United Mine Workers of America

Asociación de Mineros Estadounidenses

El primer paso para iniciar el sindicato fue la creación de la Asociación Americana de Mineros . Los académicos atribuyen a esta organización el inicio del movimiento obrero en los Estados Unidos. ^{[ 2 ]} La membresía del grupo creció rápidamente. "De un estimado de 56,000 mineros en 1865, John Hinchcliffe afirmó que 22,000 eran miembros de la AMA. ^{[ 2 ]} En respuesta, los dueños de las minas intentaron impedir que la AMA se volviera más poderosa. Los miembros de la AMA fueron despedidos y vetados para trabajar en otras minas. Después de un corto tiempo, la AMA comenzó a declinar y finalmente cesó sus operaciones.

Asociación Benéfica de Trabajadores

Otro sindicato temprano que surgió en 1868 fue la Asociación Benéfica de Trabajadores (Workers's Benevolent Association, WBA) . Este sindicato se distinguió por representar a los trabajadores de las minas de carbón de antracita . Los trabajadores formaron la WBA para mejorar los salarios y las condiciones laborales. La principal razón del éxito de este grupo fue su presidente, John Siney , quien buscaba una manera de aumentar los beneficios de los mineros y, al mismo tiempo, ayudar a los operadores a obtener ganancias. Optaron por limitar la producción de antracita para mantener su precio rentable. Dado que los esfuerzos de la WBA beneficiaban a los operadores, estos no se opusieron cuando el sindicato quiso tomar medidas en las minas; incluso acogieron con beneplácito las acciones que asegurarían sus ganancias. Debido a la confianza que los operadores tenían en la WBA, aceptaron el primer contrato escrito entre mineros y operadores. ^{[ 2 ]} A medida que el sindicato ganaba mayor responsabilidad ante los ojos de los operadores, se le otorgaron más libertades. Como resultado, la salud y el ánimo de los mineros mejoraron significativamente. ^{[ 2 ]}

La WBA podría haber sido un sindicato muy exitoso de no ser por Franklin B. Gowen . En la década de 1870, Gowen dirigió el ferrocarril Reading y compró varias minas de carbón en la zona. Al ser propietario de las minas y controlar los medios de transporte del carbón, logró destruir gradualmente el sindicato. Hizo todo lo posible por producir el producto más barato y asegurarse de que los trabajadores no sindicalizados se beneficiaran. A medida que las condiciones de los mineros de la WBA empeoraban, el sindicato se disolvió y desapareció. ^{[ 2 ]}

Tras la caída de la WBA, los mineros crearon muchos otros sindicatos pequeños, entre ellos la Asociación de Protección de los Trabajadores (WPA) y la Asociación Nacional de Mineros (MNA). Si bien ambos grupos tenían ideas y objetivos sólidos, no lograron obtener el apoyo y la organización suficientes para tener éxito. Los dos sindicatos no duraron mucho, pero proporcionaron un mayor respaldo por parte de los mineros a un sindicato que pudiera resistir y ayudar a proteger los derechos de los trabajadores. ^{[ 2 ]}

Aunque muchos sindicatos estaban en decadencia, surgieron dos sindicatos predominantes que prometían convertirse en defensores firmes y permanentes de los mineros. El principal problema durante este período fue la rivalidad entre ambos grupos. Debido a la fuerte oposición entre la Asamblea Nacional de Sindicatos n.° 135, más conocida como los Caballeros del Trabajo , y la Federación Nacional de Mineros y Trabajadores Mineros, crearon problemas para los mineros en lugar de resolver los problemas clave.

Asamblea Nacional de Comercio n.° 135

Este sindicato, más conocido como los Caballeros del Trabajo, se fundó alrededor de 1870 en la zona de Filadelfia, Pensilvania . El principal problema de los Caballeros del Trabajo era su secretismo. ^{[ 2 ]} Sus miembros mantenían en secreto su afiliación y los objetivos del sindicato. Dado que tanto mineros como operadores podían afiliarse, no existía un denominador común que los uniera. Además, el sindicato no consideraba las huelgas como un medio para obtener derechos. Para muchos en aquella época, una huelga era la única forma de hacerse oír.

