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John L. Lewis Discloses What Miners Actually Earned in the 1920s

In an interview given on September 4, 1925, John L. Lewis, International President of the United Mine Workers of America, commented on a report that anthracite mine workers earned an average of $1,936 a year. Statements from the interview were printed in the Lykens Standard, September 4, 1925.

For the purposes of comparison, $1,936 had the same purchasing power as about $35,707 today. [See: U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Inflation Calculator].

John L. Lewis‘ statements:

Someone is deliberately attempting to fool the public with the statement that anthracite mine workers earn an average of $1,936 a year.  I cannot understand why newspapers print such a statement when it is notoriously untrue.

The United States Coal Commission spent $600,000 in making an investigation of the coal industry taking the year 1921 as the year to be investigagted.  The Commission found no such average wages as $1,936.  The Commission said in its report that oujt of a total of 45,678 outside men employed at the anthracite mines, approximately 22,000 earned less than $1,000, 43,822 earned less tha $2000, and only 1856 earned more than $2,000.  The men who earned from $1,000 to $2,000 had to work from 251 to 396 days in the year.  The men who earned more than $2,000 had to work as much as 470 eight-hour days in the year.

Contract miners are the highest skilled and highest paid of all anthracite workers.  The commission said in its report that contract miners averaged $1,700 a year.  From this amout there must be deducted over $200 a year which the contract miner must pay out for tools, powder and supplies with which t do his work.

Thirty thousand out of 63,279 contract miners earned less than $800 for the year.

Out of 76,017 contract miners’ laborers, there were 68,895 who earned less than $1,000, and 5,004 less than $1,500.  Only 247 men out of the 76,017 earned above $2,000.

Contract loaders who worked full time earned less than $1,500.

Among the blacksmiths, 38.9 percent earned less than $1,500 and worked as much as 261 days, while 39.4 percent worked as much as 330 days to earn between $1,500 and $2,000

Next take carpenters.  Fifty-six and seven tenths of all carpenters worked as much as 262 days and earned less than $1,500.  Only ten per cent earned more than $2,000 and they worked as much as 438 days in 365 days of the year.

Of the drivers, 89.5 percent worked as much as 297 days and earned less than $1,500.  And 53.6 percent earled less than $1,000.

There are thousands of laborers in the anthracite industry, and it costs just as much for a laborer to maintain his family as any other man.  Yet 91.3 percent of the laborers earned less than $1,500 by working as much as 293 days.  More that 64 percent earned less than $1,000.

I might go on down the line and show similar earnings for all of the various classes of employees, but what’s the use?  I have quoted enough figures to show that it is utterly impossible for the anthracite mine workers to earn an average of $1,936, even by adding the 10 percent increase of two years ago.

____________________________________

News article from Newspapers.com.

Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.

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