121-776: The United Mine Workers of America ( UMW or UMWA ) is a North American labor union 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 . By 2014, coal mining had largely shifted to open pit mines in Wyoming, and there were only 60,000 active coal miners. The UMW
242-509: A conspiracy to raise wages . Unlike in Pullis , however, the court held that the combination's existence itself was not unlawful, but nevertheless reached a conviction because the cordwainers had refused to work for any master who paid lower wages, or with any laborer who accepted lower wages than what the combination had stipulated. The court held that methods used to obtain higher wages would be unlawful if they were judged to be deleterious to
363-511: A conviction . After Pullis in 1806, eighteen other prosecutions of laborers for conspiracies followed within the next three decades. However, only one such case, People v. Fisher , also held that a combination for the purpose of raising wages was illegal . Several other cases held that the methods used by the unions , rather than the unions themselves, were illegal . For instance, in People v. Melvin , cordwainers were again convicted of
484-761: A central element of the New Deal coalition that dominated national politics from the 1930s into the mid-1960s during the Fifth Party System . Liberal Republicans who supported unions in the Northeast lost power after 1964. In recent decades, an enduring alliance was formed between labor unions and the Democrats, whereas the Republican Party has become hostile to unions and collective bargaining rights. The history of organized labor has been
605-603: A combination to raise wages is illegal was allowed to die by common consent. No leading case was required for its overthrow". Nevertheless, while Hunt was not the first case to hold that labor combinations were legal, it was the first to do so explicitly and in clear terms. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen — now part of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters — was founded in May 1863. The National Labor Union (NLU), founded in 1866,
726-463: 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. American Miners' Association The first step in starting the union was the creation of the American Miners' Association . Scholars credit this organization with the beginning of the labor movement in
847-593: A degree that they had not experienced previously, which limited their opportunities and created substantial risks of downward mobility that had not existed prior to that time. These conditions led to the first labor combination cases in America. Over the first half of the 19th century, there are twenty-three known cases of indictment and prosecution for criminal conspiracy, taking place in six states: Pennsylvania , Maryland , New York , Louisiana , Massachusetts , and Virginia . The central question in these cases
968-496: A discrimination complaint was filed by the Coal Employment Project , a women's advocacy organization, against 153 coal companies. This action was based upon Executive Order 11246 signed in 1965 by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson , 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
1089-497: A greater chance of injury, and had fewer social services. American industry had the highest rate of accidents in the world. The US was also the only industrial power to have no workman's compensation program in place to support injured workers. From 1860 to 1900, the wealthiest 2 percent of American households owned more than a third of the nation's wealth, while the top 10 percent owned roughly three-quarters of it. The bottom 40 percent had no wealth at all. In terms of property,
1210-572: A national level. In the 1920s, about 12,000 Nova Scotia miners were represented by the UMWA. These workers lived in very difficult economic circumstances in company towns . The Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation , 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
1331-613: A nonunion company in Connecticut. Owner Dietrich Loewe brought suit against the union for unlawful combinations to restrain trade in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act . The Court ruled that the union was subject to an injunction and liable for the payment of triple damages. In 1915 Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes , speaking for the Court, again decided in favor of Loewe, upholding a lower federal court ruling ordering
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#17327908405631452-527: A peaceful rally, killing seven policemen and wounding many others. The anarchists—who had built the bomb—were blamed. Their spectacular trial gained national attention. The Knights of Labor were seriously injured by the false accusation that the Knights promoted anarchistic violence. Some Knights locals transferred to the less radical and more respectable AFL unions or railroad brotherhoods. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions began in 1881 under
1573-834: A result of a withdrawal of the Pittston Coal Group also known as the Pittston Company from the Bituminous Coal Operators Association (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
1694-464: 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 , 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
1815-511: A settlement was finally reached between the UMWA and the Pittston Coal Company. The union's history has sometimes been marked by internal strife and corruption, including the 1969 murder of Joseph Yablonski , 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
