Iuzovka Strike of 1887

a strike by miners at the Rutchen-kovo Mines of the French-owned Mining and Industrial Company near Iuzovka (now Donetsk) that took place from May 5 to May 10, 1887.

The immediate cause of the strike was an announcement that the traditional seasonal wage increase, which normally went into effect on May 1, was to be reduced. On May 5 about 1,500 miners struck, and the administration decided to fire them. In the early hours of May 7 the miners, armed with picks and carrying lit mine lamps, advanced on the mine office and then to the metallurgical plant of J. Hughes, where they were dispersed by an armed detachment of British foremen. About 50 strikers were arrested.

The vice-governor of Ekaterinoslav Province arrived in Iuzovka on May 8 accompanied by two infantry battalions. On his orders, 366 workers were arrested, of whom 62 were tried and sentenced to varying prison terms; many workers were fired, and several dozen were exiled. On May 11 work resumed under military supervision. The administration was forced, however, to increase the wage rates somewhat and to pay the workers monthly. The Iuzovka strike greatly influenced the working-class movement in southern Russia.