The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American
labor union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the United States and Canada. Although its main focus has always been on workers and their rights, the UMW of today also advocates for better roads, schools, and
universal health care
Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized ar ...
.
By 2014, coal mining had largely shifted to open pit mines in Wyoming, and there were only 60,000 active coal miners. The UMW was left with 35,000 members, of whom 20,000 were coal miners, chiefly in underground mines in Kentucky and West Virginia. However it was responsible for pensions and medical benefits for 40,000 retired miners, and for 50,000 spouses and dependents.
The UMW was founded in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, on January 25, 1890, with the merger of two old labor groups, the
Knights of Labor
Knights of Labor (K of L), officially Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, and had chapters also ...
Trade Assembly No. 135 and the National Progressive Miners Union.
[The United Mine Workers of America: A Model of Industrial Solidarity? Edited by John M. Laslett 1994] Adopting the model of the
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
(AFL), the union was initially established as a three-pronged labor tool: to develop mine safety; to improve mine workers' independence from the mine owners and the
company store
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...
; and to provide miners with collective bargaining power.
After passage of the
National Recovery Act
The National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (NIRA) was a US labor law and consumer law passed by the 73rd US Congress to authorize the president to regulate industry for fair wages and prices that would stimulate economic recovery. It also e ...
in 1933 during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, organizers spread throughout the United States to organize all coal miners into labor unions. Under the powerful leadership of
John L. Lewis
John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960. A major player in the history of coal mining, he was the d ...
, the UMW broke with the American Federation of Labor and set up its own federation, the
CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations). Its organizers fanned out to organize major industries, including automobiles, steel, electrical equipment, rubber, paint and chemical, and fought a series of battles with the AFL. The UMW grew to 800,000 members and was an element in the
New Deal Coalition supporting Democratic President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
. Lewis broke with Roosevelt in 1940 and left the CIO, leaving the UMW increasingly isolated in the labor movement. During World War II the UMW was involved in a series of major strikes and threatened walkouts that angered public opinion and energized pro-business opponents. After the war, the UMW concentrated on gaining large increases in wages, medical services and retirement benefits for its shrinking membership, which was contending with changes in technology and declining mines in the East.
Coal mining
Development of the Union
The UMW was founded at
Columbus City Hall in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, on January 25, 1890, by the merger of two earlier groups, the
Knights of Labor
Knights of Labor (K of L), officially Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, and had chapters also ...
Trade Assembly No. 135 and the National Progressive Miners Union.
It was modeled after the
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
(AFL). The Union's emergence in the 1890s was the culmination of decades of effort to organize mine workers and people in adjacent occupations into a single, effective negotiating unit. At the time coal was one of the most highly sought natural resources, as it was widely used to heat homes and to power machines in industries. The coal mines were a competitive and dangerous place to work. With the owners imposing reduced wages on a regular basis,
in response to fluctuations in pricing, miners sought a group to stand up for their rights.
Early efforts
American Miners' Association
The first step in starting the union was the creation of the
American Miners' Association The American Miners' Association was the first national Trade union, union of miners in the United States. Formed in 1861 at a convention in St. Louis, Missouri, by English delegates from the bituminous fields of Illinois and Missouri, its short li ...
. Scholars credit this organization with the beginning of the labor movement in the United States.
The membership of the group grew rapidly. "Of an estimated 56,000 miners in 1865, John Hinchcliffe claimed 22,000 as members of the AMA.
In response, the mine owners sought to stop the AMA from becoming more powerful. Members of the AMA were fired and blacklisted from employment at other mines. After a short time the AMA began to decline, and eventually ceased operations.
Workingman's Benevolent Association
Another early labor union that arose in 1868 was the
Workingmen's Benevolent Association The Workingmen's Benevolent Association was a 19th-century labor organization that consisted mainly of coal miners. It was organized in 1868 in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, with John Siney as president. In 1869, the organization called a strike ...
. This union was distinguished as a labor union for workers mining
anthracite
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...
coal. The laborers formed the WBA to help improve pay and working conditions. The main reason for the success of this group was the president,
John Siney
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, who sought a way both to increase miners benefits while also helping the operators earn a profit. They chose to limit the production of anthracite to keep its price profitable. Because the efforts of the WBA benefited the operators, they did not object when the union wanted to take action in the mines; they welcomed the actions that would secure their profit. Because the operators trusted the WBA, they agreed to the first written contract between miners and operators.
As the union became more responsible in the operators' eyes, the union was given more freedoms. As a result, the health and spirits of the miners significantly improved.
The WBA could have been a very successful union had it not been for
Franklin B. Gowen
Franklin Benjamin Gowen (February 9, 1836 – December 13, 1889) served as president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad (commonly referred to as the Reading Railroad) in the 1870s/80s. He is identified with the undercover infiltration an ...
. In the 1870s Gowen owned the
Reading Railroad
The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail.
Commonly calle ...
, and bought several coal mines in the area. Because he owned the coal mines and controlled the means of transporting the coal, he was able to slowly destroy the labor union. He did everything in his power to produce the cheapest product and to ensure that non-union workers would benefit. As conditions for the miners of the WBA worsened, the union broke up and disappeared.
After the fall of the WBA, miners created many other small unions, including the Workingman's Protective Association (WPA) and the Miner's National Association (MNA). Although both groups had strong ideas and goals, they were unable to gain enough support and organization to succeed. The two unions did not last long, but provided greater support by the miners for a union which could withstand and help protect the workers' rights.
1870s
Although many labor unions were failing, two predominant unions arose that held promise to become strong and permanent advocates for the miners. The main problem during this time was the rivalry between the two groups. Because the National Trade Assembly #135, better known as the
Knights of Labor
Knights of Labor (K of L), officially Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, and had chapters also ...
, and the National Federation of Miners and Mine Laborers were so opposed to one another, they created problems for miners rather than solving key issues.
