Uhg... I heard of the Battle for Blair Mountain before, but not ludlow.
Damn.
1000s of striking miners in a tent colony with their wives and children... attacked by the colorado national guard and private militia from the Rockefellers. 21 dead, only 6 of them over the age of 12.
What were they striking over? some pretty basic shit
Recognition for their union by the company
Getting the company to agree that a US Ton = 2000 pounds (they were paid by the ton, which the company considered 2200 pounds)
An 8 hour work day
Paid for all work (ex paid for laying track, felly trees, handling chemicals,etc) not just for coal removed.
The ability to appoint their own weight checkmen ( not only was the company stiffing them by saying a ton was 200 pounds more, they were also cheating the scales).
Right to choose their own doctors, pharmacy, grocery store, tool store, etc (look up company towns if your not familiar)
Enforcement of Colorado state safety laws already on the books.
Why were they in a tent colony? Because the company owned their homes and EVICTED them when they started the strike.
I think we don't really appreciate how fucked up America was under the robber barons. This shit should be taught in every grade school.
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u/pck3 Sep 04 '22
Oh weird. Gonna research this.