. The plant will start as soon as any or all men are ready to go to work under the scale. All the old employees will be taken back; no one will be discriminated against in any way, nor will any one be required to join any organization, or to leave any organization.
When this plant shut down, we posted a notice, stating we would be ready and willing to take up the wage question, either with you or your representatives, at any time; but up to date, your representatives have not done anything in the matter. We...believe that after reading and thinking over it carefully, you will agree that it (the scale) is a most liberal arrangement for the men.
We regret that on account of the depressed condition of trade, we will not be able to run all of our works...

Labor leaders delared this an insult and claimed the companies had been trying to trick the workers by posting the scale late at night, and as if it was approved by labor leaders.

This apparent victory of the operators soon created conflict. The coke works began to resume. The miners that had not returned to work began to exhaust their limited funds, and many families suffered destitution. The miners began to riot, showing hostility towards those who returned to work, and toward the immigrants imported to take their places.

In early March, General Manger Lynch of the H.C. Frick Coke Company, announced at a meeting that he would discuss no terms other than a 10% reduction, at which point the meeting disbanded. The labor union was also upset over an operators importation of Pinkerton detectives to guard his works. By the end of March, many works were running but few at full strength.

The average striker suffered many hardships during the course of the strike including poverty and homelessness, and was irritated by the presence of new laborers brought in to replace the old. Violence was erupting as people were being evicted from their company homes. During evictions, the property of the family in question was loaded onto a truck, removed from company property, and dumped in the road.

The "B" shaft and 162 Morewood ovens had been shut down due to economic difficulties before the strike began. Two weeks after the strike, the morewood strikers ran into conflict with the operators, who were employing 30 men to remove water from the mine. The strikers claimed that the removal of water didn't neccessitate this many employees, and were afraid that they were being "induced" to mine coal, which might help break the strike.