National Trade Assembly #135
![Knights of Labor Logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Knights_of_Labor_Logo.gif)
This union was more commonly known as the Knights of Labor and began around 1870 in the
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
area. The main problem with the Knights of Labor was its secrecy.
The members kept very private their affiliation and goals of the Knights of Labor. Because both miners and operators could become members, there was no commonality to unite the members. Also, the union did not see strikes as a means to attain rights. To many people of the time, a strike was the only way that they believed they would be heard.
The Knights of Labor tried to establish a strong and organized union, so they set up a system of local assemblies, or LAs. There were two main types of LAs, trade and mixed, with the trade LA being the most common. Although this system was put into place to create order, it did the opposite. Even though there were only two categories of LAs, there were many sub-divisions. For the most part it was impossible to tell how many trade and mixed LAs there were at a given time. Local assemblies began to arise and fall all around, and many members began to question whether or not the Knights of Labor was strong enough to fight for the most important issue of the time, achieving an eight-hour work day.
National Federation of Miners and Mine Laborers
This Union was formed by members of the Knights of Labor who realized that a secret and unified group would not turn into a successful union. The founders,
John McBride, Chris Evans and Daniel McLaughlin, believed that creating an eight-hour work day would not only be beneficial for workers, but also as a means to stop
overproduction
In economics, overproduction, oversupply, excess of supply or glut refers to excess of supply over demand of products being offered to the market. This leads to lower prices and/or unsold goods along with the possibility of unemployment.
The de ...
, which would in turn help operators. The union was able to get cooperation from operators because they explained that the miners wanted better conditions because they felt as if they were part of the mining industry and also wanted the company to grow. But in order for the company to grow, the workers must have better conditions so that their labor could improve and benefit the operators.
The union's first priority was to get a fair weighing system within the mines. At a conference between the operators and the union, the idea of a new system of scaling was agreed upon, but the system was never implemented. Because the union did not deliver what it had promised, it lost support and members.
1880s
During this time, the rivalry between the two unions increased and eventually led to the formation of the UMW. The first of many arguments arose after the 1886 joint conference. The Knights of Labor did not want the NTA #135 to be in control, so they went against a lot of their decisions. Also, because the Knights of Labor were not in attendance at the conference, they were not able to vote against actions which they thought detrimental to gain rights for workers. The conference passed resolutions requiring the Knights of Labor to give up their secrecy and publicize material about its members and locations. The National Federation held another conference in 1887 attended by both groups. But it was unsuccessful in gaining agreement by the groups as to the next actions to take. In 1888,
Samuel Gompers
Samuel Gompers (; January 27, 1850December 13, 1924) was a British-born American cigar maker, labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and served as the organization's ...
was elected as President of the National Federation of Miners, and
George Harris first vice president.
Throughout 1887-1888 many joint conferences were held to help iron out the problems that the two groups were having. Many leaders of each groups began questioning the morals of the other union. One leader,
William T. Lewis, thought there needed to be more unity within the union, and that competition for members between the two groups was not accomplishing anything. As a result of taking this position, he was replaced by John B. Rae as president of the NTA #135. This removal did not stop Lewis however; he got many people together who had been also thrown out of the Knights of Labor for trying to belong to both parties at once, along with the National Federation, and created the National Progressive Union of Miners and Mine Laborers (NPU).
Although the goal of the NPU in 1888 was ostensibly to create unity between the miners, it instead drew a stronger line distinguishing members of the NPU against those of the NTA #135. Because of the rivalry, miners of one labor union would not support the strikes of another, and many strikes failed. In December 1889, the president of the NPU set up a joint conference for all miners. John McBride, the president of NPU, suggested that the Knights of Labor should join the NPU to form a stronger union. John B. Rae reluctantly agreed and decided that the merged groups would meet on January 22, 1890.
Constitution of the Union: The Eleven Points
When the union was founded, the values of the UMWA were stated in the preamble:
We have founded the United Mine Workers of America for the purpose of ... educating all mine workers in America to realize the necessity of unity of action and purpose, in demanding and securing by lawful means the just fruits of our toil.[''United We Stand, The United Mine Workers of America 1890-1990'', by Maier B. Fox]
The UMWA constitution listed eleven points as the union's goals:
* Payment of a salary commensurate with the dangerous work conditions. This was one of the most important points of the constitution.
* Payment to be made fairly in legal tender, not with company scrip.
* Provide safe working conditions, with operators to use the latest technologies in order to preserve the lives and health of workers.
* Provide better ventilation systems to decrease
black lung disease
Coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), also known as black lung disease or black lung, is an occupational type of pneumoconiosis caused by long-term exposure to coal dust. It is common in coal miners and others who work with coal. It is similar to b ...
, and better drainage systems.
* Enforce safety laws and make it illegal for mines to have inadequate roof supports, or contaminated air and water in the mines.
* Limit regular hours to an eight-hour work day.
* End child labor, and strictly enforce the
child labor law
Child labour laws are statutes placing restrictions and regulations on the work of minors.
Child labour increased during the Industrial Revolution due to the children's abilities to access smaller spaces and the ability to pay children less wage ...
.
* Have accurate scales to weigh the coal products, so workers could be paid fairly. Many operators had altered scales that showed a lighter weight of coal than actually produced, resulting in underpayment to workers. Miners were paid per pound of coal that they produced.
* Payment should be made in legal tender.
* Establish unbiased public police forces in the mine areas that were not controlled by the operators. Many operators hired private police, who were used to harass the mine workers and impose company power. In company towns, the operators owned all the houses and controlled the police force; they could arbitrarily evict workers and arrest them unjustly.
* The workers reserved the right to strike, but would work with operators to reach reasonable conclusions to negotiations.
John L. Lewis
John L. Lewis
John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960. A major player in the history of coal mining, he was the d ...
(1880 – 1969) was the highly combative UMW president who thoroughly controlled the union from 1920 to 1960. A major player in the labor movement and national politics, in the 1930s he used UMW activists to organize new unions in autos, steel and rubber. He was the driving force behind the founding of the
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...