1936-435: A specialty of scholars since the 1890s, and has produced a large amount of scholarly literature focused on the structure of organized unions. In the 1960s, the sub-field of new labor history emerged as social history was gaining popularity broadly, with a new emphasis on the history of workers, including unorganized workers, and their gender and race. Much scholarship has attempted to bring the social history perspectives into
2057-430: 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 April 5, 1989, the workers declared a strike. Many months of both violent and nonviolent strike actions took place. On 20 February 1990
2178-599: The AFL–CIO and citywide federations have competed, evolved, merged, and split against a backdrop of changing values and priorities, and periodic federal government intervention. In most industrial nations, the labor movement sponsored its own political parties, with the US as a conspicuous exception. Both major American parties vied for union votes, with the Democratic Party usually much more successful. Labor unions became
2299-649: The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen , and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen . Their main goal was building insurance and medical packages for their members, as well as negotiating work rules, such as those involving seniority and grievance procedures. They were not members of the AFL, and fought off more radical rivals such as the Knights of Labor in the 1880s and the American Railroad Union in
2420-589: The Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Denver and Rio Grande Railway . In early 1886, the Knights were trying to coordinate 1,400 strikes involving over 600,000 workers spread over much of the country. The tempo had doubled over 1885, and involved peaceful as well as violent confrontations in many sectors, such as railroads, street railroads, and coal mining, with demands usually focused on the eight hour day. Suddenly, it all collapsed, largely because
2541-561: The major economic depression of the early 1890s , the Pullman Palace Car Company cut wages in its factories. Discontented workers joined the American Railway Union (ARU), led by Eugene V. Debs , which supported their strike by launching a boycott of all Pullman cars on all railroads. ARU members across the nation refused to switch Pullman cars onto trains. When these switchmen were disciplined,
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#17327908405632662-433: The 1880s. There were 37,000 strikes between 1881 and 1905. By far the largest number were in the building trades, followed far behind by coal miners. The main goal was control of working conditions, setting uniform wage scales, protesting the firing of a member, and settling which rival union was in control. Most strikes were of very short duration. In times of depression strikes were more violent but less successful, because
2783-502: The 1890s. They consolidated their power in 1916, after threatening a national strike, by securing the Adamson Act , a federal law that provided 10 hours pay for an eight-hour day. At the end of World War I they promoted nationalization of the railroads, and conducted a national strike in 1919. Both programs failed, and the brotherhoods were largely stagnant in the 1920s. They generally were independent politically, but supported
2904-651: 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 (CIO). It established the United Steel Workers of America 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
3025-500: The AFL, yet was widely criticized as he called nationwide coal strikes damaging the American economy in the middle of World War II. Coal miners for 40 years hailed him as the benevolent dictator who brought high wages, pensions and medical benefits. 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: By June
3146-492: The AFL. The UMW grew to 800,000 members and was an element in the New Deal Coalition supporting Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt . 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
3267-758: The American Federation of Labor, the WFM spawned new federations, including the Western Labor Union (later renamed to the American Labor Union ). The WFM took a conservative turn in the aftermath of the Colorado Labor Wars and the trials of its president, Charles Moyer , and its secretary treasurer, Big Bill Haywood , for the conspiratorial assassination of Idaho's former governor. Although both were found innocent,
3388-440: The Court of Star Chamber early in the 17th century. The precedent was solidified in 1721 by R v Journeymen Tailors of Cambridge , which found tailors guilty of a conspiracy to raise wages. Leonard Levy went so far as to refer to Hunt as the " Magna Carta of American trade-unionism", illustrating its perceived standing as the major point of divergence in the American and English legal treatment of unions which, "removed
3509-488: The IWW allowed men and women as members, and organized workers of all races and nationalities, without regard to current employment status. At its peak it had 150,000 members (with 200,000 membership cards issued between 1905 and 1916 ), but it was fiercely repressed during, and especially after, World War I with many of its members killed, about 10,000 organizers imprisoned, and thousands more deported as foreign agitators. In 1927
3630-598: The IWW also led a successful Colorado general coal strike for better conditions. The IWW proved that unskilled workers could be organized. The IWW exists today, but its most significant impact was during its first two decades of existence. In 1908 the US Supreme Court decided Loewe v. Lawlor (the Danbury Hatters' Case). In 1902 the Hatters' Union instituted a nationwide boycott of the hats made by
