how much did coal miners get paid in the 1980s
PRICES in FOREIGN COUNTRIES, WAGES -- GENERAL SOURCES (all occupations and worker types), WAGES in AIRPLANE and AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING, 1920s. The mine foreman was legally responsible for safety. Source: Cost of living and family expenditures in Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas. Source: U.S. Dept of Labor, Compares affordability of food and consumer goods from one year to the next and provides price. Mostly covers manufacturing industries (tobacco was prominent), but there is some data for women who worked in mercantile stores, 5-and10-cent stores, and in laundries. Every workingman was supposed to have his turn when it came to getting an empty coal car, because each collier deserved an equal opportunity to get his load to the weigh station. 5-6. Milk cost an average 33 per half gallon in 1920. A mail order catalog for the Fall/Winter season, 1920-1921. Source: BLS. Taken from the 1921 U.S. Department of Agriculture Yearbook, starting on page 804. Coal mining is a dangerous job requiring skill and judgment. Dresses, dresses (in color), coats, bonnets and coats, hats, shoes, girl's toys. The veteran miners, who prided themselves on their toughness, taught the youngest ones how to act like men, how to ignore the pain, and how to laugh away their fears. Typewriters, school supplies, office supplies, fountain pens, more fountain pens, books, drawing sets, home office furniture. Discussion covers the history of minimum wage legislation in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Canada, South Africa, Mexico, France, Norway, Argentina, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Uruguay, Hungary, Poland, Italy, and Rumania (Romania) up to 1928. Source: BLS, Shows the average daily wages of day laborers, farm hands, clerks, bookkeepers, government employees, and army members in Lithuania. See quartile, "Women in Alabama industries: a study of hours, wages and working conditions," Women's Bureau Bulletin #34 (. Managers concentrated on business decisions, such as arranging transportation and selling their product. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review, July 1930. Source: BLS Bulletin no. Source: The cost of living among wage-earners, Cincinnati OH, pp. After a temporary escape to attend grammar school, it was the world he reentered in 1900 as an eighteen-year-old man willing and able to load coal for a miners pay. 613. Miners left their pits to fight the attempt of the Thatcher government to close the collieries, break the miners' union and the labour movement in general, and open the way to a free market economy in which deregulated financial capitalism would be set free by the Big Bang of 1986. This bibliography lists reports that show income, budgets, consumer expenditures, etc. Living room: Meal time was cold, cramped, and wet. Source: BLS, Shows wages of various industrial and agricultural gender, in both Romanian leu and contemporary U.S. dollars. Shows dollar amount and % of total budget spent on various categories of goods and services, broken out by urban/rural families. Click for more info about the kind of home a family earning less than $2,500 annually could buy in 1928. Lists single-unit prices for barbital, benzoyl peroxide, benzocaine, aspirin, quinoline, and more, showing proprietary and coined drug names. Issues of Telephone engineer & management detail rates for telephone service in many states. It is not yet available to read online; check your local library for a printed copy. In the late 1800s mining was rough physical labor. Published by the National Industrial Conference Board. Shows wages by occupation grouped by industries, with breakouts for males and females. Source: BLS, The explanation states: "real wage rates have been computed by the Statistical Office on the basis of the official German cost-of-living index. In 1900 almost 2 percent of Americans were coal miners. The average hourly pay for a Coal Mine Worker is $21.49. Tools and hardware: These figures are shown by occupation, sex, and region. Coal companies also recruited in Europe. Compares wage rates and hours of work for the WWI and WWII eras, focusing specifically on the manufacturing, mining, railroad, printing and maritime industries, as well as farm labor wages. Few words meant more to mine workers than manliness, a quality that connoted dignity, respectability, defiant egalitarianism, and patriarchal male supremacy, in the words of historian David Montgomery. Shows the average weekly wages for a variety of occupations and industries in New Zealand. