8 Hour Work Day Research Paper

In his book, “Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War”, Thomas G. Andrews construes the trajectory of a unique labor movement of the southern Colorado coal workers. The labor movement is unique as it integrates the social, ecological and industrial context of the strike for a captivating narration of the Ludlow massacre. Andrew’s account is valuable as he insists that credible conclusions must be grounded in complete and sophisticated provenance as opposed to oversimplified explanations. The intent of this response paper is to analyze the burdensome nature of obtaining coal, substandard pay and the treacherous working conditions. Secondly, the paper discusses the ways which helped employees to achieve autonomy and solidarity.

Miners along the Little Coal River were among the first to militarize, and began to patrol and the guard the area. Sheriff Don Chafin sent his troopers from Logan County to Little Coal River area. The troopers were quickly overthrown, apprehended, disarmed, and sent back running from the miners. Frank Keeney and Fred Mooney, the leaders of the UMWA District 17, called a rally at the state capitol in Charleston. The two met with Governor Ephraim Morgan, and presented him with a petition spelling out the miners’ demands. Governor Morgan rejected the miners demands which caused the miners to become more restless. Miners began to talk about organizing a march on Mingo to free the confined miners, end martial law, and organize the county; unfortunately, the only things standing in their way were Blair Mountain, Logan County, and Sheriff Don Chafin.

Eventually, the workers of American Coal, who were once the landowners of the very area they were mining, formed a labor union to fight for better working conditions. The union was met with great opposition by the company’s secret police. As time went on, the coal miners continued to fight for their rights, only to be put down violently by the coal company’s strikebreakers. Union leaders were also fired and blacklisted from the company as a means to put a stop to union activity.

They were slowly becoming displaced from work and strikes were beginning to form. These miners were going on strikes because of wage cuts and poor working conditions that they were being required to work with (Hard Times: 1920 – 1940). People all over Colorado were suffering; in Pueblo, Texas Creek, Westcliffe, and many more places. Mines were closing due to lack of production and money. Even railroads that were once operated daily by numerous people were being shut down and taken apart. Colorado was not flourishing in the 1920s.

Before this conflict was caused, The wobbles had planned a public demonstration in everett that afternoon, to be held on the corner of hewitt and witmor, a spot usually used by street speakers the wobblies hoping to form one big union. The wobblies, traveled from seattle to everett aboard the stemsters verona and calista to support a strike by local shingle-weavers.”A group of citizens deputies under the authority of snohomish county sheriff Donald Mcrae, refused to let them land. A shot was fired followed by several minutes of gunfire that killed 5 wobblies and two deputies. 74 workers of the world returned to seattle here they were put in snohomish county jail.”

The West Virginia brakemen started the upheaval by uncoupling cars, blocking railroads, suspending the intercourse of travel and business on some of the great trunk lines of the country and announcing that no freight trains would be allowed to travel until their wages were reinstated to the normal rate.5 The workmen in Pittsburgh and Chicago, St. Louis and San Francisco also joined them. Moreover, both working class and middle class people from the Martinsburg community who bore no wage relation to the railroad company also showed support by gathering at the town depot to prevent the arrest of strikers by police.7 Violence came with the strike as the workers destroyed more than $2 million worth of railroad property and the militia also fired on the crowds, killing more than 20 people. Furthermore, because the strike was already defined as “insurrection”, and that the “bloody conflict” was too much for the militia, they asked for help and involved federal troops and the army – ensuing further

Organized labor first entered Oklahoma with railroad work and mining, in the Indian Territory. During the late 1800’s strikes were sponsored by groups such as the Knights of Labor. The UMWA strike lasted from 1898 until 1903, and was helped lead by Peter Hanraty. The result of this strike was the 1903 agreement with mine operators that guaranteed most of the strikers’ demands, including recognition of the union, eight-hour days, and payment of wages twice a month. After this, higher wages and shorter hours remained a constant tradition here in Oklahoma.

