Industrial Paternalism

Industrial Paternalism has had an impact on the way that unions are viewed in today’s society. The early 1900’s saw many Company Towns used by companies to control their workers both in their workplace, as well as, their personal lives. This paper reviews the definition of Paternalism and Industrial Paternalism in the early 1900’s mining industry. It reviews notable events that materialized due to these conditions and concludes by examining how this has impacted today’s views on Unions.

You load 16 tons, what do you get / another day older and deeper in debt / Saint Peter don’t you call me ‘cuz I can’t go / I owe my soul to the Company Store. ” (Doyle, 2008) The lyrics made famous by Tennessee Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons” in late 1955, brought to the forefront of pop culture at the time, the woes of many coal miners of the early 1900’s. The chilling lyric “I owe my soul to the Company Store”, is a direct link to the history of mining and the ability of Company Towns and Industrial Paternalism, to control their workers.

From the gold mines of Nevada to the coal mines of West Virginia, Company Towns are buried deep in the history of mining throughout the United States. Some still stand today, while others went down in a blaze of glory with many workers and their families losing their lives all in the name of unionism. Paternalism, according to the Webster Dictionary, is: “a system under which authority undertakes to supply needs or regulate conduct of those under its control in matters affecting them as individuals as well as in their relations to authority and to each other” (Merrian-Webster, 2012).

This definition, when applied to the prevalence of company owned and controlled towns of the early mining days, is what can be known as Industrial Paternalism. While these types of towns are also seen in the automobile industry and the early garment industry, for the sake of keeping some order of thought, I will concentrate on the predominance of these in the mining industry of the early 1900’s.

The idea behind a Company Town was simple: Control workers both in their work place, as well as, their personal lives. The paternalistic way in hich companies treated their workers; supply the workers with all of lives necessities such as housing, food, luxuries, and, of course, a place to work. (Clark, 2006) From the outside, many of these company towns seemed like an honest answer to certain problematic elements of mining country. First, and foremost, many mines were located far away from towns and, of course, this made commuting to and from the mines very difficult. The seemingly obvious solution would be to bring the town to the mine. In another apparently positive motivation for these towns was the idea that company towns, themselves, would attract workers.

With low-income housing, which at the time, seemed to be something people could rarely find, and employment at the town mine, many honest working people simply came to the towns for an opportunity at a better life and, in this case, an “all-inclusive” better life (Clark 2006). All of these factors would seem to be honest and positive reasons behind the creation of Company Towns and this may very well have been the intention, however, as company towns grew in popularity, other “benefits” materialized for companies.

As indicated in the Tennessee Ernest Ford, “Sixteen Tons” lyrics, “owe my soul to the company store”, one of the benefits that materialized for these companies was their ability to keep their workers indebted to them. The “Company Store” referred to in the song lyrics is the General Store in these company towns. With no competition for these stores, companies could keep prices high for everyday items, and often time, employees had to pay in credit. This never-ending cycle of debt, in simple terms, kept the employees bound to the company.

Another important benefit to the company that came from forming company towns was their ability to “control” their workers when it came to forming unions. One of the important factors in unionization is the ability to come together and chose to “fight” for whatever your “fight” is about. The unique aspect of company towns is that they had the ability to ensure that their employees could not get together and decide to strike. They could and often would, monitor their employees throughout the towns to ensure that this was not happening and if they did form to strike, they were often simply kicked out of town.

This brings us to our first controversy in connection with company towns and industrial paternalism. The Ludlow Massacre could easily be deemed one of the most violent events tied directly to a company town. The company town of Ludlow, Colorado was established by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company. Mining was very dangerous and difficult work with the constant threat of explosions, suffocation, and mine collapse. Due to their inability to air grievances in reference to working conditions and low pay, many workers started turning to unionism as a way to try to get the things they felt were important.

As unions expanded in the western states and moved into Southern Colorado, the main union in the area at the time, Western Federation of Miners, began focusing on CF&I because of their harsh management tactics and thus began the dissent that would instigate what would be known as the Ludlow Massacre. Basically, the union organized and presented the company with their list of demands. The CF&I (along with many other major coal companies) rejected the demands and the UMWA called for a strike.

Employees who chose to participate in the strike were immediately removed from their homes and left the town for UMWA prepared tent villages on the land outside of town. Rather than backing down from the company, these unionized employees chose to stay and fight. CF&I used many tactics to try to call off the strike, many which were violent. At this time, the National Guard was called in by the government to curb the violence and attempt to settle the unrest. However, upon coming to Ludlow it was soon apparent that the National Guard was there on behalf of the company, more so than the union.

When the body of a replacement worker was found on a nearby railroad track, the National Guard was ordered to destroy the tent city. In doing so, nineteen women, children, and employees were killed. (“The Ludlow Massacre”) Another violent outbreak connected to Company Towns that is rarely talked about, but has been referred to as, “America’s largest labor uprising since the Civil War” (Kilkeary, 2002) is known as the “Battle of Blair Mountain”. In May of 1920, West Virginia contained virtually the last collection of non-union mine workers.

