Radical America - Vol 12 No 3 - 1978 - May June

8/8/2019 Radical America - Vol 12 No 3 - 1978 - May June

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Cover drawing by Nick Thorkelson from aphoto of a miners' support rally in Beckley, Va by Jim Green.

Editors: Frank Brodhead, Margery Daves, Marla Erlien, Phyllis Ewen, Linda Gordon, Jim

Allen Hunter, Jim O'Bren, Nck Thorkelson, Ann Wthorn

Associate Editors Peter Biskind, Carl Boggs, Paul Buhle, Jorge C. Corralego, Ellen

Barbara Ehrenrech, Dan Georgakas, Martin Glaberman, Michael Hirsch, Mke Kaz

Lawrence, Staughton Lynd, Mark Naison, Henry Norr, Bran Peterson, Shela Row

Annemarie Troger, Martha Vicinus, Stan Weir, Davd Widgery

RADICAL AMERC: Publshed bi-monly by e Alenave Education rjet, nc. a 60 Uin Square S

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Pigeon 88 ise Ave Boson Mass 02120

Second cla otage pai Boon Maaches

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UM WA miner demonstating n Washington in 1977. Photo fom COAL


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1 1 rl e 0

Jim G

The signicance of the recent miners' strike one of the longest in recent historyseemed to fade when the United Mine Workers accepted an unpopular contract on Mar

1978 and began to return to work complaining bitterly about how little they had was a result of their long strike. How important was the miners' strike of 197778? Should

be viewed as a total defeat for the miners? Or was it a strike in which the rank and f

minimized its losses through a long and militant industrial action? What does the stri

mean for the tarnished "reform administration of Arnold Miller, for the rank and fmovements within the UMW? Finally, what are the implicaions ofthe strike for the left?

Some of the most important questions raised by the strike have to do with the particul

militancy and tenacity coal miners display in strike situations. What are the sources combativity among this group of workers? Are coal miners a uniuely rebellious grou

within the working class because of their work situation and their "cultural isolation? does the miners' militancy which has been expressed in a remarkable wave of wildc

strikes leading up to this national walkout come from sources common to other grou

of workers? It is too soon to answer these questions with certainty, but they can

approached by examining the recent history of miners' militancy and by exploring deeper roots in the past

Most miners apparently voted for the contract offer on March under protest Thhad been out over 10 days an extraordinarily long period in modern times They h

received little if any of the million other labor unions had contributed for relief T


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International was trying to force the rank-andfie to give in and ratify the contract. Given whatthe miners lost in this contract, especialy in thehealth and pension funds, it is clear that theminers were forced to take a backward step.However, if we review the development of thisstrike, and put it in a larger context, what

emerges is a picture of a nationa walkout inwhich the rank and file batted to minimize theosses which the union leadership had concededto the owners.

The 1977-78 coa miners strike must beviewed in the context of an overa offensive bythe capitalist class. The first target was thesocial wage (education, health and welfarebenefits, etc.) paid to non-unionized workers,consumers, and welfare recipients, especialyin the cities. During the urban fiscal crisesunionized publicsector workers also sufferedserious setbacks. But now the capitalists haveshifted to the more difficut terrain of astrongly-unionized basic indust. According toa ead article in The New York Times, folowingthe March 24 contract ratification: "For thirtyyears bargaining has focused on union demands:seniority rights, pay, pensions, layoff protection,time off, and medical care. But in recent monthsthe spark points in contract talks have been

management demands for givebacks or takeaways the cancelation of some of labor's oldgains I Finding it difficut to wring moreproductivity out of workers this is especiaytrue in oal), capital is attacking the wageincreases demanded by workers to keep up withinfation. But more important, employers areattacking the sial wage workers have won,particularly in the form of health and pensionbenefits These two issues were main points of

attack in the recent contract strike between theUMW and the Bituminous Coa OperatorsAssiatin (BCOA).

The coal companies have made enormousprofits in the 1970s Between 1970 and 1974,

profits doubled. Nonetheless they sticoncessions from the miners in the 197 which caused widespread rankandsatisfaction with the Miler adminWith coal stockpiles high and the demsteel down in 1977, the corporations whthe mines (mainly larger steel and oi co

decided to take back even more from thin this contract. Plagued with wildcathat limited productivity under the lastthe BCOA wanted to bring the minecontro this year. If they coud enforcstaiity y disciplining wildcat striinstituting incentive schemes, the coal ocould take even greater advantage ocreasing demand for coal that will develCarter's energy policy. As Tom BethelCoal Patl: "With the MW leadeobvious disarray, the coal operators webargaining table last October armed wishopping list of humiiating demandswake of three years of chaotic labor they wanted nothing less than total cthe MW work force. To get it twilling to take a long strike, confidentminers would e on their knees by thJanuary

THE 1978 CONTRACTThe BCOA did not confine its a

limiting hourly wage increases or to elithe right to strike They also wantedaway some of the gains the UMW had through its Health and Retirement Funin the great strike after World War funds provide health care and pensionto over 820, active and retired mitheir families Although the funds ar

administered by industry and union, thhas traditionaly controlled them. Cand impemented by some of Americradical medica people, the miners headeveloped a consumer-controlled system