(CIO). It established the
United Steel Workers of America
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headqua ...
and helped organize millions of other industrial workers in the 1930s.
After resigning as head of the CIO in 1941, he took the Mine Workers out of the CIO in 1942 and in 1944 took the union into the
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
(AFL). Lewis was a Republican, but he played a major role in helping
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
win re-election with a landslide in 1936, but as an isolationist supported by Communist elements in the CIO, Lewis broke with Roosevelt in 1940 on anti-Nazi foreign policy. (Following the 1939
German-Soviet pact of nonaggression, the
Comintern
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
had instructed communist parties in the West to oppose any support for nations at war with Nazi Germany).).
Lewis was a brutally effective and aggressive fighter and strike leader who gained high wages for his membership while steamrolling over his opponents, including the United States government. Lewis was one of the most controversial and innovative leaders in the history of labor, gaining credit for building the industrial unions of the CIO into a political and economic powerhouse to rival the AFL, yet was widely hated as he called nationwide coal strikes damaging the American economy in the middle of World War II. His massive leonine head, forest-like eyebrows, firmly set jaw, powerful voice, and ever-present scowl thrilled his supporters, angered his enemies, and delighted cartoonists. Coal miners for 40 years hailed him as the benevolent dictator who brought high wages, pensions and medical benefits, and damn the critics.
Achievements
* An
eight-hour work day
The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses.
An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 16 ...
was gained in 1898.
The first ideas of this demand were outlined in point six of the constitution.
* The union achieved collective bargaining rights in 1933.
* Health and retirement benefits for the miners and their families were earned in 1946.
* In 1969, the UMWA convinced the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
to enact the landmark
Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act
The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, U.S. Public Law 91-173, generally referred to as the Coal Act, was passed by the 91st United States Congressional session and enacted into law by the 37th President of the United States Richard ...
, which provided compensation for miners suffering from
Black Lung Disease
Coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), also known as black lung disease or black lung, is an occupational type of pneumoconiosis caused by long-term exposure to coal dust. It is common in coal miners and others who work with coal. It is similar to b ...
.
* Relatively high wages for unionized miners by the early 1960s.
List of strikes
The union's history has numerous examples of strikes in which members and their supporters clashed with company-hired strikebreakers and government forces. The most notable include:
1890s
*
Morewood massacre
The Morewood massacre was an armed labor-union conflict in Morewood, Pennsylvania, in Westmoreland County, west of the present-day borough Mount Pleasant in 1891.
Casualties and causes
Nine coke workers were shot and killed during a strike fo ...
- April 3, 1891, in
Morewood, Pennsylvania
Morewood is an unincorporated community and coal town in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. In early April, 1891, it was the site of the Morewood massacre, which left nine striking workers of the United Mine Workers
The Unite ...
. A crowd of mostly immigrant strikers were fired on by deputized members of the 10th Regiment of the National Guard. At least ten strikers were killed and dozens injured.
*
Bituminous Coal Miners' Strike of 1894
The bituminous coal miners' strike was an unsuccessful national eight-week strike by miners of bituminous coal in the United States, which began on April 21, 1894.
The panic of 1893 hit the coal mining industry particularly hard. Wage cuts i ...
- April 21, 1894. This nationwide strike was called when the union was hardly four years old. Many of the workers salaries had been cut by 30%
and with the demand for coal down during the recession, workers were desperate for work. The national guard was mobilized in several states to prevent or control violent clashes between strikers and strike breakers. The workers intended to strike for three weeks, hoping that this would produce a demand for coal and their wages would increase with its rising price. But, many union miners did not wish to cooperate with this plan and did not return to work at all. The union appeared weak. Other workers did not go out on strike, and with the demand low, they were able to produce sufficient coal. By being efficient in the mines, the operators saw no need to increase the wages of all the workers, and did not seem to care if the strike would end.
By June the demand for coal began to increase, and some operators decided to pay the workers their original salaries before the wage cut. However, not all demands across the country were met, and some workers continued to strike. The young union suffered damage in this uneven effort. The most important goal of the 1894 strike was not the restoration of wages, but rather the establishment of the UMWA as a cooperation at a national level.
*
Lattimer Massacre
The Lattimer massacre was the violent deaths of at least 19 unarmed striking immigrant anthracite miners at the Lattimer mine near Hazleton, Pennsylvania, United States, on September 10, 1897.Anderson, John W. ''Transitions: From Eastern Europ ...
- September 10, 1897. 19 miners were killed by police in
Lattimer, Pennsylvania
Lattimer is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in Hazle Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 554 at the 2010 census.
History
The Lattimer massacre took place in the village on September 10, 1897; it re ...
during a march in support of unions.
*
Battle of Virden
The Battle of Virden, also known as the Virden Mine Riot and Virden Massacre, was a labor union conflict and a racial conflict in central Illinois that occurred on October 12, 1898. After a United Mine Workers of America local struck a mine in Vi ...
- October 1898. This was part of the larger
mine wars that established Illinois as the leading union state in the country, and a reason that
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones is buried at
Mount Olive, Illinois
Mount Olive is a city in Macoupin County, Illinois, Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,015 at the 2020 census. The city is part of the Metro East region within the Greater St. Louis, St. Louis metropolitan area.
Geograp ...
.
Early 1900s
* The five-month
Coal Strike of 1902
The Coal strike of 1902 (also known as the anthracite coal strike) was a strike by the United Mine Workers of America in the anthracite coalfields of eastern Pennsylvania. Miners struck for higher wages, shorter workdays, and the recognition of ...
, led by the United Mine Workers and centered in eastern Pennsylvania, ended after direct intervention of President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
as a neutral arbitrator.
