Grand Rapids (MI) Press
May 7, 1903
page 10

FIVE THOUSAND ARE OUT

Bedford, Indiana, is Crippled by a Strike of Quarry Men

Indianapolis, May 7 – Five thousand union workmen are on strike in Bedford. The strikers include planers, saw operators and engineers in the cutting departments and the quarry men. They seek to have their wages equalized at all the quarries.

Iowa City (IA) Iowa Citizen
May 22, 1903
page 1

STRIKE STILL ON

The Report That the Strike at Bedford Quarries Has Been Settled is Denied by Rowson & Son of This City.

The work of the new building has progressed rapidly up to the first of May but the strike in the Bedford quarries in Indiana has held back the work since that time. The report published in a local newspaper was denied today by one of the bosses at the new buildings. He stated that Rowson & Son had received only two carloads of stone this month and that they had a letter from the quarry company to the effect that the strike was still on and that there was no chance for a settlement in the near future. The foreman told the reporter that if the stone is not delayed beyond the last of this month the buildings will be out on time but that there was a large quantity required to finish the building.

Bloomington (IN) Evening World
June 10, 1903
page 4

Harry White is moving his family here from Bedford and has secured a position in one of the quarries. It is said that in the past four weeks eight families have moved here from Bedford on account of the quarry strike there.

Kalamazoo (MI) Gazette
June 27, 1903
page 1

STONE QUARRIES STRIKE ENDS

Hundreds of Men Return to Work at Bedford, Indiana

Bedford, Indiana, June 26 – The great strike in the stone quarries that has been on since May 1 and which crippled the building industry in many cities, ended when hundreds of men returned to work this morning. The agreement is the scale made by the operators May 1 which increases the wages of many and lowers that of a few.

Bloomington (IN) Evening World
June 27, 1903
page 1

150 LABORERS

From the Bedford District Worked Here During Strike

One hundred and fifty men from the Bedford quarry district had secured work in the Bloomington quarries during the strike in Lawrence County and all of them left yesterday morning to take their old places at Bedford. It made a scarcity of workmen at some of the quarries here when the Bedford men left. The United States Stone Company had employed ten men from Bedford and other quarries had even more men from that district. Some of the laborers who came from Bedford are content with the wages they are receiving here and will not return to Bedford as they have moved their families to this district. Those returning to Bedford were nearly all single men.

All news items on this page were typed and donated by Randi Richardson,
except for the May 22 item which was provided by Chuck Carey.