3751-518: The IWW organized a strike of more than twenty thousand textile workers , and by 1917 the Agricultural Workers Organization (AWO) of the IWW claimed a hundred thousand itinerant farm workers in the heartland of North America. Eventually the concept of One Big Union spread from dock workers to maritime workers, and thus was communicated to many different parts of the world. Dedicated to workplace and economic democracy ,
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3872-666: The Knights were unable to handle so much on their plate at once, and because they took a smashing blow in the aftermath of the Haymarket affair in May 1886 in Chicago. The Haymarket affair started as a strike organized by the Knights at the McCormick Reaper Factory in Chicago. Along with the McCormick strike, on May 1, 80,000 mostly immigrant workers led a general strike in Chicago, along with 340,000 workers in
3993-524: 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. 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
4114-633: The National Progressive Miners Union. Adopting the model of 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 ; and to provide miners with collective bargaining power. After passage of the National Recovery Act in 1933 during the Great Depression , organizers spread throughout
4235-533: 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
4356-629: The Red Cross as volunteers to help soldiers and their families, and with rare exceptions, women did not protest the draft. The United States Department of Labor created a Women in Industry group, headed by prominent labor researcher and social scientist Mary van Kleeck . This group helped develop standards for women who were working in industries connected to the war, alongside the War Labor Policies Board , of which van Kleeck
4477-467: The United States to organize all coal miners into labor unions. Under the powerful leadership of John L. Lewis , 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
4598-415: The United States was becoming increasingly inegalitarian to the point of becoming like old Europe, and "further and further away from its original pioneering ideal." Nationwide from 1890 to 1914 the unionized wages in manufacturing rose from $ 17.63 a week to $ 21.37, and the average work week fell from 54.4 to 48.8 hours a week. The pay for all factory workers was $ 11.94 and $ 15.84 because unions reached only
4719-529: 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
4840-666: The WFM, headed by Moyer, separated itself from the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) (launched by Haywood and other labor radicals, socialists, and anarchists in 1905) just a few years after that organization's founding convention . In 1916 the WFM became the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers , which was eventually absorbed by the United Steelworkers of America . During
4961-469: The West to oppose any support for nations at war with Nazi Germany.) Lewis was an effective strike leader who gained high wages for his membership while suppressing his opponents, including the United States government. He 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
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5082-610: The antitrust prohibition and established for the first time the Congressional principle that "the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce". However, judicial interpretation so weakened it that prosecutions of labor under the antitrust acts continued until the enactment of the Norris-La Guardia Act in 1932. State legislation 1912–1918: 36 states adopted the principle of workmen's compensation for all industrial accidents. Also: prohibition of
5203-413: The autonomy of each trade union affiliated with it and limiting membership to workers and organizations made up of workers, unlike the Knights which, because of its producerist focus, welcomed some who were not wage workers. The AFL grew steadily in the late 19th century while the Knights all but disappeared. Although Gompers at first advocated something like industrial unionism , he retreated from that in
5324-404: The birth of a pro-democracy movement called the " Miners for Democracy " (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 , 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
5445-558: The cause and lobbied for minimum wages and restrictions on hours of work and child labor. Also under Dreier's leadership, they were able to pass crucial legislation for wage workers, and establish new safety regulations. In 1911, a fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Manhattan, New York City . Due to the lack of fire safety measures in the building, 146 primarily female workers were killed in
5566-470: The colonial period were temporary and isolated, and rarely resulted in the formation of permanent groups of laborers for negotiation purposes. Little legal recourse was available to those injured by the unrest, because strikes were not typically considered illegal. The only known case of criminal prosecution of workers in the colonial era occurred as a result of a carpenters' strike in Savannah in 1746. By
5687-496: The company was losing money anyway. They were successful in times of prosperity when the company was losing profits and wanted to settle quickly. The Federation made some efforts to obtain favorable legislation, but had little success in organizing or chartering new unions. It came out in support of the proposal, traditionally attributed to Peter J. McGuire of the Carpenters Union, for a national Labor Day holiday on
5808-409: 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
5929-513: 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,
6050-400: The contracts under which they worked. 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
6171-414: 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
