Nick Brisini has written this piece on the great Cassandra coal strike in 1932.
The battle for human rights in the Appalachian coal fields had a long history and, if studied, has a lot of lessons for workers today. One strike, barely known, was the great Cassandra coal strike of 1932. It was a yearlong battle between the miners and coal bosses of the Hughes Coal Company at the Benscreek No. 2 mine. Cassandra is a small coal town located between Lilly and Portage, PA and is a short distance from Johnstown.
It started with the bosses of the Benscreek #2 mine laying off an entire shift. The miners had nowhere to turn. The country was in the Great Depression with no jobs for these workers. They feared for the future and were worried about the well being of their families.
The miners who were still employed approached the coal bosses and requested, in an act of solidarity, asked that the work be shared between themselves and the laid off miners. This way everyone would have a job.
Viewing this as an attempt by miners to call the shots, the coal bosses refused to budge. Nobody, they insisted, especially the miners, were going to dictate to the bosses who would and would not work in their mines.
At this point both the working and laid off miners were enraged. A strike was announced and would last for more than one year. The miners received support from the community at large.
Food and other items were distributed to the miners and their families. It was all out war between the miners and the bosses to determine who would decide the fate of the mine.
Leftists had called for the workers control of the mills and mines. The Cassandra strike was a textbook example of the attempt to control one aspect of the coal industry (who will work).
According to the Portage area Historical Society, a bomb struck the home of the boss of the coal company. No one was hurt. Strike breakers were brought in and their hotel was bombed. Again no one was hurt. In the end the miners lost their jobs.
The miners did not win but this was the Great Depression. These miners had raged against the dying of the light. Later the United Mine Workers adopted their nonviolent tactics carrying out unionization efforts.