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cinics designed to deiver preventive medicacare Athough the unds were in constanteopardy because they were tied to the tonnage ocoa produced, they nonetheess represented themost advanced orm o sociaized medicineavaiabe to working peope in the US

This May the unds trustees cut the re

tainers to the ree cinics because widcatstrikes had reduced production in the coaieds As a resut ,miners struck to savethei medica card Ater a ten-week wakouttrustees promised to make no more cuts, but theprevious reductions were not rescinded Thestage was set or the BCOA to incude the destruction o the Fund in their contract demandsor 97778

The initia BCOA demands amounted to

nothing ess than a dismanting o the UMWHeth and Retirement Funds Free heathbeneits were aboished, and miners woud beorced to pay deductibes ranging up to 57 peryear From a pooed heath und administeredargey by the UMW, the beneits woud revert

to a company-by-company system, which woudprovide coverage through private insurancecompanies This woud aow individua coacompanies to use heath beneits as a weapon

against troubesome workers The new systemaso meant deah to the miners ree cinics andtheir concept o preventive medicine So just atthe time when pubic support was beginning tocrystaize or some kind o siaized medicine,he capitaists have moved to destroy the most

progressive heath care pan seing workingpeope

Ater the rank-and-ie miners rejected acontract oer with these provisions on March argey around the heath beneits issue, the

pubic began to see that this was no ordinastrike, that the miners were hoding the ine orhe whoe working cass in strugge to save the

coective gains they had achieved in the siaector This was especiay true in a mining state

ike West Virginia, where the whoe standariving or the working cass has been aectethe UMWs gains, and ateatives to piheath care are amost nonexistent

The pension issue was tied cosey to the hebeneits issue Initiay the BCOA retaineddistinction between the pensione who

beore 976 and those who reted ater that and receive much higher beneits But neigroup, incuding victims o Back Lun, wohave had incrases suicient to keep up withcost o iving Many working miners have atand unces, as we as widowed motheaunts on pensions, and they were outraedthe BCOA oer to increase monthy penbeneits to ony 527 per month and to addburden o paying some heath care costs un

the deductibe system The operato dinsut to injury by agreeing to guaant heath beneits to pensione ony i the UMagreed to ine widcat striker 520 day, wthe ines oing to the retired mine heund Another kind o sia wage the UMpension und was under atack

Finay, in its notoious abocause, the BCOA demanded a conact psion to punish widcat striers and n

industria discipine gener The it pposed contract gave the operator he rghire any miner who picketed, threatencrced or omented or oheie becinvoved in the cause o an unauthorizd wstoppage This is dangerousy broad anavery simiar to the kind used in cou injutions Furhermore, he empoyes demnthe right to ire some but not o the minengaged in an unoicia sike, giving mament new powers to victimize certain miitan

Whie the BCOA demanded broad htsdiscipine widcat strikers, it aso bgaedan incentive scheme to increase produconorm o scientiic management mi haways opposed, earing that this woud b


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--incentive" to disregard safety procedures, endangering all miners.

Finally, the operators took aim specifically atthe wildcat strikes waged over health and safetyissues at the point of production by demandingthat members of the mine safety committees besubject to discipline for closing down an area ofa mine or attempting such a closing" Thisdemand made it blatantly obvious that theBCOA drive for labor stability" and increasedproductivity would come at the expense ofsafety.

Shaken by the cuts in the Health andRetirement Funds and the fear that morewildcats would bust the funds completelyAold Miller prepared to make major concesions to the BCOA Labor stability was also

necessa for the sQlvency of the union benefitsrogram With coal stkpiles high and theBCOA obviously taking a hard line in ngotiaions Miller apparently believed the rank andile would settle for wage increases after a sorttrike However rankand-file oposition quicky surfaced against the plan to use fines aganstwildcat strikers to compensate for lost revenuesto the health and pension fund When Millerheard from la and district oficials that this

rovision would lead to certain rejection of theconract, he droped the payback" schemeNonetheles, on Februa 6 after the skehad lasted for6 days which many believed wasall the miners could take Miler presented acontract to the 39-member bargaining councilwith mot of the BCOAs takeaway" rovisionsl intact he barganing councl nowelcted rather than appointed responded todisconnt n the ranks and rejected the ofer bya wde margin aving already revealed his

weakness to the operators Miller was unable town back any of the sacrices he had made tthe BA n March 5, he preented and theBargaining ounci approved for rank-andfileracaon a conract that diered litte

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from the one already rejected. After mthree months on strike and with the thTaftHartley injunction facing them thwere expected to bite the bullet and accontract. Miller claiing that this conthe best that could be obtained, public relations firm and spent $0unions busted treasu to sell the demembers Rank and filers were angerepropaganda especially because they ceiving litle if any strike benefits funion. hey were also susicious of ma of the contract circulated by thetional having been burned by a rushedtion vote in 1974 when they had no timethe contract. his time around rankmilitants in a number of key districts

ull copies of the contract and publisell-out provisions. hough many pundicted a close vote, the UMW membejected the offer by a resounding 2 to 1

