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1960-1969 increase, in 1969, Joseph "Jock" Yablonski challenged Boyle for the presidency of UMWA. Yablonski had been president of UMWA District 5—an appointed posi- tion—until Boyle had removed him in 1965. His challenge, the first of a sitting UMWA president, represented a fracturing of the union with many activist miners backing Yablonski and reform. When John L. Lewis died in June 1969, the proud organization he had lead through the Great Depression, World War II and the Cold War was splintering. In an election widely perceived as cor- rupt, Boyle defeated Yablonski on December 9 by a margin of nearly two- to-one (80,577 to 46,073). Yablonski con- ceded the election, but on December 18, 1969, he asked the Department of Labor to investigate the election for fraud. He also initiated five lawsuits against the UMWA in federal court. On December 31, 1969, three killers shot Yablonski, his wife, Margaret, and his 25-year-old daughter, Charlotte dead, as they slept in the Yablonski home in Clarksville, Pa. The bodies were discovered January 5, 1970, by Yablonski's son, Kenneth. Shocked UMWA members increasingly turned against their own leadership and the 1970s became a period of massive labor unrest as union solidarity ceased. Tony Boyle. *Coal Age, May 1963 than worker desires, dozens of UMWA locals increasingly turned to wildcat walk- outs, protesting not their employers, but the union itself. In January 1965, the UMWA celebrated its 75-year of organizing and struggle. At its peak in the 1930s and 1940s, the union controlled nearly 90% of the bituminous tonnage and practically all of the anthracite. But in 1965, the bituminous figure had dropped to roughly 70%-75%, "in large part reflecting the fact that the benefits won for union members, particu- larly the $0.40c Welfare Fund assessment, plus the changing nature of the bitumi- nous market, have provided a margin and incentive for non-union producers. Whether it can hold its own and possibly recoup some of its losses is a major prob- lem for the union. There also is a question for producers: What would follow if the stability provided by the fixed union wage and working conditions was lost, as well as the help of the union in marketing, public relations and legislative areas," wrote Given in the January 1965 issue. By the mid-1960s, however, activist miners began to threaten the entrenched Boyle leadership and the stability of the union. Though new contracts were signed for both bituminous and anthracite in 1966, when its terms were released and read by rank-and-file members a near "rebellion" broke out, primarily in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky where there had long been disaffection. Production was cut by some 12 million tons in a three week period of labor actions. After another wage 116 www.coalage.com Alfred E. Flowers' editorial on the death of John L. Lewis. *Coal Age, July 1969 100th Anniversary Special Issue August 2012