Coal Age

AUG 2012

Coal Age Magazine - For nearly 100 years, Coal Age has been the magazine that readers can trust for guidance and insight on this important industry.

Issue link: https://coal.epubxp.com/i/82345

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 131 of 205

1970-1979 arrested and charged with Yablonski's mur- der. 18 days later, Boyle tried to commit sui- cide and was admitted to George Washington University Hospital after taking a "massive overdose of barbiturates." Boyle was convicted of ordering the killings in 1974 and again at a new trial in 1978. Eight other people, three of them UMWA officials, either confessed to hav- ing taken part in the murder plot or were convicted of having done so. He would spend most of the rest of his life in prison, dying in 1985. Arnold Miller, a member of the Miners for Democracy, was nominated to chal- lenge Boyle's successor in the election. Miller, of Ohley, W.Va., was president of the Black Lung Association and a disciple of the late Yablonski. Miller at the time was best known for his leadership in the successful drive by rank-and-file miners and widows to push a black lung compensation bill through the West Virginia legislature in 1969. Miller himself was forced to leave the mines in 1970 when he was diagnosed with the disease. He had also been president of UMWA Local 2903 at Eskdale, W.Va. After winning the election in 1972, Miller helped establish more local controls and, for the first time, UWMA rank-and-file would be able to directly vote to decide the contract. This election marked a turning point in the history of the UMWA and brought an end to the calm 20 years that had followed the stormy 40 years that went into estab- lishing the union as the preeminent voice of labor in the coal industry. The UMWA signed a three-year contract with the BCOA on December 5, 1974. UMWA President Arnold Miller calls it the best contract in the union's history. It will increase the basic daily wage about $9, from $45.40 to $54.39 over the three-year period. It's estimated the contract will cost the coal industry about $4.6 billion over the same period. The BCOA released a statement that simply said, "While a very costly one for the industry, it is a very forward looking agree- ment and it will be of great benefit for the miners. We hope that it will serve the public interest as well by providing improved pro- ductivity and greater stability of production for the nation's coal mines." The decade closes with the longest strike in the nation's history, which left a trail of singed careers and bruised egos, according to Coal Age. It was not until the union had turned down two proposed contracts and the government had to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act that real progress was made in the talks. By that 128 www.coalage.com *Coal Age, September 1977 time, the operators had replaced their bargaining team and union had aug- mented theirs to deal around their dis- credited president. While Miller was criticized as an ineffec- tual leader, dissension among the opera- tors also contributed to the prolonging of the 110-day strike in 1978 and forced the BCOA to change its negotiating team in the middle of the bargaining session. Ralph Bailey, chairman of Consol's parent com- pany Conoco, was so dissatisfied with a lack of cohesion among larger producers, he ordered Consol to pull out of the BCOA. Ultimately on March 14, 1978, the two groups negotiated an agreement that would increase the average hourly wage to $10.20 from $7.80 by the contract expira- tion in late 1981. The important part of the package was the health benefits. Benefits would no longer be free. Free health care was endangered by a 1977-1978 crisis in the UMWA fund and health care would now be guaranteed under company plans. For the rest of the decade as the coal industry saw its fortunes and reputation improve, labor once again grew restive and sought the kind of leadership that would have allowed it to cash in more directly on the industry's improved prospects. Women Enter the Mines During the 1970s, women enter the work- force. The first woman coal miner went to work at a U.S. mine in 1973. By 1980, of the 255,888 U.S. coal miners, 15,252 were wom- en. An article in the June 1977 issue, "Women Dig into the Coal Industry", dis- cusses how females, who are considered bad luck underground, are now contribut- ing in all aspects of the coal business. Women want to be coal miners. They can *Coal Age, February 1977 100th Anniversary Special Issue August 2012

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Coal Age - AUG 2012