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The 1927 Indiana Bituminous Strike was a strike by members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) against local bituminous coal companies. Although the struggle raged throughout most of the nation's coal fields, its most serious impact was in western Pennsylvania.〔 The strike began on April 1, 1927, when almost 200,000 coal miners struck the coal mining companies operating in the Central Competitive Field, after the two sides (management and labor) could not reach an agreement on pay rates. The UMWA was attempting to retain pay raises gained in the contracts it had negotiated in 1922 and 1924, while management, stating that it was under economic pressure from competition with the West Virginia coal mines, was seeking wage reductions.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Historical Markers )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=The West Virginia Coal Mine Wars )〕The strike proved to be a disaster for the union, as by 1929, there were only 84,000 paying members of the union, down from 400,000 which belonged to the union in 1920.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Diary of a Strike )〕 == Background == The coal industry in the United States was at the end of three decades of growth in 1920, during which production had increased five-fold.〔 The UMWA had won pay hikes and a shorter work day in 1919, and preserved these gains in contracts with mine operators in 1922 and 1924. However demand, which had been artificially inflated during the World War, dropped off at the war's end. This, combined with a stagnation of coal usage through conservation efforts during the 1920s led to efforts to reduce costs by the mine operators.〔 Coal miners and the United Mine Workers faced an extended crisis as coal operators sought cost reductions and pressured unionized miners to accept wage cutbacks to below the previously agreed upon rate of $7.50 per day, and even to abandon the union.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Confrontation at Rossiter )〕 In 1921, miners had struck against the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation in Rossiter, Pennsylvania. The strike arose when the company began to require their employees to punch a time clock. The miners refused to comply, and were backed up by the UMWA, stating that the union's permission was required to enforce the time-clock requirement, in addition to the fact that no other mine in the district employed the use of a time clock. The strike lasted approximately one month, and ended when work resumed with the time clock in use. Northern coal mining operators, looking to reduce costs, blamed their weakened competitive position on the high and inflexible wage rates negotiated by the union. Attempts to impose significant wage reductions, in some cases up to 50 percent, were met by a bitter strike in 1922.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=The Pennsylvania Anthracite Strike of 1922 )〕 This strike was not only about wages, but over the concept of national versus district contracts. The union wanted a national contract, while the mining operators wanted contracts by districts.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=1922 Coal Strikes )〕 That strike lasted five months, but led to the Jacksonville agreement in 1924, wherein miners were given a $7.50 per day rate which had been agree upon in the 1920 negotiations.〔 When the northern operators continued to lose market share to their southern counterparts, they asked the union for a renegotiation of the Jacksonville scale. Union President John L. Lewis refused on the grounds that the industry was undergoing a needed adjustment which, when completed, would result in fewer men and fewer mines and a stable, more prosperous industry.〔 The coal mining area around Pittsburgh had always been a difficult territory for the UMWA. The presence of the nonunion Connellsville and Westmoreland fields made it difficult for the union to hold its ground, and the diverse ethnic groups which comprised the work force made organization and collective action difficult. It was in this district where the operators took their first stand against the union. In August, 1925, the Pittsburgh Coal Company, largest in the district, closed down, rejected the Jacksonville agreement, and reopened on a nonunion basis. Numerous other companies followed its lead. In all, some 110 mines in Pennsylvania changed from union to nonunion operation during 1925.〔 This led to another strike over wages in 1925, which also lasted five months.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Pennsylvania Coal and Politics )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1927 Indiana Bituminous Strike」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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