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#17327908405636292-410: 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 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
6413-641: The early 19th century, the career path for most artisans still involved apprenticeship under a master, followed by moving into independent production. However, over the course of the Industrial Revolution , this model rapidly changed, particularly in the major metropolitan areas. For instance, in Boston in 1790, the vast majority of the 1,300 artisans in the city described themselves as "master workman". By 1815, journeymen workers without independent means of production had displaced these "masters" as
6534-413: The embodiment of the democratic promise of the revolution. In ruling that a combination to raise wages was per se illegal, recorder Moses Levy strongly disagreed, writing that "[t]he acts of the legislature form but a small part of that code from which the citizen is to learn his duties ... [i]t is in the volumes of the common law we are to seek for information in the far greater number, as well as
6655-407: The employment of women in war-related industries through recruitment drives. As a result, women not only began working in heavy industry, but also took other jobs traditionally reserved solely for men, such as railway guards, ticket collectors, bus and tram conductors, postal workers, police officers, firefighters, and clerks. World War I saw women taking traditionally men's jobs in large numbers for
6776-537: The entire ARU struck the railroads on June 26, 1894. Within four days, 125,000 workers on twenty-nine railroads had people quit work rather than handle Pullman cars. Strikers and their supporters also engaged in riots and sabotage . The railroads were able to get Edwin Walker, general counsel for the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway , appointed as a special federal attorney with responsibility for dealing with
6897-399: The face of opposition from the craft unions that made up most of the AFL. The unions of the AFL were composed primarily of skilled men; unskilled workers, African-Americans, and women were generally excluded. The AFL saw women as threatening the jobs of men, since they often worked for lower wages. The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was created in 1893. Frequently in competition with
7018-612: The federal court order, and the ARU disintegrated. Australian historian Peter Shergold confirms the findings of many scholars that the standard of living for US industrial workers was higher than in Europe. He compares wages and the standard of living in Pittsburgh with Birmingham, England . He finds that, after taking into account the cost of living (which was 65 percent higher in the US),
7139-675: 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 people 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
7260-517: The fines were typically modest. One of the central themes of the cases prior to the landmark decision in Commonwealth v. Hunt , 45 Mass. 111 (1842), which settled the legality of unions , was the applicability of the English common law in post-revolutionary America. Whether the English common law applied—and in particular whether the common law notion that a conspiracy to raise wages
7381-482: The first Monday in September. It also threw itself behind the eight hour movement, which sought to limit the workday by either legislation or union negotiation. In 1886, as the relations between the trade union movement and the Knights of Labor worsened, McGuire and other union leaders called for a convention to be held at Columbus, Ohio, on December 8. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions merged with
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#17327908405637502-494: The first time in American history . Many women worked on the assembly lines of factories, producing trucks and munitions, while department stores employed African American women as elevator operators and cafeteria waitresses for the first time. The Food Administration helped housewives prepare more nutritious meals with less waste and with optimum use of the foods available. Morale of women remained high, as millions joined
7623-567: The first women to work in an underground coal mine in the United States. They were the first female members of UMWA to work inside a mine. Cherry and Baldwin were hired by the Beth-Elkhorn Coal Company in Jenkins, Kentucky . However, more pervasive were hiring practices discriminatory against women. The superstition that a woman even entering a mine was bad luck and resulted in disaster was pervasive among male miners. In 1978
7744-426: The general welfare of the community. Commonwealth v. Morrow continued to refine this standard, stating that, "an agreement of two or more to the prejudice of the rights of others or of society" would be illegal. Another line of cases, led by Justice John Gibson of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania 's decision in Commonwealth v. Carlisle , held that motive of the combination, rather than simply its existence,
7865-420: The incident. This incident led to a movement to increase safety measures in factories. It also was an opportunity for the Women's Trade Union League to open conversation for the conditions of women's workplaces in the labor movement. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members became known as "Wobblies", was founded in Chicago in 1905 by a group of about 30 labor radicals. Their most prominent leader
7986-570: 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
