Coal Miners on Strike

by The Militant newsweekly

Articles on the 111-day 1977-78 strike, the 1981 strike and contract rejection vote, the United Mine Workers and the fight against nuclear power, the fight for health benefits and compensation to Black Lung victims, and more. Photos.

78 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1999

Reviews

[Marc Lichtman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Today far less coal is used in the United States and many other countries. There are cleaner ways to generate energy, which doesn't mean they're being used. The United Mine Workers of America was one of the first unions in the US to organize Black workers. During World War II, it was the only major union to break Roosevelt's No Strike Pledge. While John L. Lewis at times could sound quite militant, he ruled the union in authoritarian fashion from 1920-60.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s a number of groups were formed around the problem of Black Lung, as well as union issues. These coalesced into the Miners for Democracy, and it won elections and took control of the union, with policies that made it possible for workers to refuse to do unsafe work and shut down a mine over the question. Publicizing the issue of Black Lung, the union was able to win legislation that set up neighborhood clinics in the coal areas, where there had been little medical care previously. Many other gains were registered, and this pamphlet will tell you about them, as well as telling you about some of the major strikes in this period.

For years the workers in this and all unions were forced into retreat as the labor bureaucracy thought they could win more with supporting Democratic Party politicians than by organizing workers (much less building a labor party). But today, as a new Pathfinder Press book argues, The Low Point of Labor Resistance is Behind Us: The Socialist Workers Party Looks Forward.

For the earlier history of the UMWA see 'American Labor Struggles,' 'Labor's Giant Step,' and 'Mother Jones Speaks.' For how the labor militancy in West Virginia and the coal region influenced the teachers strikes of 2018, see In Defense of the U.S. Working Class.

For why the Socialist Workers Party no longer supports the "clean coal" position outlined in the pamphlet, see Our Politics Start with the World.

[Austin Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little dry, but ends with reasons for why there needs to be a Labor Party rather than our two-party system.

I've been having lots of fun going through Pathfinder's catalog. Lots of their books that are $24 new are sell on amazon for a total of $4.