Casey Jones—the Union Scab

"Casey Jones—the Union Scab" is a song, written by labor figure Joe Hill in San Pedro, California, shortly after the first day of a nationwide walkout of 40,000 railway employees in the Illinois Central shopmen's strike of 1911.[1] It is a parody of the song "The Ballad of Casey Jones."

The song is not historically accurate: Casey Jones was an active, dues-paying member of two labor unions (the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers) that both paid out life insurance to his widow.[2][3]

The song was published in the Little Red Songbook in 1912.[1] The song was included in a 2006 album of American folk songs "Classic Labor Songs from Smithsonian Folkways" released by the Smithsonian Institution.[4]

Recordings of Joe Hill's lyrics exist by Utah Phillips, and by Pete Seeger; translations into foreign language include one in Russian, by Leonid Utyosov.[5]

Composition

Unlike other songs about Casey Jones, where Jones is portrayed as a folk hero comparable to Paul Bunyan,[6] Hill's parody challenges the character of the loyal worker.

Casey Jones, went to Hell a-flying,

"Casey Jones," the Devil said, "Oh fine!

Casey Jones, get busy shoveling sulphur–

That's what you get for scabbing on the S.P. line."

Joe Hill, Casey Jones, the Union Scab

In Hill's lyrics, the workers of the S.P. line (referring to the Southern Pacific Railroad) have called for a strike, but Casey Jones continues running his train, despite its state of disrepair. After ignoring the workers' pleas to join the strike, Jones' train runs off the track and into the river. In heaven Saint Peter learns Casey was the S.P. engineer who broke the strike, and hires him to replace striking angel musicians. In the final verse, the angel's union confronts Casey and throws him down to Hell.

A version of the song, collected from western miners, includes a verse in which the striking workers lay railroad ties on the track, causing Casey's demise.[7]

In satirizing the working-class hero, Hill critiqued the attempts by the Harriman and Illinois Central Railroad system to separate railroad workers by refusing to recognize the joint demands of nine separate craft unions.[1]

In Joe HIll's biography, author Gibbs M. Smith wrote "It was the 'Union Scab' Hill satirized in his 'Casey Jones,' referring no particular individual but to all union men who moved trains during the strike."[1]

Legacy

The lyrics of "Casey Jones–The Union Scab" were read out in court during the 1917 trial of eleven I.W.W. strikers in Australia.[8] The song's violent lyrics, despite their satirical nature, were used by the prosecution as evidence of union conspiracy.[8][9]

See also

English Wikisource has original text related to this article:

References

  1. ^ a b c d Smith, Gibbs M. (2009). Joe Hill. Gibbs Smith. p. 21. ISBN 9781423610106. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Water Valley Casey Jones Railroad Museum in Water Valley, Mississippi". Archived from the original on November 5, 2013.
  3. ^ "BLET 160th Anniversary: Legendary BLET Member Casey Jones | Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen". ble-t.org. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  4. ^ "Classic Labor Songs from Smithsonian Folkways". Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Institution. 2006. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  5. ^ Hwasong (2023-11-08). Кейзи Джонс - Casey Jones (Soviet Version of IWW Song). Retrieved 2025-11-08 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ Dew, Lee A. (1977). "The Locomotive Engineer: Folk Hero of the 19th Century". Studies in Popular Culture. 1 (1): 45–55. ISSN 0888-5753.
  7. ^ Greenway, John (1953). American folksongs of protest. Wellesley College Library. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press.
  8. ^ a b Mark Gregory (2015). "Joe Hill Centenary and IWW Songs in Australia". Labour History (109): 169. doi:10.5263/labourhistory.109.0169.
  9. ^ Wobblies of the World: A Global History of the IWW. Pluto Press. 2017. ISBN 978-0-7453-9959-1.
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