04/18/2026
Today in Southern Labor History, we remember the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike of 1912.
In the late 1800’s, coal miners organized across the coalfields of southern West Virginia to fight back against the coal barons who suppressed wages and allowed dangerous working conditions.
In 1912, the workers near Paint Creek and Cabin Creek coal fields walked off the job on strike. This would be the first shot fired in what would later be called, “The West Virginia Mine Wars.” Seeing the power of the initial striking workers, 7,500 more miners quickly joined.
The coal bosses, in a desperate attempt to crush the strike, hired mercenaries to forcibly evict the miners, built concrete fortifications armed with machine guns, threatened the families of strikers, and used violence to restrict movement across the region. However, the miners, displaying remarkable resilience, continued their fight, leading to a 13-month-long violent struggle.
The fighting between the miners and the company’s thugs paused briefly when then-West Virginia governor William Glasscock declared martial law and sent the National Guard. Instead of bringing a peaceful resolution, the National Guard simply helped break the strike.
Without any warrants, soldiers arrested 200 strikers, imprisoned them, and held military tribunals while the coal companies faced no consequences.
The history of unions in the United States is marked by many similar displays of violent authoritarianism – and that’s because unions mean power for working people and that power threatens the bosses who benefit from our exploitation. Organize and take your power back!
