A Workplace of Their Own: Rockefeller, Roche, and Labor's Battle Over Industrial Democracy

At the turn of the twentieth century Colorado's coalfields were the site of the nation's most violent labor conflicts.The remote mountains were home to mining companies that provided workers and their families with supervised housing, education, health care, and stores.Resisting corporate control, workers deployed armed bands against their employers, leading to a pitched battle between the groups for control over the workplace.Efforts to defuse the situation, including strategies that had worked in other industries, all failed.In this book, Maria E. Montoya examines two key figures who practiced rival Progressive reforms for resolving these industrial conflicts.John D. Rockefeller Jr. used paternalism and philanthropy to promote the scientific management of his workers' professional and personal lives.Josephine Roche advocated for worker autonomy, collective bargaining, and government-backed labor protections.Both honed their Progressive ideals in New York City and transported these id