Fire and brimstone : the North Butte mining disaster of 1917 by Punke Michael

Author:Punke, Michael
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: North Butte Mining Company, Mine fires, Granite Mountain Speculator Mine Disaster, Mont., 1917, Copper mines and mining
Publisher: New York : Hyperion
Published: 2006-01-09T05:00:00+00:00

Fire and Brimstone

In addition to recognition of the new union and improved safety measures, the miners also demanded an increase in wages: "A minimum wage of $6.00 per day for all men employed underground regardless of the price of copper." The prevailing wage at the time was $4.75 per day, a sliding scale rate that automatically decreased if the price of copper went down, and increased—at least in theory—if the price went higher.

The 1917 rate of $4.75 was greater—by 35 percent—than wages paid to miners in 1913. The war in Europe, though, had caused a dramatic rise in inflation. "Wages," claimed the miners, "have not increased nearly in proportion to the cost of living." 16

Anaconda immediately labeled the wage demand "exorbitant." 17 By several more objective sources, however, it appears that the miners' claims about the effects of inflation were valid. According to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, for example, "the wage earner has been receiving higher wages than in former years, but it is also shown that many of the necessities have increased out of all proportions." 18

Between 1914 and 1918, retail food prices increased 59 percent and for "commodities, taken as a whole," the inflation rate was 100 percent. Increased wartime demand, meanwhile, had created a period of high profitability for the copper industry. "[T]he workman," stated the Department of Labor and Industry, "feels that the profits of his employer have greatly increased and that he is entitled to a proportionate advance in wages so that his earnings may have the same purchasing power as formerly." 19 Adding to pressure on Butte miners, according to a report from B.K. Wheeler to the Department of Justice, was the fact that the "cost of living in Butte has increased far in excess of the general increase which is prevalent throughout the country." 20

Aside from the corrosive effects of inflation, miners hated the sliding scale rates. Part of this resentment, no doubt, reflected the failure

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