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The UMWA in Illinois
Jacob Cook One of the largest industries in Illinois is coal mining. Thousands of jobs have been created as a result of this huge industry. These jobs, however, have not always been what they are today. For example, years ago the miners in Illinois had to work under very harsh conditions with very little pay. The mine companies had total control over their workers' lives because they owned the mining towns and practically everything within it. They forced the workers and their families to buy food and other necessities in company-owned stores by paying miners in script or coupons that were redeemable only at these stores. They had drastically higher prices than other general stores, and they did not necessarily sell quality products. The mine companies even forced their workers to buy their own tools and pay for the maintenance of them. They even had to buy oil for the lamps they used underground for light. So in the end they were paid virtually nothing. The mines were often a very dangerous place to work. Miners had to trust the wooden planks they installed overhead to protect themselves from the roof caving in. The falling rocks often would trap, injure, or kill workers because no one could find them in the rubble. The miners also had to deal with extremely low oxygen levels. They could not take oxygen for granted because carbon dioxide, a harmful gas, is found in underground coal deposits. The carbon dioxide also caused another problem. It could cause explosions. This occurred most often with oil from miners' lamps. The explosions were yet another serious threat that the miners had to avoid. They also would occasionally strike an underground stream or creek that could cause flooding. Another precaution they had to take was to always watch the weather. If they were due for a heavy rain they would have to be extra cautious. This was the same for when weather warmed up and snow melted. Mine workers could not stand this terrible treatment any longer. In 1890 the first nationwide union
was formed to fight unfair wages and company stores. The newly organized United Mine Workers of America also railed against living in company-owned towns which obviously had company stores within them. At first the mine unions had basically no effect on company owners because when union members went on strike the companies would take their homes. Then workers did not have money or homes. This was not just happening in Illinois, but in most of the coal-mining states across the nation. Eventually the miners began to gain power because not as many union members lived in the company towns, so many of the company stores went out of business. This caused the mine companies to lose a powerful way to prevent strikes. Over the years the unions kept gaining more and more power. Eventually they gained a healthy leverage over mine companies. Miners would strike repeatedly and the mine companies often had to give them what they wanted or face loss of business and the inability to distribute their product. This happened even more in Illinois. Illinois miners acted independently from union activity. This first occurred when John Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) began to try to restore the old central competitive coal field. The Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana union operators signed the agreement, but Illinois would not. This marked the beginning of Illinois "exceptionalism" that has marked their union activities since then.
Illinois exceptionalism mixed independence with a strong sense of competitiveness in wages. Illinois often paid higher wages to coal miners; hence, miners from other states came to work in Illinois. In the middle of all the union advances the company owners had to grit their teeth and come up with a solution to get back to the old company-run mines. When strikes first occurred, the coal companies fired all the union workers and replaced them with company men who would work under existing conditions and accept pay that the union members would not. These workers were known as "strikebreakers" or "scabs" to union strikers. This strikebreaker system led to the passage of the Miners Qualification Law. This law was meant for safety purposes, but it prevented strikebreaking. The law stated that all new miners must have at least two years experience in mining and pass a test. Most of the original strikebreakers had been foreigners who had no experience in mining, so they could no longer get jobs during strikes. In 1922 a tragic incident occurred at a new mine in Herrin, Illinois. The incident started when the workers there went on strike, as had most of the other miners had across the country. William Lester, the owner of the new mine, met with the Illinois union officers to see if they could reach an agreement about the strike. They could not end the strike, but they agreed that coal could be dug; it could not be loaded or shipped until the strike was over. Lester was unsatisfied with this agreement and fired the fifty strikers and hired fifty non-union strikebreakers. Half the men Lester hired were miners and the other half were mine guards. The union members were outraged because Lester had not listened to their agreement about loading coal. He had sixteen railroad cars full of coal ready to be shipped. Then on June 21 a group of angry union men attacked a truck carrying a group of strikebreakers to the mine. Three strikebreakers were sent to the hospital. Later that day more union members surrounded the mine. Eventually the mine was shut down because gunshots had been fired. The following morning the strikebreakers surrendered after taking brutal beatings that left people dead or injured. News of the Herrin Massacre shocked people across the country. Nothing like that had happened before. Afterwards some of the union members were forced to stand trial, but none were convicted. From that day on Williamson County became known as "Bloody Williamson." Mining may not be the largest industry in Illinois, but it is one of the most important. All the union strikes, new laws, and even the Herrin Massacre played a role in getting Illinois coal mining to begin a half union and company run system.—[From Lois Carrier, Illinois Crossroads of a Continent; McAllister Coleman, Men and Coal, Richard Joyce, Early Days of Coal Mining in Illinois; Eugene Stately, History of the Illinois State Federation of Labor.]
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