Up to thi point the operators had their will on the miners making ddemands which they backed up wstkpiles and the assumption that theled highly-divided UMW could not takstrike. They accurately assessed the wethe leaderhip but they underestimstrength and determination of the rankhough militants did cloe down sounion mines and disrupt the low of sthey found it dificult to spread the striwere aided however by an unusualwinter which depleted stkpiles quiliterally roze the movement of nonunalong many wateays The BCA understand that the miners' solidatenaciy had actually increased as a res

long strike that their cumulativemade them more determined than eveout he federal govement also ignminers grim determinaion to takeward step" and to refuse to work w


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conrac Presidens had invoked he haed TafHarley Ac before only o have he miners defyi bu he defiance of he ani-srike law hisarch was paricularly widespread. Violencebeween union and scab miners was largelyabsen from he srike (o he disappoinmen ofhe media). Bu here was clearly a climae of

fear creaed during his srike especially inheavily-armed areas like Wes Virginia where allminers know i is very dangerous o cross apicke line. Sill he oal defiance of TafHarley by union miners indicaed ha muchmore han fear was involved in he rank-andfiles defiance of he federal cours. Though hesrike had now become a rank-andfile sruggleiwas sill holding solid. was also beginning o

Coa cars, Kanawa Co W Va Poo by Frank Broa

receive much more suppor from oher uaround he counry even hough mos of hconribuions like he UAWs $2 million gwen direcly ino he nernaionals coFurhermore afer he 2 o conrac rejeand he refusal o obey he cours back-oinjuncions he miners seied he offensi

was no longer a company lockou. was aha was saring o hur he corporaion

Afer he conrac rejecion on Marcinense rankand-file opposiion emerged new BCA conrac. The offer made concessions o he workers bu i reaineclauses dismanling he healh care sysempreserving he inadequae pension sysTravelling in Wes Virginia during his pwe observed he anxiey of he UMW off

assigned o sell his new conrac wiakeaway provisions he aciviy of heespecially he Miners igh o Srike Comm(MTSC) and he iners Suppor Commiopposing he conrac and he hosiliy of andfile miners who fel cheaed and berA a March 8 rally sponsored by heCommiees in Beckley Wes Virginia we hMike Branch of he TSC cheered by a cof abou 2 including many miners whe

said m ired of being pushed around sharound and so ou. Commening onshifing ide of he srike an eloquen yminer named Doug ison likened he sro he Ali-Spinks heayweigh ile figh.operaors won he early rounds of he srikehe miners came back in he lae roundslanded some serious blows on he ownersMarch 24 he bell would ring for he round f he UMW lacked he samina o on he figh he BCA would win he deci

by a echnical knockou. And has happened.

Discouraged by a sell-ou leadershipsrained by over 1 days wihou payminers gave in and voed o accep he co


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by mrgin of 6 prcnt with much cosrmrgins in Wst Virgini, th cntr of strongmovmnt to rc Aod Mir from thprsidncy his cmpign is probby th workof som of irs opportunistic opponntsincuding th consrvtivs who bckd royPttrson who rn for prsidnt in th st

ction, nrrowy osing to Mir), but it tpsth strong wv of rnk-ndfi rsntmntginst th UMWs drship tht hs bnbuiding sinc th rtifiction of th stcontrct A currnt hit Count & Wstrcord by Drksboro, Kntucky, minr sys it Whn Mir signd thir contrct, hmight s w bn on thir sid It gs onN a this cntract ered us as a rae and

a itte it mre.

ith a hsita an that udnt e fe kethe ne e had efre.

Theres a nus just t end the strike and getack in that mine.

And the manys right tire a man theycatch him n the icket ne.A Ne rk Times coumnist rmrkd on th

contmpt xprssd for th UMW prsidnt inth co count, which is th mor poignntbcus h hs, quit itry, st his pop

f It is wrong to suggst tht Mir did thissinghnddy, but h did d th Minrs forDmrcy movmnt which rstord th rnkndfi right to vot on th contrct nd to ctdistrict officis, two refols tht wr sourcsof Mirs difficutis in gtting this contrctrtifid Athough Mirs wk drship ndincrsing prnoi which d him to dismissmost of his rformorintd stff for insubordintion) r cry rtd to th intnsity ofth rnknd-fi gittion in rcnt yrs, thprss is propgndizing for union oigrchywhn it bms Mir for th socd nrchy in th UMW

In sing this contrct to th mmbrship,Mir hs sod his union down th rivr nd

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ssurd n vn mor dtrmind oppmovmnt to his drship Wht thnbnc sht for this strik? Ws th cccptd on Mrch 24n unmitigtd dth minrs?

