Episode notes
In the 2nd part of our West Virginia Mine War coverage, we're diving into the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike, when coal companies in Paint Creek refused to recognize union negotiations for a simple wage adjustment and lit the metaphorical match on a bed of gasoline-doused straw. We cover more Baldwin Felts shenanigans including the Bull Moose Special, along with the Dirty Eleven and the guerrilla tactics used by strikers in retaliation. We cover the state intervention that included threatening workers with deportation if they didn't accept a bare bones settlement to go back to work. And we also learn more about the schism between rank and file strikers like Frank Keeney and Fred Mooney and union leadership that saw strikers continue to fight back, with or without union support, until they got what they wanted. Let's get into it!
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