Monongah: The Tragic Story of the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster

8. “Hire Bands or Anything That Is Necessary”

8 “HIRE BANDS OR ANYTHING THAT IS NECESSARY” “There is never peace in West Virginia because there is never justice.” —Mary Harris “Mother” Jones WHEN J. N. Camden’s Monongah Coal & Coke Company opened the mines at Monongah, their business strategy was two-fold: to mine coal at a lower cost than their competitors and to operate in such a way that they would be able to supply coal during periods of labor unrest. Their chief competition worked out of the mines in Connellsville, a little more than 50 miles north, and they wanted to continue mining despite expected, periodic slowdowns and interruptions at other West Virginia and Pennsylvania mining districts. Both strategies were contingent upon Monongah Coal & Coke Company being able to operate their mines without their miners joining labor unions like the Knights of Labor or the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). In March of 1890, the Monongah Coal & Coke Company shipped its first load of coal to market, but as the washing and preparation plants were not wholly operational and the rail transportation system was not completely 92 chapter eight operative, most of the coal was sold locally. Shortly thereafter, the plant and rails were completed and shipments were begun to more distant markets. From the very first, the Monongah mines had labor trouble. Almost immediately after the first coal was sold, disagreements arose over the amount of wages paid to the miners. This was a result of both the introduction of new technology and of the policy of paying mining laborers less than the prevailing rates at surrounding mines. Camden had introduced recently developed electric cutting machines into the mining cycle in the Monongah mines. Designed to save time and expense, this new equipment created new functions or jobs and resulted in machine operators being paid at a different rate than traditional contract miners. In fact, as entirely new positions, the rates were different from those of any other job in the mines. In addition, new equipment such as electric motors and electric rail locomotives operating the coal haulage systems also affected traditional job classifications and wages. The new equipment was more efficient, but it was also more complicated than, say, horse-drawn carts. The new technologies improved coal production, but they also increased the danger of explosions and the risks to miners health by creating more coal dust. When the first Monongah mine opened, Camden set out to undercut the prevailing wage scale as a matter of policy, the rationale being that the immigrant miners he was actively recruiting were less experienced and therefore less valuable than the native miners. As immigrants, the miners were also less likely to join a union or go on strike. The wage difference was only pennies per ton, but as wages were already low, every cent mattered. For example, the Gaston Mine in Fairmont was paying the miners 32 cents per ton for cutting, blowing down, breaking up, and loading; and the Montana Mine, in which Camden and J. O. Watson held an interest, was paying 35 cents per ton for these same jobs. In some locations in the Monongah mines, the cutting was being done by machine and a price had to be established for the cost of the “hire bands or anything that is necessary” 93 coal loading. Camden had the rate fixed at 17 cents per ton, well below the daily wage that was generally paid for loading alone. Immediately, the miners asked for a minimum rate of 25 cents per ton for loading with the electric cutting machine, and the company refused. On April 15, 1890, just one month after the mine opened, miners at the Monongah mines went on strike and all were immediately fired. Within a week, although most miners had buckled to the company’s position, labor union organizers arrived from the nearby Pennsylvania mine fields where they had only recently succeeded in establishing a new scale of wages adopted by miners and operators. Organizing at Monongah was difficult. The initial crews who were recruited as miners were typically local farmers who considered the mine work supplemental to their livelihood as farmers and were not interested in unions. The immigrant miners had been recruited in the old country and were so fearful that they were reluctant to join a union. Furthermore, the company completely dominated every aspect of society in Monongah. Soon, the union agents were sent packing back to Pennsylvania and...