* 1903 Colorado coal strike - October 1903. The United Mine Workers conducted a strike in Colorado, called in October 1903 by President Mitchell, and lasting into 1904. The strike, while overshadowed by a simultaneous strike conducted by the
Western Federation of Miners
The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into s ...
among hard rock miners in the
Cripple Creek District, contributed to the labor struggles in Colorado. These came to be known as the Colorado Labor Wars. During the United Mine Workers effort, operators directed their private forces to attack and beat traveling union officers and organizers, which ultimately helped to break the strike. These beatings were a mystery until publication of ''
The Pinkerton Labor Spy
''The Pinkerton Labor Spy'' (alternately, ''The Pinkerton's Labor Spy'') is a nonfiction book published in 1907 as an exposé of intrigue and abuses by the Pinkerton Detective Agency in general, and by chief agent James McParland in particular.Fu ...
'' (1907) by
Morris Friedman
Morris Friedman was, until 1905,Anthony Lukas, Big Trouble, 1997, page 687. the private stenographer for Pinkerton detective James McParland. Friedman came to the attention of the public when he published an exposé of anti-union actions by the pr ...
, which revealed that the UMWA had been infiltrated by
labor spies
Labor spying in the United States had involved people recruited or employed for the purpose of gathering intelligence, committing sabotage, sowing dissent, or engaging in other similar activities, in the context of an employer/labor organization r ...
from the
Pinkerton agency
Pinkerton is a private security guard and detective agency established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which later became Pinkerton ...
.
*
1908 Alabama coal strike - June–August 1908. Notable because the 18,000 UMWA-organized strikers, more than half of those working in the
Birmingham District
The Birmingham District is a geological area in the vicinity of Birmingham, Alabama, where the raw materials for making steel, limestone, iron ore, and coal are found together in abundance. The district includes Red Mountain, Jones Valley, and t ...
, were racially integrated. That fact helped galvanize political opposition to the strikers in the segregated state. The governor used the Alabama State Militia to end the work stoppage. The union adopted racial segregation of workers in Alabama in order to reduce the political threat to the organization.
*
Westmoreland County Coal Strike - 1910-1911, a 16-month coal strike in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
led largely by
Slovak immigrant miners, this strike involved 15,000 coal miners. Sixteen people were killed during the strike, nearly all of them striking miners or members of their families.
*
Colorado Coalfield War
The Colorado Coalfield War was a major labor uprising in the Southern and Central Colorado Front Range between September 1913 and December 1914. Striking began in late summer 1913, organized by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) agai ...
- September 1913–December 1914. A frequently violent strike against the
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller.
He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in ...
-
Colorado Fuel and Iron
The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I) was a large steel conglomerate founded by the merger of previous business interests in 1892.Scamehorn, Chapter 1, "The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, 1892-1903" page 10 By 1903 it was mainly owned and co ...
company. Many strikers and opposition were killed before the violent reached a peak following the 20 April 1914
Ludlow Massacre. An estimated 20 people, including women and children, were killed by armed police, hired guns, and
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
National Guardsmen who broke up a tent colony formed by families of miners who had been evicted from company-owned housing. The strike was partially led by
John R. Lawson, a UMWA organizer and saw the participation of famed activist
Mother Jones
Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...
. The UMWA purchased part of
Ludlow
Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...
site and constructed the
Ludlow Monument in commemoration of those who died.
*
Hartford coal mine riot
The Hartford coal mine riot occurred on July 12, 1914, at Hartford, Arkansas. In a productive region of a state with 100% of its coal miners represented by the United Mine Workers (UMW), one mine owner attempted to open a non-union shop. In th ...
- July 1914. The surface plant of the Prairie Creek coal mine was destroyed, and two non-union miners murdered by union miners and sympathizers. The mine owners sued the local and national organizations of the United Mine Workers Union. The national UMWA was found not complicit, but the local was judged culpable of encouraging the rioters, and made to pay US$2.1 million.
*
United Mine Workers coal strike of 1919
The United Mine Workers coal strike of 1919 saw coal miners strike for over a month, from November 1 to December 10, 1919, for better wages.
Background
1919 in the United States saw the country undergoing the First Red Scare a period marked by a ...
- November 1, 1919. Some 400,000 members of the United Mine Workers went on strike on November 1, 1919, although Attorney General
A. Mitchell Palmer
Alexander Mitchell Palmer (May 4, 1872 – May 11, 1936), was an American attorney and politician who served as the 50th United States attorney general from 1919 to 1921. He is best known for overseeing the Palmer Raids during the Red Scare ...
had invoked the
Lever Act
The Food and Fuel Control Act, , also called the Lever Act or the Lever Food Act was a World War I era US law that among other things created the United States Food Administration and the United States Fuel Administration.
Legislative history
Th ...
, a wartime measure criminalizing interference with the production or transportation of necessities, and obtained an injunction against the strike on October 31. The coal operators smeared the strikers with charges that Russian communist leaders
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
and
Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian M ...
had ordered the strike and were financing it, and some of the press repeated those claims.
*
Matewan, West Virginia
Matewan () is a town in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States at the confluence of the Tug Fork River and Mate Creek. The population was 499 at the 2010 census. The Norfolk Southern Railway's Pocahontas District passes through the town. It wa ...
- May 19, 1920. 12 men were killed in a gunfight between town residents and the
Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency
The Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency was a private detective agency in the United States from the early 1890s to 1937. Members of the agency were central actors in the events that led to the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921 and violent repression ...
, hired by mine owners. Director
John Sayles
John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for ''Passion Fish'' (1992) and ''L ...
directed a feature film, ''
Matewan
''Matewan'' () is a 1987 American drama film written and directed by John Sayles, and starring Chris Cooper (in his film debut), James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell and Will Oldham, with David Strathairn, Kevin Tighe and Gordon Clapp in supporting ...
'', based on these events.
* The 'Redneck War' - 1920-21. Generally viewed as beginning with the Matewan Massacre, this conflict involved the struggle to unionize the southwestern area of West Virginia. It led to the march of 10,000 armed miners on the county seat at
Logan
Logan may refer to:
Places
* Mount Logan (disambiguation)
Australia
* Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly
* Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud
* Logan City, local gover ...
