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It has been 95 years since Romania’s most tragic miners’ protest, the August 1929 miners’ strike, which saw clashes between miners and repressive forces, leaving dozens dead and injured.
Memorial to the miners of Le Penne. Photo: Daniel Gussa. Truth
The miners’ strike of 1929 went down in Romanian history as one of the bloodiest labor conflicts of the 20th century. The protest movement by the locals of Valea Nine was brutally suppressed, with the violence leaving more than 20 dead and more than 150 injured.
On August 5, 1929, a miners’ strike broke out in the town of Lupeni, Hunedoara, due to dissatisfaction with working conditions. The miners demanded that mine management change the working time to eight hours and increase the wages of workers working underground and in the pit by 40%.
They also demanded that they be provided with boots and proper working equipment and that their children no longer have to work underground.
“The thirty thousand slaves from the Nine Mine of Valea who dig in the ground do not want to endure the pain any longer. Before long they will fight to conquer their own territory. The united fighting spirit of the slaves of the Nine Mine of Valea will make the entire bourgeoisie and the Social Democratic Party tremble. The working class must know that only through struggle can they put forward their demands. Otherwise there is no way.This is the preface to the labor-capital conflict of August 1929, according to the publication Viaţa Muncitoare, published in March 1929.
Miners occupied the power plant
August 5, 1929 Miners at the Lupeni Mine, Ileana, Victoria, Aurelia, Stefan and Carolina refused to go underground and headed to the center of Lupeni. Nearly 4,000 people occupied the city center and the local power plant.
Stefan from Lupeni. Photo: Daniel Guşă
“The strikers came mainly from Victoria and Elena mines, and instead of starting work at those sites, they went to Carolina and Stefan mines, where workers did not join the strike. They forced the workers to stand with them. Only 200 workers were left in all the mines, in places where there were dangers of fire and gas.e”, informed Dimineata newspaper on August 8, 1929.
The prefect of Hunedoara went to the Valley of Nine Thunders, but his attempt to appease the ghosts failed. Overnight, the city remained in darkness due to the shutdown of the factory, but mine employees were reluctant to leave the factory despite summons from the First Public Prosecutor’s Authority of Hunedoara. More than 70 gendarmes, 160 border guards and more than 500 soldiers from Oraşti were sent to Lupeni.
Soldiers suppress protests with bullets
The next day, the factory was surrounded by troops and the workers were ordered to leave. People refused and retaliated by throwing stones. Soldiers opened fire, killing at least 20 workers. More than 150 others were injured, some of whom managed to flee the bullets and seek safety in the forests surrounding the city.
“In Lupeni, instead of quelling the riot, a manhunt was launched. The authorities drank until daybreak and gave the soldiers alcohol. After the bugle was blown, a drunken officer fired the first shot. The miners surrounded themselves and were massacred, not giving them a chance to escape, and when they succeeded in escaping, the border guards, drunk and bloody, chased them.Writer Panait Istrati said in an article dedicated to the August 1929 conflict.
Some publications of the time offer alternative versions of the Lupeni tragedy. The Curentul newspaper reported that soldiers trying to rescue the factory were ordered not to shoot at the miners.
“All soldiers were ordered to put up obstacles on their weapons. The gendarmes, accustomed to demonstrations, though badly hit and many wounded, did not fire and began to retreat. The workers, encouraged by this incident and knowing that the soldiers had orders not to fire, also began to throw stones at the border guards. A huge stone hit one border guard hard on the head, causing him to fall. Before he could be stopped, he stood up and fired all his bullets into the crowd. This was like a signal to the other border guards, who began to fire in volleys, some in the air, some in the middle. The officers and authorities jumped among the soldiers, shouted at them to stop firing, and took the weapons from their hands, but to no avail. Although the trumpet for a cease-fire had been sounded, the battered soldiers continued to follow the workers. Many of the dead and wounded had bayonet wounds.”, Curentul newspaper reported.
Dozens of people were reported missing, with the bodies of some of them later found in woods near the city in the days following.
“The workers’ fear was frenzied. Some of the wounded fled and hid in fields and forests, only to bleed to death. Others died at home and had to seek medical help.”, the Curentul newspaper also pointed out.
The strike received a response in the international media.
For the next few days, the Jiuling Valley remained under siege, with hundreds of soldiers sent in to intimidate the locals.
Dozens of miners were arrested for taking part in the strike. The August 1929 miners’ strike was widely covered in the international media.
“After burying the victims, police, led by drummers, read out orders for martial law after 8pm, ordering everyone to stay indoors until then, despite the sweltering night. All hotels and restaurants, including those in the resort, were closed and the sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited until further notice. Soldiers were reportedly searching the woods for bodies, as many of the seriously wounded had fled in panic after the firing. No other bodies have been found, but 25 miners are still missing from their homes. Arrests are continuing and troop trains are still arriving in the area.”, The New York Times, August 10, 1929.
In Lupeni (video), A monument to the miners who took part in the August 1929 strikeIt is one of the places where the victims of the tragic events that took place 95 years ago are commemorated every year.
By the end of this year, not only the 1929 strike, but also the mining industry will be history in Lupeni. The town’s coal mines are closing and will cease operations permanently in the coming months.
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