Los Caballeros del Trabajo intentaron establecer un sindicato fuerte y organizado, por lo que crearon un sistema de asambleas locales (AL). Existían dos tipos principales de AL: gremiales y mixtas, siendo las gremiales gremiales las más comunes. Si bien este sistema se implementó para crear orden, tuvo el efecto contrario. A pesar de que solo había dos categorías de AL, existían numerosas subdivisiones. En general, era imposible saber cuántas AL gremiales y mixtas existían en un momento dado. Las asambleas locales comenzaron a surgir y desaparecer por doquier, y muchos miembros empezaron a cuestionar si los Caballeros del Trabajo eran lo suficientemente fuertes como para luchar por la cuestión más importante del momento: lograr la jornada laboral de ocho horas. ^{[ 2 ]}

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 was elected as President of the National Federation of Miners, and George Harris first vice president.^[6]

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.^[2]

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.^[2]

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, 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.
• 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.^[2]

• Morewood massacre – April 3, 1891, in Morewood, Pennsylvania. 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 – 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%^[2] 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 – September 10, 1897. 19 miners were killed by police in Lattimer, Pennsylvania, during a march in support of unions.
• Battle of Virden – 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.

• The five-month Coal Strike of 1902, led by the United Mine Workers and centered in eastern Pennsylvania, ended after direct intervention of President Theodore Roosevelt 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 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 (1907) by Morris Friedman, which revealed that the UMWA had been infiltrated by labor spies from the Pinkerton agency.^[12]
• 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, 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.^[13][14][15]
• Westmoreland County Coal Strike – 1910–1911, a 16-month coal strike in Pennsylvania 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.
• Guerra de los Campos Carboníferos de Colorado – Septiembre de 1913–Diciembre de 1914. Una huelga frecuentemente violenta contra la compañía John D. Rockefeller Jr. - Colorado Fuel and Iron . Muchos huelguistas y opositores fueron asesinados antes de que la violencia alcanzara su punto álgido tras la Masacre de Ludlow del 20 de abril de 1914. Se estima que 20 personas, entre ellas mujeres y niños, fueron asesinadas por policías armados, sicarios y miembros de la Guardia Nacional de Colorado que desmantelaron un campamento de tiendas de campaña formado por familias de mineros desalojadas de las viviendas propiedad de la compañía. La huelga fue liderada en parte por John R. Lawson , organizador del sindicato UMWA, y contó con la participación de la famosa activista Mother Jones . El UMWA adquirió parte del terreno de Ludlow y construyó el Monumento a Ludlow en memoria de los fallecidos.
• Disturbios en la mina de carbón de Hartford – Julio de 1914. La planta de superficie de la mina de carbón Prairie Creek fue destruida y dos mineros no sindicalizados fueron asesinados por mineros sindicalizados y simpatizantes. Los propietarios de la mina demandaron a las organizaciones locales y nacionales del Sindicato Unido de Mineros (UMWA). El UMWA nacional fue declarado inocente, pero la organización local fue considerada culpable de incitar a los amotinados y se le impuso una multa de 2,1 millones de dólares estadounidenses. ^{[ 16 ]}

• Huelga de mineros del United Mine Workers de 1919 – 1 de noviembre de 1919. Unos 400.000 miembros del United Mine Workers se declararon en huelga el 1 de noviembre de 1919, a pesar de que el fiscal general A. Mitchell Palmer había invocado la Ley Lever , una medida de tiempos de guerra que penalizaba la interferencia con la producción o el transporte de bienes de primera necesidad, y obtuvo una orden judicial contra la huelga el 31 de octubre. ^{[ 17 ] [ 18 ]} Los empresarios mineros difamaron a los huelguistas acusándolos de haber ordenado y financiado la huelga a los líderes comunistas rusos Lenin y Trotsky , y algunos medios de comunicación repitieron esas afirmaciones. ^{[ 19 ]}
• Matewan, Virginia Occidental – 19 de mayo de 1920. Doce hombres murieron en un tiroteo entre los habitantes del pueblo y la Agencia de Detectives Baldwin-Felts , contratada por los dueños de las minas. El director John Sayles dirigió la película Matewan , basada en estos hechos.
• 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. In the Battle of Blair Mountain, 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 left 16 men dead; one black man was lynched.
• 1922 UMW General coal strike, On April 1, 1922, 610,000 mine workers struck nationwide, shutting down the majority of operations within the country.
• Herrin massacre occurred in June 1922 in Herrin, Illinois. 19 strikebreakers and 3 union miners were killed in mob action between June 21–22, 1922.

