Teddy and the Coal Miners
In this image, the lone rider is shone preventing a huge coal
block from falling on the everyday people. This reflects his actions at the
1902 coal strike. That strike was launched by the united Mine Workers of
America, however, the mine operators refused to compromise and Theodore
Rooselvelt threatened operating the mines withb federal troops if necessary so
as to prevent a fuel shortage. This settled the strike and the miners gained a
10 percent pay increase for all employee, this was the first time that the
President stood wth the people.
block from falling on the everyday people. This reflects his actions at the
1902 coal strike. That strike was launched by the united Mine Workers of
America, however, the mine operators refused to compromise and Theodore
Rooselvelt threatened operating the mines withb federal troops if necessary so
as to prevent a fuel shortage. This settled the strike and the miners gained a
10 percent pay increase for all employee, this was the first time that the
President stood wth the people.
Official
Theodore Roosevelt : Political Cartoons : Coal Strike
On October 3, 1902
President Theodore Roosevelt met with miners and coal
field operators in an
attempt to settle the anthracite coal strike, then in its
fifth month. The
country relied on coal to power commerce and industry and
anthracite or
"hard coal" was essential for domestic heating. Pennsylvania
miners had left the anthracite fields on May 12, demanding wage increases, union
recognition, and an eight-hour workday. As winter approached, public anxiety
about fuel shortages and the rising cost of all coal pushed Roosevelt to
take
unprecedented action.
When he met with miners and coal field
operators in Washington that day,
Roosevelt became the first president to
personally intervene in a labor dispute.
Presenting himself as a
representative of the millions of people affected by the
strike, he urged
both parties to resolve their differences and return the miners
to
work.
While United Mine Workers of America president John Mitchell agreed to
negotiate, the coal field operators reiterated their opposition to the
miners'
demands generally and to the union specifically. For weeks into
October,
operators resisted dealing with the workers' union
representatives.
Finally, in order to avert what he saw as a national
catastrophe, Roosevelt
threatened to send military forces to operate the
Pennsylvania mines. On October
23, 1902, the miners returned to work after
both sides agreed to settle the
strike based on the recommendations of a
commission appointed by the
president.
Ultimately, the miners won a ten
percent increase in pay with a concomitant
reduction in the number of hours
worked each day. The commission failed to
recommend union recognition,
however, or to address the problems of child labor
and hazardous working
conditions. Still, for the first time the federal
government acted to
settle, rather than break, a strike. President Roosevelt's
efforts to end
the dispute met with public approval--especially important in an
election
year. Urging a crowd of New Yorkers to return a Republican majority to
Congress that November, Secretary of War Elihu Root declared:
When our
President, in his brave and direct way, acting out of his deep
feeling for
the needs of his people, undertook to get coal for them against the
coming
winter by urging the substitution of peace for war in the anthracite
region, Mr. Hill in New York and Mr. Olney in Boston condemned him, but I have
an idea that the people of the country do not agree with them; and I have
an
idea also that his action will prove in the end to have resulted, not
merely in
getting the coal, but in making a valuable contribution to the
peaceful and
reasonable process of development I have been describing.
Although the commission denied formal recognition of the United Mine Workers
in 1902, workers in the anthracite region continued to organize under the
leadership of the UMW. Labor unrest returned to the region in the 1930s
complicated by decreased demand for anthracite coal and discord between
competing unions.
On October 3, 1902
President Theodore Roosevelt met with miners and coal
field operators in an
attempt to settle the anthracite coal strike, then in its
fifth month. The
country relied on coal to power commerce and industry and
anthracite or
"hard coal" was essential for domestic heating. Pennsylvania
miners had left the anthracite fields on May 12, demanding wage increases, union
recognition, and an eight-hour workday. As winter approached, public anxiety
about fuel shortages and the rising cost of all coal pushed Roosevelt to
take
unprecedented action.
When he met with miners and coal field
operators in Washington that day,
Roosevelt became the first president to
personally intervene in a labor dispute.
Presenting himself as a
representative of the millions of people affected by the
strike, he urged
both parties to resolve their differences and return the miners
to
work.
While United Mine Workers of America president John Mitchell agreed to
negotiate, the coal field operators reiterated their opposition to the
miners'
demands generally and to the union specifically. For weeks into
October,
operators resisted dealing with the workers' union
representatives.
Finally, in order to avert what he saw as a national
catastrophe, Roosevelt
threatened to send military forces to operate the
Pennsylvania mines. On October
23, 1902, the miners returned to work after
both sides agreed to settle the
strike based on the recommendations of a
commission appointed by the
president.
Ultimately, the miners won a ten
percent increase in pay with a concomitant
reduction in the number of hours
worked each day. The commission failed to
recommend union recognition,
however, or to address the problems of child labor
and hazardous working
conditions. Still, for the first time the federal
government acted to
settle, rather than break, a strike. President Roosevelt's
efforts to end
the dispute met with public approval--especially important in an
election
year. Urging a crowd of New Yorkers to return a Republican majority to
Congress that November, Secretary of War Elihu Root declared:
When our
President, in his brave and direct way, acting out of his deep
feeling for
the needs of his people, undertook to get coal for them against the
coming
winter by urging the substitution of peace for war in the anthracite
region, Mr. Hill in New York and Mr. Olney in Boston condemned him, but I have
an idea that the people of the country do not agree with them; and I have
an
idea also that his action will prove in the end to have resulted, not
merely in
getting the coal, but in making a valuable contribution to the
peaceful and
reasonable process of development I have been describing.
Although the commission denied formal recognition of the United Mine Workers
in 1902, workers in the anthracite region continued to organize under the
leadership of the UMW. Labor unrest returned to the region in the 1930s
complicated by decreased demand for anthracite coal and discord between
competing unions.