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review, July 1930. Shows the average daily wages Greek workers were receiving in metal mines, lignite mines, smelting and refining plants, and quarries. Source: BLS. Data was originally published in the Industrial Bulletin of the State Department of Labor. Describes the labor policy of South Africa in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Shows wages and hours for union bricklayers, building laborers, carpenters, cement finishers,hod carriers, inside wiremen, painters, plasterers, plumbers, stonecutters and more. Occupations included are limited before 1916. Source: Compares 1922 to1940 wage rates for a variety of RR jobs, pp. Shows wages for common and semi-skilled workers in manufacturing and construction industries, in baking, agriculture, metal and printing trades. Source: Bulletin #269 of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, "Farm Family Living Among White Owner and Tenant Operators in Wake County," pages 24-28. Others opened large wooden doors just before speeding cars passed through. asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT as 89W detailed information as may be readily available showing the numbers and groupings of employees in the coal mines working at the surface and face, respectively, whose basic rates of pay on 1st November 1973 were below the national average wage of 42 per week ; and how far . Kanawha County coal seams were relatively thick, so men could often stand or just bend slightly, but some coal cutters had to work bent over all day in low coal. After sorting out the slate fragments and loading the car, the miner attached his brass check to the side of the car and pushed it out into the main tunnel, where mules or a small locomotive pulled the load out of the mine to the weigh station and then to the tipple, where the coal would be prepared and funneled into railroad cars. Dining room: Coal mine owners and superintendents rarely went underground. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review (July 1930). Compares average retail prices for drug-store items at independent stores and chain stores in Cincinnati and Washington DC. The struggle between workers and managers in the workplace played out vividly in the Pennsylvania coal mines. Covers New York City, New Jersey towns, Fall River MA, Cleveland, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco and Portland OR. Musical instruments: Tells cost of public transportation and railway fares as well. Source: BLS, Shows the average wage rates for 19 different occupations in Hamburg, Germany. Shows wage data by manufacturing categories for 1914, 1919, 1921, and 1923. Wages are shown in Belgian francs. From the Louisiana Department of Labor and Industrial Statistics Biennial Report for 1929-1930. On one hand, the miners discipline and death-defying courage made them ideal industrial soldiers; on the other hand, the qualities the men forged in underground combat with the elementsbravery, fraternal fealty, and group solidarityhardened them for aboveground combat with their employers. A paid subscription is required for full access. It may be necessary to read the chapters pertaining to the country, but you can find the actual minimum wages in the discussion. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review (June 1931), Shows the average hours and daily wages of various workers in quarries, sawmills, and many other industries throughout Virginia. By the 1940s, the United Mine Workers union had established better wages and somewhat safer conditions for miners, though a contentious relationship between workers and bosses persisted. Wages shown in 1930 US dollars. Appalachias traditionally small, locally owned mines started merging with larger energy firms in the 1960s, and by 1970 bituminous coal employment had dropped to 140,000 people from its 1923 peak of 740,000. for rural households in the U.S. and selected foreign countries. To view an issue of interest, select it from the list and click View. Also shows the averagecost to rent farm landor pastures by the acre, by county. (Click image for detail), Marie Concannon, Government Information Librarian Source: BLS, Shows the average retail prices of staple foodstuffs in Madrid, Spain. Wages are shown in Brazilian milreis. By 1850, approximately half of Kanawha Countys slaves worked in the salt industrymany mined coal to fuel the furnaces. Wages are shown in Spanish pesetas. At dawn, the workers reported to the payroll clerk in the company office, where they were handed numbered brass checks to attach to each coal car they loaded. Source: Median wages for butlers, chauffeurs, gardeners, furnace men and "house men" employed to work in private households in Philadelphia in the late 1920s. Data available for additional years inMissouri Farm Census by Counties, Missouri State Dept of Agriculture. Tomorrow night at 9pm PBSs American Experience will broadcast The Mine Wars, based on the book. Shows the average weekly hours and hourly wages for workers in the boot and shoe industry. Source: Table shows 52 years of time-series prices on individual foods, such as. Arthur Lewis. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review, Dec 1920 Scroll forward and back to see the various cities for which average food prices are available. Includes drug items, toilet items, and miscellaneous items. $15 - $30. Source: BLS Monthly labor review, Apr 1926, Shows the average retail prices of various foodstuffs throughout Switzerland. Three decades earlier a boy about the same agea newly emancipated slavehad worked in the same minefield. Lists ticket prices in NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland and eight more cities in NY, PA, OH and MA. Details the prices of appliances, furniture, and more household items on pp. Source: Shows the earnings per hour and week for sawmill workers over a 20 year period. From, Average monthly wages by state,with and without board. Coffee cost an average 47 per pound in 1920. Source: "Income of Lawyers, 1929-1948" in the August 1949 issue of. Boys younger than 12 often worked beside their fathers underground because, in many communities, it was the only paying job available. Shows typical pay in stock companies, dramas, musical comedies, vaudeville and screen, from extras to Hollywood stars. There was little prospect then that coal would be in demand as it is today or that the daily wage of miners would be multiplied 8 to 10 times by 1974. Wages are shown in Sweden kronor. how much did coal miners get paid in the 1950s. Source: Missouri State Dept of Agriculture. Source: BLS, Shows the earnings over different times for both government employees and manual workers in Hamburg. Covers Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Italy and Austria. Inside workers are further classified as (1) miners and laborers who cut and load coal onto conveyors or into mine cars, and (2) all other employees whose occupations relate to transportation, timbering, pumping, ventilation, and other general underground work. Data is broken out byoccupation, sex and district. Watch the rocks, theyre falling daily, by STATE Coal Miners Between 1880 and 1920, southern West Virginia's population grew from 93,000 to 446,000, due almost entirely to the coal industry. Source: Shows wages by occupation in Belfast, Cork, Glasgow, Dundee, Cardiff, London, Manchester and more. HEALTH CARE This risk increased enormously when inexperienced miners failed to undercut the coal before blasting and took the risk of shooting on the solid.. Workers focused on the pace of work, safety, and wages. Constitution Avenue, NW Describes the labor policy of Great Britain in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. 59-71. This was the world Frank Keeney entered as a boy. Montgomery Ward catalog shows prices of radios and radio supplies on 60+ pages. $180 - $5k. Source: BLS, Shows the average daily wages for workers in different occupations in French coal mines. Source: Shows the daily or monthly wages of 13 occupations in the treaty port. Iowa farm houses averaged around 8 rooms and had an average value of $3,043. The following is from James Greens The Devil is Here in These Hills. Source: BLS, Shows the average retail prices of food, clothing, and fuel prices in Shanghai. The miners called this unpaid labor company work.. Bathroom: Shows average public employee pay for each state. 412. Source: BLS. Check the, Shows the daily rate of Utah coal mining workers in a variety of jobs and occupations. Source: BLS. Miners would lie on their backs and use a pick to undercut the coal. Source: BLS. Immigrants in southern West Virginia comprised some 25 nationalities, including Italians, Hungarians, Poles, Austrians and Russians. Figures expressed in both foreign currency and in dollars. No. Coal diggers gave up some of their hard-earned pay to aid fellow miners when they were sick or injured, and when a mine exploded, they risked their lives to rescue the survivors trapped inside. Separate listings forinspectors, police superintendents, captains, sergeants, privates, etc. Some occupations covered include telephone operators, waitresses, hotel maids, chambermaids, elevator girls, laundry