On This Day in Working Class History

On 23 May 2020, thousands of miners at the Tenke Fungurume mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo went on strike.
The workers at the majority-Chinese owned firm were demanding the payment of a special allowance of $600 to each of 6000 workers who had been quarantined for two months during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite being quarantined, the workers had to continue to go to work.
After a one-day strike, employers agreed to pay the allowance.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/12754/tenke-fungurume-miners-strike

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On this day, 22 May 1992 the Royal Oak Mines company locked out members of the Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers (CASAW) union at its Giant Mine in Yellowknife, Canada. CASAW members had been due to go on strike the following day after rejecting a contract which would tie their pay to fluctuations in the price of gold.
Management swiftly escalated tensions by hiring scab replacement workers, which had not been done in a mining dispute in Canada in over 50 years. The company brought scabs in from across Canada, sometimes using helicopters to bring them across picket lines. The company also hired Pinkerton private detectives and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to intimidate strikers.
Strikers fought back by throwing rocks at mine buildings, and on one occasion raiding the premises and breaking windows, for which Royal Oak sacked 38 strikers. As time dragged on, a handful of CASAW members began to cross picket lines and return to work themselves.
On September 18, a bomb exploded in the mine next to a rail line, killing nine scabs. After a 13 month criminal investigation, it transpired that the bomb was planted by a striking CASAW member, Roger Warren, who confessed to the crime but stated his intention was to scare the scabs and embarrass the company.
The Canada Labor Relations Board then ordered an end to the strike and lockout in November 1993, and CASAW members voted overwhelmingly to accept a contract very similar to the one they had previously rejected. 130 of the strikers then returned to work at the mine.
Warren was later imprisoned, until being granted April in 2014. Two other strikers were imprisoned for other acts of sabotage at the mine for sentences of 2 1/2 and three years respectively.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7869/giant-mine-lockout

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On this day, 21 May 1913, a bomb exploded at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, Scotland, set by suffragettes. The blast caused no casualties, although some blood was found at the scene, presumably from the perpetrator, but it did crack the masonry of the west tower, damage the floor and break some windows. The Dalkeith Advertiser reported the following day: 'The perpetrators left behind them a ladies’ handbag of the kind used for shopping. It contained a few currant biscuits wrapped in paper, a couple of safety pins, and in the grounds were found two pieces of paper. On one of them was written in ink “How beggarly appears argument before defiant deed. Votes for women.”'
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9413/royal-observatory-bombed

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On this day, 20 May 1963, 1350 Black workers at the Havelock mine in what is now Eswatini walked out on strike. They were demanding a nearly quadrupling of their minimum pay, as well as the dismissal of several managers, and better housing, sanitation and food. All 150 white workers at the facility scabbed on the strike and kept working.
The Swazi King sent a telegram to the workers condemning the strike, but they ignored him. 12 workers were arrested, but the strike continued and other workers also walked out in support of the miners, including workers at the Ubombo sugar estate and the Peak Timber mill.
The King then met with strikers personally and ordered them back to work, but again they refused. Eventually, a battalion of British troops was brought in at 3 AM on June 7, who set up roadblocks and surrounded picket lines around the mine. They questioned over 1000 miners individually, after which all except 153 returned to work.
British troops then helped local police round up all the remaining strikers who were charged with various crimes including being on strike illegally, and 91 workers convicted.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/12556/havelock-miners-strike

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On this day, 19 May 1920, a shootout took place in the town of Matewan, West Virginia between striking miners and the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, who had arrived in town to evict miners’ families from their mountain encampment, in what would become known as the infamous Battle of Matewan. 
What made the situation in Matewan so unique was that the sheriff, Sid Hatfield (pictured, left), supported the miners rather than the coal companies. So the detectives brought along a fake warrant for the arrest of Hatfield, which he refused to respect, and shooting broke out. Seven Baldwin-Felts detectives were killed, including two of the Felts brothers themselves, as were two miners – Bob Mullins, and Tot Tinsley, an unarmed bystander – as well as the mayor Cabell Testermen. 
Hatfield and 22 other people, mostly miners, were subsequently arrested and put on trial for murder in what was at that time the lengthy murder trial in West Virginia history. But they were all eventually acquitted by a pro-union jury.
Having been unable to secure a conviction, Baldwin-Felts agents would later murder Hatfield alongside his deputy, Ed Chambers, on the steps of a nearby courthouse. None of the killers were convicted of any crime. 
More info in our podcast episodes 57-58 about the WV mine wars: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e57-west-virginia-mine-wars-1902-1922/
We have also published a graphic novel about this conflict, and we have other books and merchandise commemorating available in our online store: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/all/west-virginia-mine-wars

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.
See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
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If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History