h nswr is no, bcus th rsorjction of th rir contrct on Mrchth minrs cr dtrmintion to cstrik on ongr, forcd som concssionth BCOA h rsut ws crtiny not for th minrs, but through thir miitntncity th unions rnk nd fi mindft in strik which strtd out with ttoty stckd

ginst thm

In th contrct rtifid on MchBCOA grntd n incrs in wgs of r cnts n hour mor pr workr h

mount to 37 prcnt incrs in boduring th if of th contrct, duringtim profits r xpctd to incrs ttims tht rt Ntury, th oprtorwiing to giv most on th wg frondmittd this vn bfor th strik sh id ws to tk wy th si wgbnfit r, to mk vthing dpupon houry wgs, spciy mdic crBCOA md som concssions on pnsio

pnsion incrs, such s it is, wi go intonow rthr thn in 19, but th indmonthy pnsion of 27 rmins a dgrt inqui in pnsions btwn minrtird bfor nd ftr nu 11 1976. covrg for minrs widows, which woubn vib for ony ne mnth ftrin th rjctd contrct, b xtndd yrs ftr dth in th nw contrct himportnt gin, but it is sm consotionminrs nd thir fmiis for th dismntth hth fund nd th fr cinics) nstbishmnt of privt hth insurncwith dductibs h ttr is cry th bcorport tkwy in th contrct

h most importnt rsut of th M


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conrac rejecion came when he BCOA dropped is hreaening abor sabiiy" cause Therigh o srike" forces succeeded in removinghe conrac provision discipining widcasrikers However he operaors si have hepower o do his under an arbiraion ruinghanded down on Ocober 10 1977 by he

Abiraion eview Board a body creaed underhe 1974 conrac o ac as an appeas board ingrievance cases AB 108" became a subjec ofgrea conroversy in he coa fieds afer hearch conrac rejecion and he wihdrawaof he abor sabiiy" cause This memorandum in which he Board uphed a coacompanys righ o fire miners for seing up anunauhorized picke does conain some veryfrighening anguage

The case at hand involved picketing In terms

of what is understood in other industries, it isseen as a wilul and defiant act on the vefabric woven by both parties for their mutualbenefit and it is thus created as a capitaloffense

Inseparably involved, once again, is theMiners traditional willingness to shut downmines in supposed aid of felow Miners Untilthis begins to be turned around, the passing outof information relating to a dispute even in

public places near an affected mine [meaningbeyond mine-site entrances 1 cannot realisticallybe viewed as the exercise of constitutionallyprotected freedom of speech and must be viewedinstead as a contractually-impper act of workstoppage inducement

The BCOA is now forced o rey on his ABmemorandum 108 (which was amazingyenough signed by he UW member of heBoard) insead of a conracua provision o

he miners gained an imporan poin i hevery exisence of AB 108 is hreaening as ishe union eadershis apparen wiingness osacrifice he righ o srike and he igh o freespeech in order o gain abor sabiiy 1

In shor he BCOA hough i was forcdrop is abor cause go mos of wwaned in his conrac This incudeddismaning of he Heah Funds he rigremove members of he mine safey commfor eading widcas and a somewha diffform of he incenive pay sysem Howeve

incenive schemes ikeihd of succeimied by he fac ha a majoriy of mineach oca have o voe o accep he pan Ghe coa diggers widespread fear ha incschemes wi cause more vioaions of sandards i is doubfu ha he BCOA cahis scheme o gain he produciviy i wanis aso unikey ha he empoyers power mine safey commieemen wi sop wiover unsafe condiions I is one hing somehing ino a conrac; i is quie anohenforce i especiay in he coa indusryhe incenive scheme and he aack on hesafey commiees auonomy confic wicoa workers growing concern over safewih heir radiiona abiiy o defend work rues" a he poin of produciradiion discussed in more deai aer

THE ECENT OUCE OFCOAL INE ILITANCY

The miiancy and soidariy dispayhe rank-and-fie in his ong srike cprimariy from he ifeand-deah naure oissues and secondariy from he union bucracys apparen wiingness o accepakeaways" by he companies

In order o fuy undersand he rank-anmiiancy in he recen srike we have o goo 1969. In January of ha year reguar mfrm he Back Lung Assiaion in

Virginia o push for a sae aw compensvicims of he disease which sck mos veminers In Februa and arch of he samerank-andfie miners in Wes Virginia duced one of he mos imporan poi

, 3


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strike enefits and a stronger set of contractdemands; this scenario would erepeated again over the next two contracts

Meanwhile the MFDlegal strategy whichinvolved considerale fund raising among eastern lieral donors eganto pay off numer of court cases were rought forthattempting

among other things to throw out the results ofthe 1969 election and to prosecute the Boyleleadershipfor corruption in using funds In Mayof 1972 the courts not only rought down twomajor decisionsawardingdistrict autonomy ut on May Day 1972 Judge Bryant overturned the1969 election ater in May the MFD conven tion in Wheeling West Virginia united the MFD the Black ungssociation (headed y a retired Cain Creekminer named old

Miller) and the DisaledMiners and Widowsssociation The campaign leadingup to theDecember