Strikes and protests have always been a way to unite people in their fight to object certain practices or demand certain change. In 1914, first generation immigrants went on strike after working under horrid conditions and not getting paid fair wages. All they asked for was a small raise and to work eight hour days. The outcome was, a militia firing machine guns at strikers along with other deadly attacks. The Rockerfellers were some of the wealthiest and corrupt minded men in the world. Rockerfeller owned the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, and some sources say that he supplied the militia with the guns used in the massacre. If money is the root of all evil, then the Rockerfellers weren't shy of showing it.

On April 20, 1914 a build up to tensions between union strikers and militia directed by the Rockefeller Coal Company came to a climax when the make shift town, called White City was attacked by militia. The Ludlow massacre was a build up of many different issues between the owners of the mines and the miners. Labor problems such as paternalism, lack of enforcement on current labor laws, and the slow recovery from the depression of 1890 all contributed to the actions of the Ludlow massacre in Colorado and the violence that was used after.

John D. Rockefeller Jr. played a significant role in helping to resolve the Ludlow strike but mainly to save the reputation of his family name and preserve the integrity of his successful company, Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I). The Rockefeller family was generous in donating to various orphanages, charities, and churches but were known for being brutal to their coal mine workers. For this and because of the dangerous conditions they were forced to work in, the miners went on strike and set up tent colonies throughout Southern Colorado. It was John Jr’s company which hired the strikebreakers who attacked the tent colonies by opening fire with machine guns. The mine operators were trying to rile the coal miners and create conflict so that they would retaliate. This way CF&I could involve Governor Elias Ammons to help put an end to the strike with the

Colorado labor Wars: The Colorado labor wars were a series of labor strikes in 1903 and 1904 in the US state of Colorado, by gold and silver miners and mill workers represented by the Western Federation of Miners (WFM). Opposing the WFM were associations of mine owners and businessmen at each location, supported by the Colorado state government. The strikes were notable and controversial for the accompanying violence, and the imposition of martial law by the Colorado National Guard in order to put down the strikes. A nearly simultaneous strike in Colorado's northern and southern coal fields was also met with a military response by the Colorado National Guard. Colorado's most significant battles between labor and capital occurred between

Andrews called it “the deadliest labor struggle in American history.” National Guards was sent with the encouragement of Karl Linderfelt. As shooting take places between the militia and the strikers, women and children went to hide in pits underneath the tents. Crain stated the gunfire lasted all day and the militia killed even chicken and dogs. Eventually, the tents in Ludlow was set on fire and most of the women and children died in this due to suffocation. Later on, revenge were taken for the terrible incident at Ludlow. Crain described this a struggle as a “pursuit of energy and in combats between capital and labor.” I believed this to be true. The mining companies did not seem to care about their workers. They only care for the profits since the workers were expendable to

67). As the strike began, the thousands of miners and their families were relocated into tent colonies by the union. The peaceful strike eventually came to an end April 1914, when the largest colony, Ludlow, was attacked by private detectives and the Colorado National Guard (Chicone, p. 58). The camp was heavily fired upon and set ablaze, “Twenty-five people lay dead, including two women and 11 children who were trapped beneath a smoldering tent” (Chicone, p. 58), the senseless murder of the strikers and families left an endless mark on the coal miner community. The brutality of the incident led the union to quickly label it the “Ludlow Massacre”, ensuring that it would not be mistaken as anything other than an abuse of power (Walker, p. 72). Throughout the strike and subsequent massacre, the media was a frenzy of competing messages from both the United Mine Workers of America and the Rockefeller’s Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.

Does anything out weigh the importance of our planet’s health? You would be surprised by the number of people who look the other way when it comes to keeping the planet clean. Offshore drilling is just one of the major environmental issues that has existed for many years and still continues to be a problem. The topic of offshore drilling not only touches on environmental issues but also political, economic, and ethical issues. All of these tie into the huge debate over offshore drilling and its impacts on the environment. But when the human race depends on oil, how can we ignore the fact of drilling for oil off the coast of our land. Investing in greenhouse energy is just one of several ways to help keep the

Working the night shift is a common practice in industrialized societies. Nevertheless, its adverse effects should not be excused as this plays a vital part in control of cancer and heart disease. Prevailing in healthcare, transport and production industries, its irreversible effects on bodily functions play a vital role in reducing accidents, sleep regulation, performance, and quality of rest.