| The violence in the coal fields of Colorado in
1914-1915 caused national debate about what to do about
organized labor and working conditions in the mines and
factories. With the advent of the First World War in
1917, increased industrial activity and labor shortages
brought rapid expansion of the unions. The National War
Labor Board was created to promote labor-management
cooperation and to aid in the settlement of disputes.
This was the first time that a federal labor agency had
set forth the right of the workers to organize into
unions. They encouraged collective bargaining and
legitimized the election of men to represent the unions
in the bargaining process.
The following report was written by members of the
Colorado Coal Commission and sent to President Woodrow
Wilson and Congress in 1916 and discusses the reforms
made in Colorado following the Ludlow incident. |
