Former site of Superior Mine No. 4 in Wilsonville, IL. On May 21, 1937, 540 PMA miners called an underground sit-down strike.
The week-long strike was called to protect “share of time” provisions. The striking miners demanded the right to protect one another from the loss of jobs caused by mechanization. If full-time workers could share their hours, layoffs could be prevented and miners could at least earn sustenance wages.
Bill Campion, a member of the strike committee proclaimed, “We demand the right to share our poverty with our fellow workers.”