8107-430: The leadership of Samuel Gompers . Like the National Labor Union , it was a federation of different unions and did not directly enroll workers. Its original goals were to encourage the formation of trade unions and to obtain legislation, such as prohibition of child labor, a national eight-hour workday, and exclusion of Chinese and other foreign contract workers. Strikes organized by labor unions became routine events by
8228-405: The leadership of Terence V. Powderly they championed a variety of causes, sometimes through political or cooperative ventures. Powderly hoped to gain their ends through politics and education rather than through economic coercion. The Knights were especially successful in developing a working class culture , involving women, families, sports, and leisure activities and educational projects for
8349-444: 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. In the summer of 1973, workers at the Duke Power -owned Eastover Mining Company's Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, Kentucky , voted to join the union. Eastover management refused to sign
8470-465: The majority. By that time journeymen also outnumbered masters in New York City and Philadelphia. This shift occurred as a result of large-scale transatlantic and rural-urban migration. Migration into the coastal cities created a larger population of potential laborers, which in turn allowed controllers of capital to invest in labor-intensive enterprises on a larger scale. Craft workers found that these changes launched them into competition with each other to
8591-431: The membership. The Knights strongly promoted their version of republicanism that stressed the centrality of free labor, preaching harmony and cooperation among producers, as opposed to parasites and speculators. One of the earliest railroad strikes was also one of the most successful. In 1885, the Knights of Labor led railroad workers to victory against Jay Gould and his entire southwestern railway system, consisting of
8712-698: The miners for a union which could withstand and help protect the workers' rights. 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 , 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. This union
8833-428: 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
8954-473: The more skilled factory workers. The United Mine Workers was successful in its strike against soft coal mines in the Midwest in 1900, but its strike against the hard coal mines of Pennsylvania turned into a national political crisis in 1902 . President Theodore Roosevelt brokered a compromise solution that kept the flow of coal going, and higher wages and shorter hours, but did not include recognition of
9075-578: The most important causes that come before our tribunals." As a result of the spate of convictions against combinations of laborers, the typical narrative of early American labor law states that, prior to Hunt in Massachusetts in 1842, peaceable combinations of workingmen to raise wages, shorten hours or ensure employment, were illegal in the United States, as they had been under English common law. In England , criminal conspiracy laws were first held to include combinations in restraint of trade in
9196-400: 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. This Union was formed by members of the Knights of Labor who realized that
9317-412: The new organization, known as the American Federation of Labor or AFL, formed at that convention. The AFL was formed in large part because of the dissatisfaction of many trade union leaders with the Knights of Labor, an organization that contained many trade unions and that had played a leading role in some of the largest strikes of the era. The new AFL distinguished itself from the Knights by emphasizing
9438-429: The next actions to take. In 1888, Samuel Gompers 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
9559-412: 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 was elected the leader of the UMW. Trumka spent the 1980s healing the rift between the UMW and the now-conjoined AFL–CIO (which
9680-520: The powerful Council of National Defense , where he set up the War Committee on Labor. The AFL membership soared to 2.4 million in 1917. Anti-war socialists controlled the IWW , which fought against the war effort and was in turn shut down by legal action of the federal government. During WWI, large numbers of women were recruited into jobs that had either been vacated by men who had gone to fight in
9801-464: 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,
9922-437: 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. The UMWA constitution listed eleven points as the union's goals: John L. Lewis (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
10043-480: The rapid growth and consolidation of large railroad systems after 1870, union organizations sprang up, covering the entire nation. By 1901, 17 major railway brotherhoods were in operation; they generally worked amicably with management, which recognized their usefulness. Key unions included the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE), Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Division (BMWED), the Order of Railway Conductors ,
10164-530: The rest of the United States. Attending the strike were a rising movement of armed anarchists formed as a result of the police violence of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 . While beginning relatively peacefully, police and strikers began to clash. As strikers rallied against the McCormick plant, a team of political anarchists, who were not Knights, tried to piggyback support among striking Knights workers. A bomb exploded as police were dispersing
10285-506: The standard of living of unskilled workers was about the same in the two cities, while skilled workers had about twice as high a standard of living. The American advantage grew over time from 1890 to 1914, and there was a heavy steady flow of skilled workers from Britain to industrial America. Shergold revealed that skilled Americans did earn higher wages than the British, yet unskilled workers did not, while Americans worked longer hours, with
