Miners strike of 1872
The miners' strike in the Ruhr area from June 16 to July 28, 1872 is considered to be one of the first mass strikes in German history.
prehistory
With the abolition of the principle of direction in Prussian mining by 1865, state control over labor relations was no longer available. The mine owners now determined working conditions, wages and working hours. The associated deterioration despite high corporate profits aroused the displeasure of the miners. In particular, the arbitrary extension of shift times led to protests.
As is customary from the times of the management principle, miners first turned to the Oberbergamt with submissions . When this did not change anything, 3350 miners from the Essen Revier signed a petition to the "chief miner" Wilhelm I. The government stated that it was no longer responsible.
This rejection showed that the old forms of lobbying were no longer sufficient. Against this background, the strike became a possible form of enforcing interests in the Ruhr mining industry . The first unsuccessful strike took place, partly supported by the ADAV , in 1868. After that, the party-affiliated miners and ironworkers in the Ruhr area no longer played a significant role. Instead, the Christian social movement gained a foothold.
course
Various miners' meetings were held in May and June 1872 to prepare for the strike. The aim was to achieve a wage increase of 25%, a reduction in the price of house heating and a limitation of working hours to eight hours. These demands came about in staff meetings. According to a custom from the time of the management, delegates were elected by the workforce, who formed a central committee. This submitted the demands to the entrepreneurs. The mine owners refused to negotiate with the miners , as in the future until the First World War .
This made the work stoppage inevitable. The strike was partly supported by the Catholic miners' associations and socially minded clergy. There was no union-like organization. The leadership was held by an elected strike committee. The miners behaved calmly and disciplined during the strike. They expressly rejected any party political influence. Around 21,000 miners from 40 mines, particularly in the areas of Essen , Gelsenkirchen , Oberhausen , Wattenscheid and Mülheim an der Ruhr, took part in the work stoppage . The entrepreneurs were united in the Association for Mining Interests in the Upper Mining District of Dortmund and were thus able to confront the strikers together. The authorities supported them in this. Without financial support, the situation of the strikers worsened. Participation in the strike subsided. As a result, the miners had to abandon the strike after about five weeks without success.
consequences
As a result, the mining association urged that the right of coalition introduced by the state only a few years ago be restricted. Those willing to work should also be protected in the event of strikes.
The united front of the employers raised the desire for union among the miners. A short time later the Rhenish-Westphalian Mineworkers Association was founded. This followed in its statutes those of the international trade unions in the environment of the SDAP . Some of these have been adapted to the specifics of mining. The organization could not take effect because the authorities refused to give their consent. It was only after the great miners' strike of 1889 that a union was formed .
literature
- Jürgen Reulecke : Rhineland-Westphalia from the 1850s to 1914: The dawn of modernity. In: Social and economic history of Rhineland and Westphalia. Cologne et al., 1995 p. 118.
- Klaus Tenfelde : The emergence of the German trade union movement. In: Ulrich Borsdorf (Hrsg.): History of the German trade unions. Cologne, 1987 p. 129 f.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ See collection of sources on the history of German social policy 1867 to 1914 , Section I: From the time when the Reich was founded to the Imperial Social Message (1867-1881) , Volume 4: Workers' Law , edited by Wolfgang Ayaß , Karl Heinz Nickel and Heidi Winter, Darmstadt 1997 , Pp. 298 f., 301, 308-312, 320.
- ^ Toni Pierenkemper: Trade and Industry in the 19th and 20th Century. Munich 2007, p. 85