1972 election was hardfought and extremelydangerous ut despite intense redaiting and threats y the Boyle machine (who usedtheir control over pensions to gain votesfrom retired miners) the MFD slateheaded y rnoldMiller won an inspiring victorywith 56% of the vote Shortly after his election which Miller claimed as a victory for therank and file the MFDwasdisanded More importantly the Black ung ssociation lost some of its independence and was rought under the control of the union leadership This seemed reasonale at the time since the same man was president of the nionand the Black ung ssiation s a result terankandfile militancy in the coal fieldsdissi pated for several years unti the Miller admin istration negotiated the 1974 contract Rankandfile miners inWest Virginia actually struck

to obtain copies ofthe contract which they elieved tocontain sellout provisions The coal companies were making unprecedented profits and the miners wanted todig in fr a strong fight; they felt betrayed y Mier as we

saw in the last part of Barbara Kopple's Harlan County US . In the winter of thousands of miners wildcatted again contract the Miller administration had tiated massive rankandfile opposmovement against the UM leadershipsurfaced

In the summer of 1976 came the important explosion of militancy withi ranks Protesting the use of federal injunctions arrests and fines against w strikers from theCedar Coal CompaKanwaha County West Virginia 150 miners went out on strike almost every umemer east of the Mississippi This remale nationwide political strike which el cries of industrial anarchy from the BC

forced the federal judges inCharleston (wh not like to e totally defied) to withdrawfines and injunctions It was a great victor the rank and file K

oldMiler of course came out agains strike and lamedits prolongation handfulof radicals presumably the mem of the Revolutionary Communist Party whtheMiners Right toStrikeCommittee But Miller came to West Virginia to speak agthe strike he was jeered in Charlestown forced to withdraw from his speaking da

A STIE AGAUMWA OCAL UNON 1759, CEDAR COA COMPANY

FEDERA INJUNCTON AGANST THEM. THEY ARE BENGS50000 AN S25000 A DAY FOR STRKNG

E ARE SCK AND RED OF THE FEDERA COURS TAKNSDE OF THE COA OERA TORS HNDREDS OF OCATHROUGHOT THE COA FEDS KNO HO UNJUST THEFEDERA NJUNCTONS ARE

AUM.A MNERS ARE ASKED

TO STRKE TO STONJUNCTONS AND TO END All FNES AND SENTENCES

FOd r y UMWA Mem IlMo Nt$ Chir

UMWA pad ad Charlon Gaz uly


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UMW Loca 1759 where this amazing wakoutegan. In fact, when on ugust 10, 1976Miertod a tumutuousmeeting at a Charestownhotethat hecoud not aow the miners to defythe courts and thatthey woud face certain defeat, he payed intothehandsofthemiitants.he strikers not ony defied thecourts, they

forced the federa judges to ift the injunctionsandwithdraw the fines. ! ccording to aMor- gantown newspaper the ig 1976 widcat strikeended ony after Mierpedged toseek right to strike provisions" in the 197778 contractnegotiations

HE MINERS RIGH O SRIKE COMMIEE ND HE ROLEO HE LE

s the rightto strike sentiment grew stronger in the coafieds the eft haspayed a greaterroe in poiticizing e issue he main eft for- mation has een the Miners Right to StrkeCommittee (MRSC) In the recent strikehowever, other eftists have een activeinminerssupport work, especiay inthe woWestVirginia strike support committees at Beckeyand Morgantown.

he Miners Right to StrikeCommitteeemergedfrom a wdcat in WestVirginia during

he winter of 1974 when Gov rchMreimposed a gas imit during the fue crisis, a imitthat prevented miners from getting ack andforth etween home and work. During this strike a young miner fromthe Beckey area named Mike Branch joined with somedis- grunted oca officias in southern West Vir-ginia (a hoted of widcat strike activiy snce1969) and formed the MRSC Branch, aong

withsevera other young miners who movedinto

the coafieds from other areas, eonged to theRevoutionary Union (RU), which ecame theRevoutionaryCommunist Party (RCP) in Octo- er of 1975 hough RU and ater RCPmemers formed the eadership of the Right to

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Strike Committee, they had support frmiitants in the West Virginiacoa Novemer of 1975 memers of the C joined the march to support the strikersin Haran County, where theycright to strike" petitions whie organizsupport in eastern Kentucky (hism

dumented, aongwithan interview w to Strike activists toward the end ofHaran County, U.S..")

By this time the MRSC had area to draw fire from the Inteationasummerof 1975 when Mier wasfacedanother massive West Virginiawidcatto protect injunctions forcingLogan miners ack to work), the UMW attacked the Right to Strike Committe newspaper story exposed" RCP ead the Committee. though the Commapparenty suffer from redaiting in K it remained active in West Virgi memers admitted that they were Com and insisted that there wre nonComemers in the Committee as we, hundercut the conspracy theoriesputthe press and the ureaucracy. he reportedy made some enemies in the fie y insisting that the 1975widcat

unti the right to strike was graaccordingto one Committeememer, tmaintained enough importancein Westto pay an important roe in a Ma widcat strike protesting White House signing an amended Back Lung awsummer of 1976, when the massivewidcat strike occurred against the Cedinjunctions, Mier waseven ess ef redaiting the Committee and a

strike on a handfu of radicas" he that y this time the MRSC h articuating for four year a demand right to strike that masses of rankminershad aready asseed in many pa


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particuary in West irginia where the oittee was active.