workers, retail clerks, and factory workers in the wood working industry. Wages shown in litas, and US dollars in parentheses. Source: This source is entirely about compensation of state and local government employees in New York. ), athletic gear, boxing, baseball, & tennis supplies, Prices of articles bought by farmers, 1909-1924, Prices paid by farmers for household items, 1910-1960, Clothing prices paid by farmers, 1910-1960, Women's clothing catalog - B. Altman & Co., Summer 1920. Shows average value of mortgaged homes, average debt remaining on the mortgages and average interest paid on mortgages annually, for 68 cities of 100,000 or more population. BookTok is Good, Actually: On the Undersung Joys of a Vast and Multifarious Platform, Seven Crime Novels Centered Around Musicians Out in 2023, Arlington Road: The Conspiracy Thriller That Foresaw the Spread of Far-Right Extremism in America, If you want to laugh, watch this Mitchell and Webb sketch about inviting Shaggy and Scooby Doo to a party, Uncrackable: 5 Films Featuring Devilishly Difficult Heists. Retreat mining was a risky business, but at least the miners engineered these cave-ins. . Retreat mining required the rapid destruction of these pillars, each containing tons of valuable coal, before the mine collapsed. Under these terms, a hard worker could earn $2.00 for ten to twelve hours of labor, if the work was steady. Before the days of electric cars, many boys served as mule drivers. The union was very important to miners. Average earnings by occupation and districts. Wages are shown in Spanish pesetas. Source: Lists prices of typical food items, housing expenses, clothing, fuel, light and more. Under other circumstances, mine tops fell without warning. Managements steam whistle now set the times. Source: U.S. Congressional Serial Set Vol. Source: U.S. BLS Bulletin, No. Shows data for Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroitand otheradditional cities on pages5-9. Retail prices for brick, cement, lumber of various kinds, window glass, shingles, nails and more. Covers the states of NH, VT, MA, CT, KY, SC, AL, MO, KS, IA and OH. During the first three decades of the 20th century, African Americans comprised about 25 percent of all southern West Virginia miners. After checking in, they climbed up a steep trail from the office to the portal of a mine. Lists wages paid to auto mechanics, office workers, window cleaners, barbers and hairdressers, bartenders in saloons, domestic servants, people working in social agencies, and more. Also tells pay for court clerks and marshals. Shows police department salaries for cities over 100,000 population. Wages shown in 1931 US dollars. Lists the price of bricks, flooring, framing lumber, rough boards, Portland cement, roofing material, house paint and more. Wage rates by occupation in foreign countries (sometimes just to a certain city in the foreign country), assembled for easy comparison to U.S. wage rates for the same occupations. Union wages by occupation and city, 1922-1928, Women's median wages by state and industry, 1910s-1920s, Cigarette packs - Average retail price by brand, 1929, Average college expenses and tuition by institution, 1928, Family budgets by income group, 1918-1930, https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages, Common labor - Average entrance wage rates, 1926-1934, Union wages by occupation and city, 1920-1921, Steam fitters' and sprinkler fitters' helpers, Structural-iron workers: finishers' helpers, Union wages by occupation and city, 1929-1930, Captains, masters, mates, pilots, and engineers, Maintenance-of-way employees: Gang foremen, Maintenance-of-way employees: Assistant gang foremen, Maintenance-of-way employees: Iron workers, Maintenance-of-way employees: Masons, bricklayers, and plasterers, Maintenance-of-way employees: Section laborers, Maintenance-of-way employees: Crossing and bridge flagmen and gatemen, War and postwar wages, prices, and hours, 1914-23 and 1939-44, Urban Negro weekly earnings by sex and occupational class, 1925, Negro wages by occupation - Chicago, 1920, Teacher salaries by race - North Carolina, 1922, Teacher salaries by race - Texas, 1925-1926, Accountants, auditors, bookkeepers, etc. Tables 6-13 show farm land prices by county in IA, MN, ND, ID, OH, KY, NC and TX. Wages for workers engaged in the manufacture of iron and steel goods, machinery, railway rolling stock, boilers, vehicles, aircraft, electrical apparatus, scientific instruments and more. During the 1910s and 1920s, minimum wage laws were adopted by a handful of states and generally applied only to women and children. Table