The year is 1921 and a long brewing, ever escalating labor dispute between The Stone Mountain Coal Company and the Miners of Mingo County West Virginia is about to come to a violent conclusion. In what would later be known as the largest armed conflict since the American Civil War.
Soldiers returning home from the Great War now find themselves immersed in yet another bloody fight. This time they fight a new enemy: their fellow Americans.
Using similar military tactics they learned in the trenches of Europe, these working class heroes braved machine gun fire, gas attacks and airplane bombs to fight for all we take for granted today regarding labor laws.
But is fixing the labor inequities problem more complicated than simply mandating business owners pay their employees a "living wage"? What does the future of technology and automation hold for the working class?
"Which side are you on, boys?"
You decide.
***LINKS:
Battle of Matewan
Battle of Blair Mountain
"Matewan" Trailer
Blair Mountain Centenial
Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining
"...Parents try to sell ya to Paris Hilton"
"Tegridy"
"If it bleeds we can kill it"
"All the Baldwins are dead?!?!"
The Simpsons Explain Unions
Which Side Are You On?
16 Tons
WV Mine Wars Museum
Esau scrip
Japanese & Mexicans: Agricultural allies & adversaries
Union History
Mother Jones Speech
Great Divergence (wealth inequality)
Wealth disparity
Seattle goes on strike
Pullman Strike
Homestead Strike
Haymarket Square
Knights of Labor / AFL
Bisbee '17
***CONTACT US: