United States 1870

Synopsis

The first written contract signed between coal miners and coal mine operators had its origins in the first attempt to organize coal miners in the anthracite coalfields of Pennsylvania. The resulting union formed in 1849 but was soon dissolved. Organizational activities resumed in the early 1860s as local unions formed throughout the coalfields of Pennsylvania. During this same period of time, mine owners organized into two operators' unions. In 1867, acting upon a new law establishing an eight-hour workday, John Siney led a movement to enforce this legislation. The union that formed in 1868 from the consolidation of local unions was named the Workingmen's Benevolent Association, and its first president was Siney. Both miners and owners were now well organized, and disagreements and strikes occurred on a regular basis, especially with regard to the eight-hour day and suspension of work by the...