. In the
Battle of Blair Mountain
The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest labor uprising in United States history and the largest armed uprising since the American Civil War. The conflict occurred in Logan County, West Virginia, Logan County, West Virginia, as part of the Co ...
, miners fought state militia, local police, and mine guards. These events are depicted in the novels ''Storming Heaven'' (1987) by Denise Giardina and ''Blair Mountain'' (2005) by Jonathan Lynn.
*
1920 Alabama coal strike, a lengthy, violent, expensive and fruitless attempt to achieve union recognition in the coal mines around
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
left 16 men dead; one black man was
lynched
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
.
*
Herrin massacre occurred in June 1922 in
Herrin, Illinois
Herrin is a city in Williamson County, Illinois. The population was 12,352 at the 2020 census.
The city is part of the Marion-Herrin Micropolitan Area and is a part of the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin, Illinois Combined Statistical Area with 123,272 r ...
. 19 strikebreakers and 2 union miners were killed in mob action between June 21–22, 1922.
1922-1925 Nova Scotia strikes
In the 1920s, about 12,000 Nova Scotia miners were represented by the UMWA.
These workers lived in very difficult economic circumstances in
company town
A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...
s. The
Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation
The Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation (also DOSCO) was a Canadian coal mining and steel manufacturing company.
Incorporated in 1928 and operational by 1930, DOSCO was predated by the British Empire Steel Corporation (BESCO), which was a merger o ...
, also known as the British Empire Steel Corporation, or BESCO, controlled most coal mines and every steel mill in the province.
BESCO was in financial difficulties and repeatedly attempted to reduce wages and
bust the union.
Led by
J. B. McLachlan James Bryson (J.B.) McLachlan (9 February 1869 - 3 November 1937) was a prominent Scottish-Canadian trade unionist, journalist, revolutionary and political activist. McLachlan was a notable leader of the Canadian Labour Revolt.
Early life: 1869– ...
, miners struck in 1923, and were met by locally and provincially-deployed troops. This would eventually lead to the federal government introducing legislation limiting the civil use of troops.
In 1925 BESCO announced that it would not longer give credit at their
company store
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...
s and that wages would be cut by 20%. The miners responded with a strike. This led to violence with
company police
Company police, also called ''private police'', are privately paid law enforcement officers who work for private security companies or Private military company, private military companies rather than a municipal, county, state, or national agency.
...
firing on strikers, killing miner
William Davis, as well as the looting and arson of company property.
This crisis led to the Nova Scotia government acting in 1937 to improve the rights of all wage earners, and these reforms served as a model across Canada, at both provincial and federal levels.
The Brookside Strike
In the summer of 1973, workers at the
Duke Power
Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Overview
Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...
-owned Eastover Mining Company's Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in
Harlan County, Kentucky
Harlan County is a county located in southeastern Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,831. Its county seat is Harlan. It is classified as a moist countya county in which alcohol sales are prohibited (a dry county), but conta ...
, voted to join the union. Eastover management refused to sign the contract and the miners went on strike. Duke Power attempted to bring in replacement non-union workers or "
scabs" but many were blocked from entering the mine by striking workers and their families on the picket line. Local judge F. Byrd Hogg was a coal operator himself and consistently ruled for Eastover. During much of the strike the mine workers' wives and children joined the picket lines. Many were arrested, some hit by baseball bats, shot at, and struck by cars. One striking miner, Lawrence Jones, was shot and killed by a
Strikebreaker
A strikebreaker (sometimes called a scab, blackleg, or knobstick) is a person who works despite a strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who were not employed by the company before the trade union dispute but hired after or during the st ...
.
Three months after returning to work, the national UMWA contract expired. On November 12, 1974, 120,000 miners nationwide walked off the job. The nationwide strike was bloodless and a tentative contract was achieved three weeks later. This opened the mines and reactivated the railroad haulers in time for Christmas. These events are depicted in the documentary film ''
Harlan County, USA
''Harlan County, USA'' is a 1976 American documentary film covering the "Brookside Strike", a 1973 effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company's Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan C ...
''.
The Pittston strike
The
Pittston Coal strike
The Pittston Coal strike was a United States strike action led by the United Mine Workers Union (UMWA) against the Pittston Coal Company, nationally headquartered in Pittston, Pennsylvania. The strike, which lasted from April 5, 1989 to Februa ...
of 1989-1990 began as a result of a withdrawal of the Pittston Coal Group also known as the
Pittston Company
The Brink's Company is an American private security and protection company headquartered outside Richmond, Virginia. Its core business is Brink's Inc.; its sister brand Brink's Home Security company operates separately and is headquartered in D ...
from the
Bituminous Coal Operators Association Bituminous Coal Operators Association (BCOA) is a coal mining lobbying organization. It was founded in 1950 by various companies to deal with the UMWA and unionizing of mines during the change from human labor to mechanical labor. The BCOA would st ...
(BCOA) and a refusal of the Pittston Coal group to pay the health insurance payments for miners who were already retired. The owner of the Pittston company at the time, Paul Douglas, left the BCOA because he wanted to be able to produce coal seven days a week and did not want his company to pay the fee for the insurance.
The Pittson company was seen as having inadequate safety standards after the
Buffalo Creek flood of 1972 in which 125 miners were killed.
The company also was very financially unstable and in debt. The mines associated with the company were located mostly in Virginia, with mines also in West Virginia and Kentucky.
On 31 January 1988 Douglas cut off retirement and health care funds to about 1500 retired miners, widows of miners, and disabled miners.
To avoid a strike, Douglas threatened that if a strike were to take place, that the miners would be replaced by other workers. The UMW called this action unjust and took the Pittston company to court.
Miners worked from January 1988 to April 1989 without a contract. Tension in the company grew and on 5 April 1989 the workers declared a strike.
Many months of both violent and nonviolent strike actions took place. On 20 February 1990 a settlement was finally reached between the UMWA and the Pittston Coal Company.