In the 1920s, about 12,000 Nova Scotia miners were represented by the UMWA.^[20] 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.^[20] BESCO was in financial difficulties and repeatedly attempted to reduce wages and bust 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.^[20]

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 the looting and arson of company property.^[20]

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.^[20]

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 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.

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 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 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.^[4] 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.^[4] 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.

Los mineros trabajaron desde enero de 1988 hasta abril de 1989 sin contrato. La tensión en la empresa aumentó y el 5 de abril de 1989, los trabajadores declararon la huelga. ^{[ 4 ]} Durante muchos meses se produjeron acciones de huelga, tanto violentas como pacíficas. El 20 de febrero de 1990 se llegó finalmente a un acuerdo entre el UMWA y la Pittston Coal Company.

Diana Baldwin and Anita Cherry, hired as miners in 1973, are believed to have been 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.^[22][23][24] Cherry and Baldwin were hired by the Beth-Elkhorn Coal Company in Jenkins, Kentucky.^[25][26] 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.^[27]

In 1978 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 the workforce. This legal strategy was successful. Almost 3,000 women were hired by the close of 1979 as underground miners.^[28]

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.^[29]

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.^[2]

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.^[2] As of the early 2000s, the union represents about 42 percent of all employed miners.^[2]

En 2008, el UMWA apoyó a Barack Obama como el mejor candidato para ayudar a lograr más derechos para los mineros. ^{[ 39 ]}

En 2012, el Consejo Nacional COMPAC de la UMWA no respaldó a ningún candidato en las elecciones para Presidente de los Estados Unidos, citando: "Ninguno de los candidatos ha demostrado aún que estará del lado de los miembros de la UMWA y sus familias como presidente". ^{[ 40 ]}

En 2014, la UMWA respaldó a la demócrata de Kentucky Alison Lundergan Grimes para el Senado de los Estados Unidos . ^{[ 41 ]}

En 2023, la UMWA respaldó al demócrata Andy Beshear para las elecciones a gobernador de Kentucky de ^{2023. [ 42} ]

• John B. Rae – 1890–1892
• John McBride – 1892–1895
• Phil Penna – 1895–1896
• Michael Ratchford – 1897–1898
• John Mitchell – 1898–1907
• Thomas Lewis – 1908–1910
• John White – 1911–1917
• Frank Hayes – 1917–1920
• John L. Lewis – 1920–1960
• Thomas Kennedy – 1960–1963
• WA "Tony" Boyle – 1963–1972
• Arnold Miller – 1972–1979
• Sam Church – 1979–1982
• Richard Trumka – 1982–1995
• Cecil Roberts – 1995–present

1890: William H. Turner

1891: Phil Penna

1895: Cameron Miller

1897: John Kane

1898: John Mitchell

1899: Thomas W. Davis

1900: Thomas Lewis

1908: John White

1910: Frank Hayes

1917: John L. Lewis

1920: Philip Murray

1942: John O'Leary

1947: Thomas Kennedy

1960: W. A. Boyle

1963: Raymond Lewis

1965: George J. Titler

1972: Mike Trbovich

1977: Sam Church

1980: Wilbert Killion

1982: Cecil Roberts

1995: Post divided

1890: Robert Watchorn^[43]

1891: Patrick McBryde^[43]

1896: William Charles Pearce^[43]

1900: William Bauchop Wilson^[43]

1908: William D. Ryan^[43]

1909: Edwin Perry^[43]

1913: William Green^[43]

1924: Thomas Kennedy^[43]

1947: John Owens

1972: Harry Patrick

1977: Willard A. Esselstyn

1982: John Banovic

1991: Jerry D. Jones

1995: Carlo Tarley

2005: Daniel J. Kane

2017: Bob Scaramozzino

2017: Levi Allen

2021: Brian Sanson

• 5 – Western Pennsylvania
• 6 – Ohio
• 11 – Indiana
• 12 – Illinois
• 17 – West Virginia
• 19 – Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee^[2]

• 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^[2]

• 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^[2]
• 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

• 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)^[44]
• 30 – Eastern Kentucky
• 31 – Northern West Virginia^[2]

• 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^[45]