shows average 1929 and 1931 weekly wages of full-time store employees, managers, and supervisors by kind and size of chain and location. Miners would lie on their backs and use a pick to undercut the coal. Industrial home work was most common in clothing manufacturing and tobacco industries (rolling cigars, etc.) Shows weekly wages for male and female workers in common industries such as textile manufacture and mining, and also more uncommon like ice cream manufacture and hospitality services. Income statistics of full time professional women were published in study by the Association of Business and Professional Women. $30.30. Source: Monthly price list for Ralph's Grocery Company, which sold only in the Los Angeles area. Source: American Druggist, January 1923 issue. Shows the average daily wages of various occupations in Athens and Piraeus. Source: BLS, Shows the retail prices of food and commodities in various cities throughout south Manchuria. Shows pay tables based on years of service,for Army and Navygenerals, admirals, colonels, lieutenants, captains, ensigns, etc. Teacher salaries for. The correct use of explosives depended on the miners skill and knowledge of how to drill, how much powder to use, and how to damp a charge properly. Report published in 1925 mainly covers wages in manufacturing industries. Wages are shown in both Hungarian gold crowns and contemporary U.S. dollars. Prices are shown in either contemporary US dollars or Chinese coppers. University of Missouri, Columbia Boy's: Ukrainian immigrant Nick Gurski began working in the Boone County coal mines in the 1920s. Full chapter extends from pp. His salary was paid entirely by coal companies. It also summarizes the years from 1907-1922. Between 12th and 14th Streets by SEX Coal mining wages - Illinois, 1920. Includes clam, lobster, oyster industries and more. Source: Report of the Salary survey commission to the Pennsylvania General assembly, 1929. Wages are listed in Mexican currency with exchange rate for calculating amounts in U.S. dollars. It provided a $1.20-a- day wage increase effective Jan, and an increase of 80 cents a day beginning April 1, 1959. MORE PRICES in the U.S. The pit closures the miners had fought so hard to prevent began in earnest. For example, the 1920 volume gives rates in Ohio and Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana, and more. Wages are shown in Dutch guilder. Includes many brand names. Work clothes, work shirts, dress shirts, dress pants, trousers, vests, suits, dress gloves, overcoats, winter coats, fur caps and collars, neck ties, belts and suspenders, caps and hats, nightwear, socks, shoes, boots, pocket knives, pocket watches, toupes, razors, smoking pipes. Source: Lists minimum and maximum daily wages for male and female workers. And your eye upon the scale! Shows prices for articles of clothing sold in 35 retailer shops in twelve cities. "75 Years of American Finance: A Graphic Presentation 1861-1935" Stealing another mans coal was considered a terrible crime. A thief could commit this offense easily, simply by removing one miners brass check from his coal car and replacing it with his own; but the miners often detected this kind of trickery and banded together to demand the thiefs termination. Study showed how much a family of five would need to live in Washington DC in 1920. Source: BLS, Shows the hourly wages for men and women in Finnish unions. School and office supplies: Hourly employees were bound to the ten-hour day, but the coal loaders, or tonnage men, often worked fewer hours and sometimes exercised the right to leave the mine without permission. Table 41 in this source shows the average salary for all teachers in elementary and secondary schools in New York state, not including NYC. Source: BLS, Shows the daily wages of masons, carpenters, stonecutters, painters, shoemakers, and tailors in each of the provincial capitals of Spain. Source: U.S. Dept of Agriculture. One task was to test for the build-up of flammable methane gas. Wages on pages34-40. Source: Covers elementary schools and junior high schools in American cities with populations of 2,500 or more. Other enslaved African Americans escaped from the salt works to Ohio, a free state only 60 miles away. Managers liked immigrants because they worked for low wages. Source: U.S. Congressional Serial Set vol. Jump directly to prices for: meats and eggs, butter, cheese, milk, bread and flour, corn meal, rice, potatoes, granulated sugar, coffee and tea, onions, navy beans, prunes, raisins, canned salmon, evaporated milk, margarine, lard, oats, corn flakes, wheat cereal, macaroni, canned baked beans, canned corn, canned peas, canned tomatoes, bananas, oranges, and more. Frank Keeney wanted to be a first-class tonnage man because he needed to support his widowed mother and two sisters, along with his new wife, a fair teenager named Bessie Meadows, an Eskdale girl who wanted to become a schoolteacher. 