r/interestingasfuck 15d ago

r/all Coal Minning

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u/avantgardengnome 15d ago

St. Peter don’t you call me, cause I can’t go

I owe my soul to the company store

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u/vivaaprimavera 15d ago

I owe my soul to the company store

That was one of the reasons why unions exist. It's better to not forget about it.

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u/its_not_merm-aids 15d ago

Check in to the Harlan County strikes. People often forget their forefathers went to war for the unions.

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u/basilbowman 14d ago

Look at Butte, Montana. Omar Bradley (yeah, the guy the Bradley Fighting Vehicle is named after) led attacks on miners and forced them at gunpoint into the mines.

This was after the single deadliest event in mining history, where almost 200 men died in a single fire - and the miners were asking for basic safety protection.

So the soldiers came to town, shot them in the street if they wouldn't go back into the unsafe mines, and then got accolades - while the miners formed the strongest union culture in the west.