President Theodore Roosevelt initially invited the coal miners' union representatives and the mine owners to meet to settle the Coal Strike of 1902 because the nation needed coal to provide heat in the coming winter. When the two sides refused to negotiate, he threatened to use soldiers to man the mines during the strike, and the loss of money for both sides brought them back to negotiations. The coal miners knew they would lose wages while the soldiers were operating the mines, and the coal mine owners would also not make any money, and so they agreed to accept the results of an arbitration commission.
