21 April 1894: US miners strike

On this day, 21 April 1894, a nationwide strike of coal miners in the US against pay cuts began. Despite the United Mine Workers union having only 20,000 members, 145,000 miners walked out, and despite violent repression and facing starvation they held out for weeks and won some concessions. Many miners even rejected the union’s settlement and held out for more but were eventually starved back to work. This is a history of the coal miners’ struggles that year: https://libcom.org/history/us-coal-miners-strikes-1894-jeremy-brecherOur work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History