10406-404: The stigma of criminality from labor organizations". However, case law in America prior to Hunt was mixed. Pullis was actually unusual in strictly following the English common law and holding that a combination to raise wages was by itself illegal. More often combination cases prior to Hunt did not hold that unions were illegal per se , but rather found some other justification for
10527-539: The strike. Walker went to federal court and obtained an injunction barring union leaders from supporting the boycott in any way. The court injunction was based on the Sherman Anti-Trust Act which prohibited "Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States". Debs and other leaders of the ARU ignored the injunction, and federal troops were called into action. The strike
10648-573: The study of organized labor. By most measures, the strength of organized labor has declined in the United States over recent decades. The history of labor disputes in America substantially precedes the Revolutionary period. In 1636, for instance, there was a fishermen's strike on an island off the coast of Maine and in 1677 twelve carmen were fined for going on strike in New York City . However, most instances of labor unrest during
10769-470: The third party campaign of Robert M. La Follette in 1924. The first effective labor organization that was more than regional in membership and influence was the Knights of Labor , organized in 1869. The Knights believed in the unity of the interests of all producing groups and sought to enlist in their ranks not only all laborers but everyone who could be truly classified as a producer. The acceptance of all producers led to explosive growth after 1880. Under
10890-456: 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
11011-497: The union . Led by J. B. McLachlan , 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 stores and that wages would be cut by 20%. The miners responded with a strike. This led to violence with company police firing on strikers, killing miner William Davis , as well as
11132-531: The union as a bargaining agent. The Women's Trade Union League , formed in 1903, was the first labor organization dedicated to helping working women. It did not organize them into locals; its goal was to support the AFL and encourage more women to join labor unions. It was composed of both working women and middle-class reformers, and provided financial assistance, moral support, and training in work skills and social refinement for blue-collar women. Most active in 1907–1922 under Margaret Dreier Robins , it publicized
11253-564: 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. Diana Baldwin and Anita Cherry , hired as miners in 1973, are believed to have been
11374-429: The union did not deliver what it had promised, it lost support and members. 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
11495-552: The union into the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Lewis was a Republican, but he played a major role in helping Franklin D. Roosevelt 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 had instructed communist parties in
11616-491: The union to pay damages of $ 252,130. (The cost of lawyers had already exceeded $ 100,000, paid by the AFL). This was not a typical case in which a few union leaders were punished with short terms in jail; specifically, the life savings of several hundreds of the members were attached. The lower court ruling established a major precedent, and became a serious issue for the unions. The Clayton Act of 1914 presumably exempted unions from
11737-469: 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 . In the 1870s Gowen lead the Reading Railroad , 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
11858-466: The union's membership, but it was poorly organized and soon declined. They fought encroachments of machinery and unskilled labor on autonomy of skilled shoe workers. One provision in the Crispin constitution explicitly sought to limit the entry of "green hands" into the trade, but this failed because the new machines could be operated by semi-skilled workers and produce more shoes than hand sewing. With
11979-412: 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
12100-404: 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. At some point before 1930, the UMW became a member of the American Federation of Labor . The UMW leadership was part of
12221-633: The use of an industrial poison, several states require one day's rest in seven, the beginning of effective prohibition of night work, of maximum limits upon the length of the working day, and of minimum wage laws for women. On 23 September 1913, the United Mine Workers of America declared a strike against the Rockefeller -owned Colorado Fuel and Iron , in what is better known as the Colorado Coalfield War . The peak of
12342-522: The violence came after months of back-and-forth murders that culminated in the 20 April 1914 Ludlow Massacre that killed over a dozen women and children when Colorado National Guard opened fire on a striker encampment at Ludlow . The strike is considered the deadliest labor unrest in American history. Samuel Gompers and nearly all labor unions were strong supporters of the war effort. They used their leverage to gain recognition and higher wages. They minimized strikes as wages soared and full employment
