The summer of 1917 was a tense one in the Bisbee area, particularly in Warren. The tension started as a labor dispute between the various mining companies and their employees. These events led to the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) becoming a powerful organization. The labor dispute escalated into armed vigilante action. The culmination of these events is one of the darkest episodes in American and Arizona history.
On June 24, 1917, the IWW sent a list of demands to the various mining companies on behalf of the employees of the mines. These demands included the following:
1) improved working conditions with increased safety, 2) An end to discrimination against foreign workers, 3) an end to discrimination against union laborers and 4) a flat wage instead of the sliding pay scale that was tied to market prices in which workers were paid more when prices were high and paid less when prices were low. As far as improved safety conditions went, the IWW wanted 2 men on each machine and a cassation of blasting while men were working in the area.
The managers of all of the mining companies in the Bisbee area rejected all of these demands, setting the stage for the Bisbee Deportation that began on July 12, 1917.
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