Dissertation Information for David Alan WolffNAME:
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SCHOOL: ADVISORS: COMMITTEE MEMBERS: MPACT Status: Fully Complete Title: The Western coal industry in the era of expansion, 1868 to 1913 Abstract: From the Rock Springs Massacre of 1885 to the Ludlow Massacre of 1914, violence played a significant role in coalfield labor relations. This study places these conflicts in the context of the Western coal industry from the time of its inception in 1868 to the age of maturity in the early twentieth century. It looks at the coal companies and their owners, the workers' and their workplaces, and the business of coal to determine what made labor relations. In terms of companies and owners, this study explores the owners' motivations for investment and how their goals changed over time. It shows the move from speculation to stability, and how this was reflected in the development of company towns. In terms of workers, it examines their struggle to maintain mining as a craft, and how the work force changed ethnically and racially. As the work force became more diverse, the importance of a strong national union became more apparent. The look at the business of coal includes how coal markets and the economic cycle affected companies and workers. A competitive coal market helped the workers' cause, while monopolies benefited the companies. Economic downturns often brought labor conflict as companies passed their misery along to the miners. Coalfield labor relations emerged from the interaction of the owners, the workers, and the business of coal. Strikes often resulted from imperfect relations, but the nature and tenor of those strikes changed over time. Miners asserted their control of the mines in the earliest encounters. This changed through the years. By the twentieth century, the companies dominated the workers, and strikes dealt with issues of fair play and justice. Violence indicated this change. In the Rock Springs Massacre, traditional craft miners lashed out at the Chinese to defend their skilled positions and workplace prerogatives. In the Ludlow Massacre, the companies turned to violence to assert their dominance and maintain order. |
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