During the recent strike the MRTS aiedits attack squarey on the abor stabiity clausein the first two contract oers When that clausewas dropped t erd n on the effects of theARB 08 decision The two Miners Supportoittees which contain soe representationfro the MRTS placed soe very eectiveadvertiseents in the West irginia newspapersephasiing the takeaways by coparing theproposed contract provisions with the rankand file deands epressed by delegate at the976 UMW district an d national conventions.The activities o the two West irginia supportcoittees which include the establishent ofa rearkable free cnic in Beckley deserve a

separate discussion because the organiationalactivities in question could serve as odels orfuture let strike support work The relationshipo the MRTS to the Support oittees wasprobleatic throughout the strike because theredbaiting of the orer sprea to the atter.

The Southe Support oittee in Beckeyipressed by the principed roe payed by teMRTS representatives decided to sponsor ajoint rally against the contract on March 8.There was soe concern that the rally wouldop because avowed revolutionaries like MikeBranch of the R were schedued to speak.The gathering drew about 2 people to aBeckley school about half of who were iners.The ray was a spirited aair with a rousingspeech by Branch appeas fro various ebers of the Support oittee and a talk by aeorgia farer naed Buddy Jones o thestriking Aerican Agricutural Moveent whowon a standing ovation after urging the iners

to hold out This joint rally was the outcoe of adiicut but fairly successul effort by theSport oittee to battle redbaiting.

The Revoutiona ounist arty ebersin the RTS have been the object of ost o

oe (lef) nh hoo b Jim Gn

this redbaiting Their tradeunion wirginia has been unusualy succesof the key issue they have chosen to

the right to strike and becausearned fro their istakes e.g theto correct an earier pression they the ain proble was Arnold Miother hacks in the bureaucracypeople in the oittee have trbroader deands but they have resoto tradeunion issues reusing to appeal for the right to strike bpartybuiding n any ways RPWest irginia resebe the earyphase o the USA during the 920arty attepted to build a rankanent within the AFL through the TEducationa League

An RP article entitled Mners the ssroa (based on an artDeceber 9 issue o Revouton)the rankandfile oveent of grown up spontaneousy and stateLeninist criticis of the liitations

then cas not for buiding a parrankandfie organiation. The Rsis of the assive wildcats is that tceancut aairs the iplicationthey need to be organied. n any ca


16/68

certainly not spontaneous" actions. The pam- phlet merely mentions the factthat thesestrikesmove from mine to mine with the stronger locals" becomingstorm centers" that drawneighboring mines into the struggle" Thisleaves the development of wildcat strikes atavery abstract level, and suggestsa vacuum

oflocal leadership thatcommunistsmust fill Untilwe knowmore about thehistoy ofmilitantlalsin states like West Virginia the locals that have initiated wildcats,spread them to other statesin1976, and acted as vanguards in therecent strike

our knowledge ofthe rankandfile move-ment will remain somewhat bstract We knowthatstrikers in the mine fields takeadvantage ofthe traditional antipathy tocrossing picket lines, that they can use stranger" picketing more

effectively than other workers, and that theuse of CB radios and phone chains has been effec- tive in spreadingwildcats, but thereis much moe to know before any lessons" can bedrawn for rankandfile movements in other industries. The CP's eninist analysis of the miners' movement exaggerates itsspontaneous origins and dwellson the politicization of that movement in the period since theMTSC has been involved It is important to note that themovement egan with a remarkablepoliicalstrike for a black lung law in West Virginiaalmost ten years ago. However, the CPdsnot grossly exaggerateits role or even the roleof the ight to StrikeCommittee (which probably includes about 3040 members with afew hundred supporters mainly in West Virginia) The influence o theCommittee is in fact directly dependent upon themassive, nation-wide concern amongminers to retaintheright tostrike

MINES AND THEWILDCAT STIEhe Miners ight to StikeCommittee's

attempt to politicize wildcat strikes and to usethem as a flashpointfor organizing a rankand

file movement is based on the rising unauthorized strike activitysince therati of the1974 contract. Of course, the paunofficial strike activity gs backmuch in the history of the industry Ever sUMW startedengaging in nationwide co

bargaining, its officers have pledged t pline wildcat strikers, but local stri occurred frequently over issues not covthe contract Before 1943, many of these went unrecorded, but in that year, whminers defied the federal governmentnationalstikes (eachtime violatingthe wno strike" pledge), the number o recorded unauthorized work stoppa creased to 4, including many ov grievnces In 1944 there were 792 stmostlyof a local nature, and for the nextbetween and 6 such stoppages oeach year During this timethere werealsofficial" industrywide strikes, includ59day walkout in 1946that establisHealth and Pension Funds, and the 194 in defiance of the TaftHartley injunct

