Strikers Go To New York

After the settlement of the national strike, Windber and Somerset County miners pioneered in new methods of gaining public support for their ongoing strike for union. By far, the most creative and innovative action taken by Windber-area miners was an initiative that took a delegation of them to New York City in September and October, 1922. They went there to petition the mayor and to ask the city's top financial administrative body, the Board of Estimate, for assistance. New York City--and its people--had a direct financial, if no other, interest in what was happening in Windber because the city purchased coal for its subways from a private company, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), on whose board of directors E. J. Berwind sat. In what was an obvious conflict of interest, Berwind used his influence on the IRT to get the city to buy its coal directly from his privately-owned mines at the prices he determined. New York City subways ran on Windber coal!

Windber miners testified before the Board of Estimate on September 26 about their many grievances and the autocratic conditions under which they labored and lived. Because of the city's financial interest, however, they stressed that, before the strike, the city was paying Berwind-White $7.35 per ton of coal for the subways, while Berwind-White was paying its own miners only $1.28 for each ton of coal they mined. Then, in 1922, at the beginning of the strike, the Berwinds abruptly raised the city's price for coal to $8.35 per ton, as they simultaneously reduced their miners' wages to $1.01 for each ton. The miners specifically asked for the city's help in getting E. J. Berwind, who adamantly refused to meet his own miners, to confer with them. They also asked the city to appoint a committee to investigate their laboring conditions.

Before long, Berwind reneged on a publicly-made promise that he'd arrange a meeting with his miners but only in Windber. Windber miners then returned to New York to picket the company's corporate offices, as the following photo shows.

Windber miners picketing at Berwind-White Company offices, New York City, September 1922. Courtesy, Powers Hapgood Papers, Manuscripts Department, Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.

On October 26, 1922, Mayor John Hylan appointed a committee of prominent New York officials to investigate conditions in Windber and make recommendations. The committee members were: David Hirshfield, Commissioner of Accounts, Chairman; Mrs. Louis R. Welzmiller, Deputy Commissioner of Public Markets; John Lehman, Assistant Corporation Counsel; Amos T. Smith, Mechanical Engineer, of the office of the Secretary of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment; Thomas F. Moran, Examiner of the Bureau of Investigations, Department of Finance.

This committee of New York officials did come to Windber, held hearings, collected documents, took photos, and gathered evidence. The following excerpts are from its official report, which was published in January 1923.

[New York City Committee's Report]