Internal conflict
The union's history has sometimes been marked by internal strife and corruption, including the 1969 murder of
Joseph Yablonski
Joseph Albert "Jock" Yablonski (March 3, 1910 – December 31, 1969) was an American labor leader in the United Mine Workers in the 1950s and 1960s known for seeking reform in the union and better working conditions for miners. In 1969 he ch ...
, a reform candidate who lost a race for union president against incumbent
W. A. Boyle, along with his wife and 25-year-old daughter. Boyle was later convicted of ordering these murders.
The killing of Yablonski resulted in the birth of a pro-democracy movement called the "
Miners for Democracy Miners for Democracy was a dissident movement within the United Mine Workers of America which successfully challenged the administration of the union in the early 1970s. It was organized in Clarksville, Pennsylvania in April 1970 after the assassina ...
" (MFD) which swept Boyle and his regime out of office, and replaced them with a group of leaders who had been most recently rank and file miners.
Led by new president
Arnold Miller
Arnold Ray Miller (April 25, 1923 – July 12, 1985) was a miner and labor activist who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), AFL–CIO, from 1972 to 1979. Winning as a reform candidate, he gained positive changes f ...
, the new leadership enacted a series of reforms which gave UMWA members the right to elect their leaders at all levels of the union and to ratify the contracts under which they worked.
Decline of labor unionism in mining
Decreased faith in the UMW to support the rights of the miners caused many to leave the union. Coal demand was curbed by competition from other energy sources. The main cause of the decline in the union during the 1920s and 1930s was the introduction of more efficient and easily produced machines into the coal mines.
In previous years, less than 41% of coal was cut by the machines. However, by 1930, 81% was being cut by the machines and now there were machines that could also surface mine and load the coal into the trucks.
With more machines that could do the same labor, unemployment in the mines grew and wages were cut back. As the problems grew, many people did not believe that the UMW could ever
become as powerful as it was before the start of the war.
The decline in the union began in the 1920s and continued through the 1930s.
Slowly the membership of the UMWA grew back up in numbers, with the majority in
District 50, a catch-all district for workers in fields related to coal mining, such as the chemical and energy industries. This district gained organizational independence in 1961, and then fell into dispute with the remainder of the union, leading in 1968 to its expulsion.
In the 1970s and after
Diana Baldwin and Anita Cherry are believed to have been the first women to work inside an American coal mine, and were the first women to work inside a mine who were members of the UMW. They began that work in 1973 in
Jenkins KY. However, more pervasive were hiring practices discriminatory against women. The superstition that a woman even entering a mine was bad luck and results in disaster was pervasive among male miners.
In 1978 a discrimination complaint was filed by the
Coal Employment Project The Coal Employment Project (CEP) was a non-profit women's organization in the United States from 1977–1996 with the goal of women gaining employment as miners. With local support groups in both the eastern and western coalfields, CEP also advocat ...
, a women’s advocacy organization, against 153 coal companies. This action was based upon
Executive Order 11246
Executive Order 11246, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 24, 1965, established requirements for non-discriminatory practices in hiring and employment on the part of U.S. government contractors. It "prohibits federal contractors a ...
signed in 1965 by U.S.
President Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
, which bars sex discrimination by companies with federal contracts. The complaint called for the hiring of one woman for every three inexperienced men until women constituted 20 percent of the workforce. This legal strategy was successful. Almost 3,000 women were hired by the close of 1979 as underground miners.
However, a general decline in union effectiveness characterized the 1970s and 1980s, leading to new kinds of activism, particularly in the late 1970s. Workers saw their unions back down in the face of aggressive management.
Other factors contributed to the decline in unionism generally and UMW specifically. The coal industry was not prepared economically to deal with such a drop in demand for coal. Demand for coal was very high during World War II, but decreased dramatically after the war, in part due to competition from other energy sources. In efforts to improve air quality, municipal governments started to ban the use of coal as household fuel. The end of wartime price controls introduced competition to produce cheaper coal, putting pressure on wages.
These problems—perceived weakness of the unions, loss of control over jobs, drop in demand, and competition—decreased the faith of miners in their union.
By 1998 the UMW had about 240,000 members, half the number that it had in 1946.
As of the early 2000s, the union represents about 42 percent of all employed miners.
Affiliation with other unions
At some point before 1930, the UMW became a member of the
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
. The UMW leadership was part of the driving force to change the way workers were organized, and the UMW was one of the charter members when the new
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...
was formed in 1935. However, the AFL leadership did not agree with the philosophy of industrial unionization, and the UMW and nine other unions that had formed the CIO were kicked out of the AFL in 1937.
In 1942, the UMW chose to leave the CIO,
and, for the next five years, were an independent union. In 1947, the UMW once again joined the AFL, but the remarriage was a short one, as the UMW was forced out of the AFL in 1948, and at that point, became the largest non-affiliated union in the United States.
In 1982,
Richard Trumka
Richard Louis Trumka (July 24, 1949 – August 5, 2021) was an American attorney and organized labor leader. He served as president of the United Mine Workers from 1982 to 1995, and then was secretary-general of the AFL–CIO from 1995 to 2009. ...
was elected the leader of the UMW. Trumka spent the 1980s healing the rift between the UMW and the now-conjoined
AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
(which was created in 1955 with the merger of the AFL and the CIO). In 1989, the UMW was again taken into the fold of the large union umbrella.
Political involvement
![Tom O'Halleran with United Mine Workers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Tom_O%27Halleran_with_United_Mine_Workers.jpg)
Throughout the years, the UMW has taken political stands and supported candidates to help achieve union goals.
The United Mine Workers ran candidate
Frank Henry Sherman
Frank or Franks may refer to:
People
* Frank (given name)
* Frank (surname)
* Franks (surname)
* Franks, a medieval Germanic people
* Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang
Cur ...
under the union banner in the
1905 Alberta general election
The 1905 Alberta general election was the first general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada on November 9, 1905, to elect twenty-five members of the Alberta legislature to the 1st Alberta Legislative Assembly, shortly after the provi ...