Between 1952 and 1964, when hundthousands of minerslos their jobsasar mechanization and competition fro

fuels, Lewis, whoacceptedthe needfor m ization, authorized only two nationstoppages. Unauthorized work stoppag aged less than 2 per year during this though the coal miners still struck times the national averagedespite heavyin the industryThisdifferential grew evei the 1960's as the number of work stoppsoft coal shot up from 160in 1966 to266 and then to 457 in 1969, the sameye

West Virginia coalminers launchfamous political" stike to force the stalature to passa black lunglaw I With thandfile agitation around black lung, theination of reform candidate Jock ablon the organization of the Miners for Dem


17/68

work toppage increaed even moredramaticaly. Five hundred work toppage took place in1970 when the mine were hut downfollowing

the abonki murder in anuary and throughthe effort of the independent Diabled Minerand Widoworganization proteting inadeuatecompenation from the UMW' welfare andretirement fund. Both of thee trike might be claified a poitical trike" accordingto a report of the Labor Studie Intitute of theUniverity of Wet Virginia although theywere directed more at the internal affair oftheunionthan toward broader poitical goal." Of coure theetrike against the union were ofgreat importance a wa the 1969 backlungtrike becaue they ignalled thepoliticizationof the rankandfie miner truggle

An unuualy high number of the mine work toppage ince World War II have been local wildcat trike. Between 1966 and 1970 mottrike in U.S. indutry took place during rene gotiation of the contract with a third or leoccurring during the term of theagreement but Appalachian miner truck93 percent of thetime during the term of the contract. In additiontothe health and benefit trike protet miner truck increaingy over afety iue alarmed

nodoubt by the 196 exploion at theCONSOLmine in Farmington Wet Virginia that kiled 7 miner.

In addition to the growing concern over afetyinthe mine (which til have the highet fatalityrate in U.S indutry) a number of other iue have contributed to the riing level of wildcatting.

A new generation of worker ha entered the mine. he average age of the mine worker ha

decreaed from 49in 196 to around 31 today. In fact there i a gap between the generationwith many middleaged miner in one group and many miner in their early 20' in another.here i no hard evidence to upport thi but it d eem that the younger minerwho have

entered the pit in the 1970 (intead of for the city a their oder brother did 1950 and 1960) are more heaviy in in widcat trike activity epeciay in the mine where young miner compoe m the midnight to a.m. hoot owl hift." with thi very young group are miner ineary 30who are Viet Nam vet (Wet Vhad the highet per capita fataity rate dur IndoChina war). Like the welpubicizedhaired worker whorevoted againt G Lordtown in 197 thee worker are and abe to bck the authoriy of mine fo and manager whoe corporation are p for more and more productivity in time o profitabiity. Coa company profit in1 between 1970 and 1974 whie

wagegained by ony he operator' redrive for productivity and profitability hbut abotaged grievance procedure.

After neary 30 year of working throuame grievance procedure the 1971 co introduced ome reform Seriou prreult becaue miner a) coud not have entation at the firt tage of the proceduony had three griever on the mine comm an inadeuate number to enure workrepreentation in today' largecale m hift minec) were prohibited from dicgrievance on company time and d) exper long delay in the grievance procedureforcedminer to ubtitute the widcat trithe grievance procedure. here ha btendency according to the Wet ViUniverity tudy of work toppage to vie grievance procedure not a a flexib through which bargaining over iue

arie on a daytoday bai take paca a forma amot judicial proceduetting conflict. It may we be thaemphai on procedure rather than on pr oving i o entrenched in the labor reati thi indutry that no change are poible.


18/68

i th i pd will ti t i btittth wildt tik" < Si97 tht il h b mitd i

ii wildt tik tiity tht t th idty mili mdy" b i977 A i iil wh ddmmbiipd t thbit-ti ll tld : Th mpi til ithi pd th wwy; thyit t dly i Th pti wyjt dt lk t thhm t i-"

klti i th idty hb d Thi t h b ihtmtidtillti pt i th tht Vi t tditidwk tblihd m tlt t pit

whih pttd th m iht tilth930 wh mhiti dily ltd

wk ti ith mi Mi w wk d tylik pii with hih ti m t wk thi mt mti idti Ud th imt mi h pd w thi tdi-il dm" lik th iht t tpwki wh m td th m"d th iht ttblih thi w qitti tim b m th ld wkl h b pd i i tt Thth- m mi mmitti w idqt hdli i ( th mtid b) btit l with th tymmitt tblihd m tly tid m pw t th wk pl th mt hp twd i th idi wh h tppd wki lltim t bmpid tbl ht Th BCOA ntatdmand t mak minmmittmn bjt t dih bad

