Erie's Deadly Molders Strike: Erie's First Labor Crisis
The year was 1912 and Erie had become a center of diversified manufacturing
with 11,087 industrial workers employed in foundry or machine shops. Nearly
5,000 of these workers – so-called "molders" – were involved in operating
and tending metal, molding, coremaking, and casting, and had become
growingly resentful of their employers over low wages and long hours. It all
came to a head on Nov. 17, when two union workers were ousted from Erie
Engine Works, which was owned by former Mayor William Hardwick. By the
time it ended 16 months later in February 1914, thousands of workers had
been on picket lines, violence had broken out numerous times, and private
police, state police, and even the Governor were involved. It also marked the
rise of the Communist Party in local politics. – Pat Cuneo, B.A.
Erie native Pat Cuneo, Director of Publications at the JES, is a former reporter, editor and columnist for the Erie Times-News. He is a 1978 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and studied journalism at Poynter Institute and the American Press Institute. He recorded his first "45" for Franklin Records in Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1979 ("Lost and Lonely"), performed as a singer-songwriter for the Alex Findley Band at regional folk festivals for more than a decade and was a member of the Nashville Songwriters Association from 1992 to 2007.