467. Lists annual pay for individuals occupying administrative and supervisory positions in the executive and judicial branches. There is also a table showing, Shows the value of multiple currencies in US dollars in the years of. Includes the states of RI, NJ, OH, DE, OK, MO, GA, TN, AR, KY, SC, AL and MS. Wages are shown in French francs. The workday ended at 5:30 in the evening when the sunlight had already faded over the mountains. Furniture, bookcases, carpets and rugs, curtains, hanging lamps, lightbulbs, table and floor lamps, clocks. Source: U.S. BLS Bulletin #682, chapter 9: "Monthly earnings of professional engineers," pp. Red Ash mine was also the location of a disaster in 1900, which killed forty-six miners. The legislature rejected all proposals for reform, however. After the Civil War, industrialization meant a nearly limitless demand for anthracite and bituminous coal, and hundreds of thousands of new jobs spurred a population boom in the region, which stretches from western New York state to Alabama. Shows the wages of Japanese mining workers by gender and age. An increase in annual vacation pay was also stipulated.Wage Chronology: Bituminous . Describes the labor policy of New Zealand in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Source: Teachers' salaries and salary trends in 1923. See also "C" tab above for carpenters, cement workers, etc. Frank Keeney left no account of how he felt the day he entered the mine portal, but one imagines the dread that might have accompanied a ten-year-old boys first trip into the hole. NOTE: Forhouseholdincome data for 1929, we recommend a1934 Brookings Institution report titled America's Capacity to Consume. Mentions the wages paid to both skilled and unskilled workers in francs. Shows the hourly and weekly wages for 12 principal industries throughout Germany. 8836. Source: Hotel rates can often be found within the advertisements throughout the pages of the. Report published in 1923 gives wages for Arkansas women by occupation and race. West Virginias mine safety laws were the weakest in the nation. This was the room and pillar method of mining common in the Appalachian bituminous coalfields. Safety sign in eight languages, about 1910. Careless miners always fail. Shows the hourly, daily, and biannual earnings of different occupations in the Missouri coal industry between 1890-1922. In the late 1800s mining was rough physical labor. When he lit the fuse, the lead miner hollered, Fire in the hole, and scuttled out of the room with his buddy. Shows salaries for teachers ofkindergarten, elementary school, junior high, high school, vocational school, college, and normal schools (teacher training academies). As the men removed one pillar after another, the wooden posts used to support the mine top would be strained as the roof started getting heavy. The wood would then creak and groan and then splinter as the miners heard the roof working above their heads and planned their retreat accordingly. Shows average wages (with and without board) by province. Read more Employment in coal mining industry in the United Kingdom (UK) 1920-2021 . The carpenters, mechanics, mule skinners, and other mine employees, who enjoyed no such latitude, were known by pit-face miners as company men. By contrast, the pit-face miners saw themselves as autonomous workmen who labored for themselves as well as for the company. Government Documents Department, Ellis Library Source: Shows the weekly wages of various occupations in Vienna. Regardless of what their state government might or might not do to protect them, the miners of West Virginia had to rely on themselves and their buddies, rather than on company fire bosses and state mine inspectors, whose numbers were few and whose visits were infrequent. Source: BLS, Shows the retail prices of foodstuffs and other staple goods in the Mexican capital. Includes breakouts by state, source of income, and more. These were the underground attitudes Frank Keeney absorbed as he entered manhood as a coal miner. Owners claimed property rights and managerial entitlements over the workplace. In the US, coal mining is a shrinking industry. Data gathered by the National Industrial Conference Board using foreign government sources. Phone (573) 882-0748. Wages are shown in Spanish pesetas.