. Sherman's candidacy was driven to appeal to the significant population of miners working in the camps of southern Alberta.
He finished second in the riding of
Pincher Creek
Pincher Creek is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located immediately east of the Canadian Rockies, west of Lethbridge and south of Calgary.
History
For centuries before European settlers reached this area and inhabited it, Indigen ...
.
The biggest conflict between the UMW and the government was while
Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
was president of the United States and John L. Lewis was president of the UMW. Originally, the two worked together well, but, after the 1937 strike of United Automobile Workers against General Motors, Lewis stopped trusting Roosevelt, claiming that Roosevelt had gone back on his word. This conflict led Lewis to resign as
CIO president. Roosevelt repeatedly won large majorities of the union votes, even in 1940 when Lewis took an isolationist position on Europe, as demanded by far-left union elements. Lewis denounced Roosevelt as a power-hungry war monger, and endorsed Republican
Wendell Willkie
Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 Republican nominee for President. Willkie appealed to many convention delegates as the Republican ...
.
The tension between the two leaders escalated during World War II. Roosevelt in 1943 was outraged when Lewis threatened a major strike to end anthracite coal production needed by the war effort. He threatened government intervention and Lewis retreated.
The UMW represents West Virginia coal miners and endorsed
Joe Manchin
Joseph Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Manchin was the 34th governor of ...
(D-W.Va.) in the
2018 United States Senate election in West Virginia
The 2018 United States Senate election in West Virginia took place on November 6, 2018, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of West Virginia, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate, electi ...
. In 2021 the union urged him to revisit his opposition to President Biden's
Build Back Better Plan
The Build Back Better Plan or Build Back Better agenda was a legislative framework proposed by U.S. president Joe Biden between 2020 and 2021. Generally viewed as ambitious in size and scope, and even after it was reduced in size, it became the ...
, noting that the bill includes an extension of a fund that provides benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung disease, which expires at the end of the year. The UMWA also touted tax incentives that encourage manufacturers to build facilities in coalfields that would employ thousands of miners who lost their jobs.
Recent elections
In 2008 the UMWA supported
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
as the best candidate to help achieve more rights for the mine workers.
In 2012, the UMWA National COMPAC Council did not make an endorsement in the election for President of the United States, citing "Neither candidate has yet demonstrated that he will be on the side of UMWA members and their families as president."
In 2014, the UMWA endorsed
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
Democrat
Alison Lundergan Grimes
Alison Case Lundergan Grimes (born November 23, 1978) is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who was the secretary of state of Kentucky from 2012 until 2020. Grimes was elected in 2011 after defeating incumbent Elaine Walker in the De ...
for U.S. Senate.
List of presidents
*
John B. Rae – 1890–1892 (''founding president'')
*
John McBride – 1892–1895
*
Phil Penna – 1895–1896
*
Michael Ratchford
Michael D. Ratchford (August 1860 – December 12, 1927) was an Irish-American labor leader and president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) from 1897 to 1898. Ratchford is remembered for his leadership of a coal strike during the summer ...
– 1897–1898
*
John Mitchell – 1898–1907
*
Thomas Lewis – 1908–1910
*
John White – 1911–1917
*
Frank Hayes – 1917–1920
*
John L. Lewis
John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960. A major player in the history of coal mining, he was the d ...
– 1920–1960
*
Thomas Kennedy – 1960–1963
*
W. A. "Tony" Boyle – 1963–1972
*
Arnold Miller
Arnold Ray Miller (April 25, 1923 – July 12, 1985) was a miner and labor activist who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), AFL–CIO, from 1972 to 1979. Winning as a reform candidate, he gained positive changes f ...
– 1972–1979
*
Sam Church
Samuel Morgan Church, Jr.Hevesi, "Sam Church, Who Led United Mine Workers, Dies at 72," ''New York Times,'' July 15, 2009. (September 20, 1936 – July 14, 2009Hayes, "Former UMW President Sam Church Dies," ''Kingsport Times-News,'' July 14, ...
– 1979–1982
*
Richard Trumka
Richard Louis Trumka (July 24, 1949 – August 5, 2021) was an American attorney and organized labor leader. He served as president of the United Mine Workers from 1982 to 1995, and then was secretary-general of the AFL–CIO from 1995 to 2009. ...
– 1982–1995
*
Cecil Roberts
Edric Cecil Mornington Roberts (18 May 1892 – 20 December 1976) was an English journalist, poet, dramatist and novelist. He was born and grew up in Nottingham.
Working career
Roberts published his first volume of poems, with a preface by Joh ...
– 1995–present
Districts throughout history
1890
* 5 – Western Pennsylvania
* 6 – Ohio
* 11 – Indiana
* 12 – Illinois
* 17 – West Virginia
* 19 – Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee
1910
* 1 – ANTHRACITE (North)
* 2 – Central Pennsylvania
* 5 – Western Pennsylvania
* 6 – Ohio
* 7 – ANTHRACITE (Central)
* 8 – Indian (Block)
* 9 – ANTHRACITE (South)
* 11 – Indiana (Bituminous)
* 12 – Illinois
* 13 – Iowa
* 14 – Kansas
* 16 – Maryland
* 17 – West Virginia
* 19 – Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee
* 20 – Alabama
* 21 – Arkansas and Indian Territory
* 23 – Central Kentucky
* 24 – Michigan
* 25 – Missouri
1936
* 1 – ANTHRACITE (North)
* 2 – Central Pennsylvania
* 5 – Western Pennsylvania
* 6 – Ohio
* 7 – ANTHRACITE (Central)
* 8 – Indian (Block)
* 9 – ANTHRACITE (South)
* 10 – Washington
* 11 – Indiana (Bituminous)
* 12 – Illinois
* 13 – Iowa
* 14 – Kansas
* 15 – Colorado and Wyoming
* 17 – West Virginia
* 18 – Alberta and British Columbia
* 19 – Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee
* 20 – Alabama
* 21 – Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas
* 23 – Central Kentucky
* 24 – Michigan
* 25 – Missouri
* 26 – Nova Scotia
* 28 – Vancouver Island
*
50 – An amalgamated 'miscellaneous' and 'catch-all' district, including workers associated with, but not in, mines and mining. Included paint and chemical workers. Eventually it was absorbed by the
United Steelworkers of America
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headquar ...