12463-430: The war, or had been created as part of the war effort. The high demand for weapons and the overall wartime situation resulted in munitions factories collectively becoming the largest employer of American women by 1918. While there was initial resistance to hiring women for jobs traditionally held by men, the war made the need for labor so urgent that women were hired in large numbers and the government even actively promoted
12584-541: 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. The UMW was founded at Columbus City Hall in Columbus, Ohio , on January 25, 1890, by the merger of two earlier groups, the Knights of Labor Trade Assembly No. 135 and the National Progressive Miners Union. It
12705-416: The wealthiest 1 percent owned 51 percent, while the bottom 44 percent claimed 1.1 percent. Historian Howard Zinn argues that this disparity along with precarious working and living conditions for the working classes prompted the rise of populist , anarchist , and socialist movements. French economist Thomas Piketty notes that economists during this time, such as Willford I. King , were concerned that
12826-446: The workforce. This legal strategy was successful. Almost 3,000 women were hired by the close of 1979 as underground miners. 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
12947-472: Was William "Big Bill" Haywood . The IWW pioneered creative tactics , and organized along the lines of industrial unionism rather than craft unionism; in fact, they went even further, pursuing the goal of " One Big Union " and the abolition of the wage system. Many, though not all, Wobblies favored anarcho-syndicalism . Much of the IWW's organizing took place in the West, and most of its early members were miners, lumbermen, cannery, and dock workers. In 1912
13068-430: Was broken up by United States Marshals and some 2,000 United States Army troops, commanded by Nelson Miles , sent in by President Grover Cleveland on the premise that the strike interfered with the delivery of US Mail . During the course of the strike, 13 strikers were killed and 57 were wounded. An estimated $ 340,000 worth of property damage occurred during the strike. Debs went to prison for six months for violating
13189-722: 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. Throughout the years, the UMW has taken political stands and supported candidates to help achieve union goals. Labor history of the United States The nature and power of organized labor in the United States is the outcome of historical tensions among counter-acting forces involving workplace rights, wages, working hours, political expression, labor laws , and other working conditions. Organized unions and their umbrella labor federations such as
13310-420: 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
13431-471: Was illegal applied—was frequently the subject of debate between the defense and the prosecution. For instance, in Commonwealth v. Pullis , 3 Doc. Hist. 59 (1806), a case against a combination of journeymen cordwainers in Philadelphia for conspiracy to raise their wages, the defense attorneys referred to the common law as arbitrary and unknowable and instead praised the legislature as
13552-418: Was invariably whether workmen in combination would be permitted to use their collective bargaining power to obtain benefits—increased wages , decreased hours, or improved conditions—which were beyond their ability to obtain as individuals. The cases overwhelmingly resulted in convictions. However, in most instances the plaintiffs' desire was to establish favorable precedent , not to impose harsh penalties, and
13673-460: 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 , on January 25, 1890, with the merger of two old labor groups, the Knights of Labor Trade Assembly No. 135 and
13794-401: Was modeled after the American Federation of Labor (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
13915-500: Was more commonly known as the Knights of Labor and began around 1870 in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 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
14036-476: 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
14157-609: Was reached. To keep factories running smoothly, Wilson established the National War Labor Board in 1918, which forced management to negotiate with existing unions. The AFL unions and the railway brotherhoods strongly encouraged their young men to enlist in the United States Armed Forces . They fiercely opposed efforts to reduce recruiting and slow war production by the anti-war IWW and left-wing Socialists. President Wilson appointed Gompers to
14278-487: Was shot and killed by a Strikebreaker . 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 . The Pittston Coal strike of 1989-1990 began as
14399-457: Was the Workingmen's Benevolent Association . This union was distinguished as a labor union for workers mining anthracite 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 , who sought a way both to increase miners benefits while also helping the operators earn a profit. They chose to limit
14520-478: Was the first national labor federation in the United States. It was dissolved in 1872. The regional Order of the Knights of St. Crispin was founded in the northeast in 1867 and claimed 50,000 members by 1870, by far the largest union in the country. A closely associated union of women, the Daughters of St. Crispin , formed in 1870. In 1879 the Knights formally admitted women, who by 1886 constituted 10 percent of
14641-495: Was the key to illegality. Gibson wrote, "Where the act is lawful for an individual, it can be the subject of a conspiracy, when done in concert, only where there is a direct intention that injury shall result from it". Still other courts rejected Pullis ' rule of per se illegality in favor of a rule that asked whether the combination was a but-for cause of injury . Thus, as economist Edwin Witte stated, "The doctrine that
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