Strikers and Their Grievances
May 25, 1895
Summary
Miners in West Virginia are not being paid fairly for their hard work and can barely afford to support themselves.
Transcription
The Bluefield, W. Va. Journal states the miners’ side of the question in an admirable manner when it says:
The average miner in the Flat Top coal field, when he does honest room and work and runs no risks of falling slate makes an average of 38 cars of coal per month - that is two ton mining cars. For this he receives seventy-five cents a car, or $28.50 per month. If he is a married man his bill expenses to the company amounts to the following:
Doctor bill, $1.00; house rent, $6.00; blacksmith, 50 cents; powder, $5.50; oil, 60 cents; squibs and paper, 20 cents; coal, $1.00; Total, 14.30. Now suppose he gets docked once or twice for sulphur found or slate or light car. What has he left for provisions and clothes? Simply nothing. No change for education or incidental expenses. Now comes the rub when the railroad company seeks to subject these figures to a twenty percent reduction. It beats brick making in Egypt.
It has been demonstrated that in order to defraud, three and four ton-cars have been built and the miners forced to fill them at the price of a two ton car. These outrages against labor cannot forever continue and the effectiveness of labor organizations will be time and again demonstrated even though they lose in on or more contests.
The average miner in the Flat Top coal field, when he does honest room and work and runs no risks of falling slate makes an average of 38 cars of coal per month - that is two ton mining cars. For this he receives seventy-five cents a car, or $28.50 per month. If he is a married man his bill expenses to the company amounts to the following:
Doctor bill, $1.00; house rent, $6.00; blacksmith, 50 cents; powder, $5.50; oil, 60 cents; squibs and paper, 20 cents; coal, $1.00; Total, 14.30. Now suppose he gets docked once or twice for sulphur found or slate or light car. What has he left for provisions and clothes? Simply nothing. No change for education or incidental expenses. Now comes the rub when the railroad company seeks to subject these figures to a twenty percent reduction. It beats brick making in Egypt.
It has been demonstrated that in order to defraud, three and four ton-cars have been built and the miners forced to fill them at the price of a two ton car. These outrages against labor cannot forever continue and the effectiveness of labor organizations will be time and again demonstrated even though they lose in on or more contests.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Cord Fox
Citation
“Strikers and Their Grievances,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed January 20, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1410.