Scrip
Company scrip was a credit against the accrued wages of employees. In the United States, where everything in a mining camp was run, created and owned by a company, scrip provided the worker with credit when their wages had been depleted. These remote locations were cash poor. Workers had very little choice but to purchase meals and goods at a company store. In this way, the company could place enormous markups on goods in a company store, making workers completely dependent on the company, thus enforcing their “loyalty” to the company.
Scrip used by Highsplint Coal Company
May 26th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Neat! I’ve heard about ‘company scrip’ my whole life-but never seen it before.