1990
* 2 – Central Pennsylvania
* 4 – Southwest Pennsylvania
* 5 – Western Pennsylvania
* 6 – Ohio
* 11 – Indiana (Bituminous)
* 12 – Illinois
* 14 – Kansas
* 15 – Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, and North Dakota
* 17 – Central West Virginia
* 18 – Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan
* 19 – Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee
* 20 – Alabama
* 21 – Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas
* 22 – Utah, Wyoming, and Arizona
* 23 – Central Kentucky
* 25 – Anthracite
* 26 – Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
* 28 – Virginia
* 29 – Southern West Virginia (eliminated in 1996)
* 30 – Eastern Kentucky
* 31 – Northern West Virginia
2013
* 2 – Pennsylvania, New York and Eastern Canada
* 12 – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Western Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma
* 17 – Southern West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee
* 20 – Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi
* 22 – Western United States
* 31 – Northern West Virginia and Ohio
References
Further reading
* Aurand, Harold W. ''From the Molly Maguires to the United Mine Workers: the social ecology of an industrial union, 1869-1897'' (Temple UP, 1971).
* Baratz, Morton S. ''The Union and the Coal Industry'' (Yale UP, 1955)
* Bernstein, Irving. ''The Lean Years: a History of the American Worker 1920-1933'' (1966), best coverage of the era
* Bernstein, Irving. ''Turbulent Years: A History of the American Worker, 1933-1941'' (1970), best coverage of the era
* Clapp, Thomas C. "The Bituminous Coal Strike of 1943." PhD dissertation U. of Toledo 1974. 278 pp. DAI 1974 35(6): 3626-3627-A., not online
* Dublin, Thomas and Walter Licht. ''The Face of Decline: The Pennsylvania Anthracite Region in the Twentieth Century'' (2005
excerpt and text search* Dubofsky, Melvyn, and Warren Van Tine. ''John L. Lewis: A Biography'' (1977), the standard scholarly biograph
excerpt and text search of abridged 1986 edition* Dubofsky, Melvyn, and Warren Van Tine. "John L. Lewis " in Dubofsky and Van Tine, eds. ''Labor Leaders in America'' (1990)
* Fishback, Price V. ''Soft Coal, Hard Choices: The Economic Welfare of Bituminous Coal Miners, 1890-1930'' (1992
online edition* Fox, Mayor. ''United We Stand: The United Mine Workers of America 1890-1990'' (UMW 1990), detailed semiofficial union history
* Fry, Richard, "Dissent in the Coalfields: Miners, Federal Politics, and Union Reform in the United States, 1968-1973," ''Labor History,'' 55 (May 2014), 173-88.
* Galenson; Walter. ''The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement, 1935–1941,'' (1960
online edition* Hinrichs, A. F. ''The United Mine Workers of America, and the Non-Union Coal Fields'' (1923
online edition* Jensen, Richard J. "United Mine Workers of America." in Eric Arnesen, ed., ''Encyclopedia of US labor and working-class history'' (2007), v. 3
* Jensen, Richard J., and Carol L. Jensen. "Labor's appeal to the past: The 1972 election in the United Mine Workers." ''Communication Studies'' 28#3 (1977): 173-184.
* Krajcinovic, Ivana. '' From Company Doctors to Managed Care: The United Mine Workers Noble Experiment'' (Cornell UP, 1997).
* Laslett, John H.M. ed. ''The United Mine Workers: A Model of Industrial Solidarity?'' 1996.
* Lewis, Ronald L. ''Welsh Americans: A history of assimilation in the coalfields'' (Univ of North Carolina Press, 2009).
* Lynch, Edward A., and David J. McDonald. ''Coal and Unionism: A History of the American Coal Miners' Unions'' (1939
online edition* McIntosh, Robert. ''Boys in the pits: Child labour in coal mines'' (McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2000), Canadian mines
* Phelan, Craig. ''Divided Loyalties: The Public and Private Life of Labor Leader John Mitchell'' (SUNY Press, 1994).
*
* Seltzer, Curtis. ''Fire in the Hole: Miners and Managers in the American Coal Industry'' University Press of Kentucky, 1985, conflict in the coal industry to the 1980s.
* Singer, Alan Jay. "`Which Side Are You On?': Ideological Conflict in the United Mine Workers of America, 1919-1928." PhD dissertation Rutgers U., New Brunswick 1982. 304 pp. DAI 1982 43(4): 1268-A. DA8221709 Fulltext:
roQuest Dissertations & Theses* Zieger, Robert H. "Lewis, John L." ''American National Biography Online'' Feb. 2000.
* Zieger, Robert H. ''John L. Lewis: Labor Leader'' (1988), 220pp short biography by scholar
* Zieger, Robert H. ''The CIO 1935-1955.'' 1995
online edition
External links
*
Remember Virden documentary on the
mine wars in Illinois
West Virginia's Mine WarsBurning Up People to Make Electricity, The Atlantic, July 1974Voices of Democracy, West Virginia Mining and the Conflict of 1912
*
ttp://www.rebelgraphics.org/wfmhall/pinkertonlaborspy19.html The Pinkerton Labor Spy Chapters XIX, XX, and XXI (Colorado Labor Wars, 1903–04)
{{Authority control
AFL–CIO
Canadian Labour Congress
International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions
Mining trade unions
Trade unions established in 1890
Coal in the United States
1890 establishments in Ohio