The United Mine Workers had grown to become the nation’s largest union and were working to enroll all mine workers. The trouble began much like the Ludlow Massacre with agents working for the Stone Mountain Mining company began attempting to evict union miners and their families from company-owned housing within the town jurisdiction of Matewan, West Virginia. However, these agents did not have the proper court orders nor authority to do so. This led to the first shots fired in this controversy between town officials which ended with two miners and seven agents dead and the Mayor mortally wounded, dying the following day. Kilkerary, 2002)

The situation continued to worsen, and the United Mine Workers union called for a strike. However, the government intervened and the US Attorney General won an injunction against the strike on the eve of the planned walk out. However, workers ignored the injunction and walked off the job to the tune of 400,000 miners. This act shut down the industry and forced companies to start bargaining with the union workers. However, the workers would not agree to the suggestions made by the federal arbitration commission and the strike continued.

On May 12, 1921 things came to a head and the union proceeded to launch a full-fledged attack on the town of Merrimack (near Metawan). Some counts say up to 20 people on each side of the battle were killed in what has become known as the “Three Days’ Battle”. This led to the president to sign a proclamation of martial law for West Virginia and on May 19, the governor of West Virginia proclaimed martial law and declared the state of West Virginia as being in “a state of war, insurrection, and riot. ” (Kilkearney, 2002) Such began the “war” of the two sides.

Union workers were arrested and thrown in jail for speaking out against martial law or for spreading information about the union. The confrontation was heating up with not only troops being sent to the area, but also air operations. Union forces were making their way through southern West Virginia to the town of Logan in hopes of gaining power in their movement. However, the road to Logan was in the shadows of Blair Mountain, a mountain of twin peaks that were easily defended. A tough battle ensued with the death toll rising (a definite number has never been recorded).

Eventually, the miners and union was overtaken by the government response and the miners simply went home. However, the aftermath of this “war” then turned to the courts where many miners and union workers were charged with crimes ranging from treason to murder. While most of them were acquitted, the ensuing battle of the courts drained money from the United Mine Workers and membership dwindled from 50,000 to a few hundred. It would take the Great Depression and Franklin Roosevelt to rescue unions from this downfall. Kilkearny, 2002)

The previous were just two of many battles between companies and their employees of this time period. Many of these battles began in the same fashion as those cited above, with companies and their control over the town in which workers lived. There were fierce battles between companies looking to control their workers and the workers looking to improve working conditions for themselves and their families. Unfortunately for the workers, most of these companies had the support and backing from political figures and were supported at a higher level than workers were with the unions of the times.

As we turn our attention to how Industrial Paternalism affects unions today, there are a few different ways one can look at the debate. First, many of the struggles and ensuing violence that resulted from the uprising of unions in the early 1900’s has, frankly, left a bad taste in our mouths. While reviewing the situations similar to those stated above, it is obvious to me that the unions were fighting with good intentions. However, the violence that was used in many of these situations has, over time, been directly tied to the unions.

In other words, many people see unions as inciting violence and corruption to get the things that they want. While it is obvious to me that the cases I’ve reviewed in this paper, the company seemed to be more at fault that the unions, the violence and negativity has been linked in our minds as being caused by the union uprising and, therefore, has left people today with a negative view on unions. Another element that can be taken into consideration with companies towns in today’s society is the vulnerability of a town relying on one industry to sustain them.

An obvious example of this would be the city of Detroit, Michigan. Once the center of the automobile industry, Detroit has seen tough times with the decline of the industry and globalization. While experts say that Detroit and the automobile industry are making a comeback, this illustrates how some company towns that still exist today can suffer if they rely upon one industry to sustain them. In conclusion, the history of company towns is vast and complicated. There are many ways to view company towns as both a positive and negative aspect in the history of unions and labor relations as a whole.

History tends to help form views on certain things in our lives and through learning about the history of Industrial Paternalism and company towns, my mind has opened to the need for unions throughout history and their importance to the Labor Movement. I leave you with the complete lyrics to the song that started this paper, as it fully encompasses the battles of miners of the time and leaves a chilling impression of what these important people in history had to go through to earn a days’ wages. Sixteen Tons – by Tennessee Ernest Ford Some people say a man is made outta mud A poor man’s made outta muscle and blood

Muscle and blood and skin and bones A mind that’s a-weak and a back that’s strong You load sixteen tons, what do you get Another day older and deeper in debt Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go I owe my soul to the company store I was born one mornin’ when the sun didn’t shine I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal And the straw boss said “Well, a-bless my soul” You load sixteen tons, what do you get Another day older and deeper in debt Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go I owe my soul to the company store I was born one mornin’, it was drizzlin’ rain

Fightin’ and trouble are my middle name I was raised in the canebrake by an ol’ mama lion Cain’t no-a high-toned woman make me walk the line You load sixteen tons, what do you get Another day older and deeper in debt Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go I owe my soul to the company store If you see me comin’, better step aside A lotta men didn’t, a lotta men died One fist of iron, the other of steel If the right one don’t a-get you Then the left one will You load sixteen tons, what do you get Another day older and deeper in debt Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go I owe my soul to the company store.