dt" i th mtt d mt bltt ptin ttmpt t gi fl ntl mi t th pit pdti

Th ty y l diiplid mi h t ly btd th tbl d by th dtiti wk lti

dth dti fth i m bt it h l tibtd t wki f th wk diipli th mi t wk n wh thy w ijd dihd d l fty Th bliti th pit d thitdti mhd ddt th mi tditil tl th p d lth th w m mpy pii t th md dywk mbid hlyw i th UM h wbmi l dty w i thm hi bt whth tt ll wk tim Rii btwildttiki h ht th US l pdtiity(thhititill i tim h

th U.S. th in th nti wh tl wll" mii mthd i d)lt thBCOA iitil tt dm y ildd m d d wkiglity d itivity a) th iht t dih y mitk twti wk dy withmii b) tblih jit UMlpmt Cmmit with f pt t tdy lb lti pdtiity pblm ) ititt pd

inti pgm with wd pdtiity qt d) llw mi Sdy d hlidy 3) mpy t t hit tti tim p d by pat pti d tmpty whlidy with py

MINERS CULTUREH ltl tditi m i

Rltiy ilt i l ti

hi d th p tt th l mi t b immd mpltly m lt h th wka till l t thi l t Applhin wh h mitd t Clld d Chi Lii i thh


19/68

4

cheaper and sipler than it is in the cities and suburbs This ay be relatedtothedifficulty thecorporations have experienced in forcing inersto accept the wage trick" (ie individualizedwage increases instead of collectivized benefits)The isolation of iners' counities ay also be connectedwith theirseeing iperviousnesstopublic opinion press coverage and govern- ent pressure during strike situations While the isolation of the coal iners in oneindustry

townsay in fact be connected to their abilitytoholdout in long strikes it is wrong toaccepttheacadeic sociological theory that culturalisolation in itself is the reason for the iners' high propensity to strike" This theo conveniently assigns iners along with luber workers

Photo

by Jmsailorsandother groups of isolated worke arginal status so that their classco behavior appears as a deviant" fbehavior} Ben A Franklin who cover strike for theNew York Times bougtheory In an article headlined Coal St Mountain Men are Clannish Cobati ephasizes the iners backwardness aCeltic ethnicity" of the Appalachian

In the AngloSaxon not to sayDru heritage of th southernountain coal there is still xenophobic uneasinessfurriners' who work in other fields" Fr

deephasizes theclass consciousness iners ilitancy by reducing that ilita


20/68


21/68

, ,

were they regulated according to the business cycle as most academics believed. Miners engaged in an increasing number of "controlstrikes issues of union recognition workrules and conditons In order to defend theirtraditional freedomsagainst mechanization andrationalization, skilled miners allied with other workers like helpers and drivers In other words bythe time the UM A was founded miners had already seen the necessity of solidarity amongall grades of workers around"general and inclusive demands as distinctfrom the narrow exclusive craft unionde-mands 2

As the mining industry was further consoli- dated under the aegis ofthe rail and steel cor-porations, miners saw the need for strike unity

among workers who laboredin different minesand in different regions The formationof a national industrial coal miners union in 1890 was a necessity for workers pitted against the countrys biggest corporations For example in1902 all of the anthracite miners in the countrywalked out in oneof the most importantnational strikes of the era forcing PresidentTheodore Roosevelt to threaten seizure ofthemines if the corporations did not make some

concessions to the union The unusual nation-wide unity displayed by miners from AlabamatoPennsylvania in thi current strike testifies to thesuivalof industrial union traditions ofsolidar-ity

Industrial unionism also opened the miners' organization to blackand immigrant mners Italso helped to make UMW members receptive to the appeals of the Socialist Party inthe1910s. The Debsian Socialists, who successfully

introduced a resolution at the 1911 UMWconvention favoring the "collective ownership and democratic management of the means ofproduction believed that the miners brand of industral unionism was "socialism withitsworking clothes on. 23 John L wiss iron

haded controlover the union in the 192his purgingofsocialists, dida lot to subv vision of industrial unionism; but the visionwas restoredinthe 1930s, as wisabout face, andhelped makethe Miners' the champion of the unorganized afoundation of the new CIO unions. Since

War II andthe dropin UMW membersh6in 1946 to about onethird thatn today, the pioneer industrial union hmuch of its power andprestige

Furthermore with the emergence of cobargaining for national contracts locaeven district bodieslosttheir voice in dunion policie s "Withina very narrow cowrites one historian, "t he centralizatdecisionmaking within the union can b

fied mostindustries are themselves ctrated and corporate labor policies aredeterminedby loc al plant managemen t largecentralized power onthepartof undeal with large aggregatres of industriital " ' Further industrial unionoften beenledby "strongmen who jutheir power as a necessity in dealingeffectivelywith big business: they were thmans Dubinskys Reuthers and Jo

ewisesIndeed, there is no better examhowthe cntradiction between nation altivebargaining and uniondemracy wasout than Lewis's nearly 4 years aspresident. Duringthe 1920's wis shrewdruthlessly purged hi s enemiesin the vrotrictsinludingsocilists likeAlex Howahis main rival, John Brop hy of PennsyDuring a reorganization drive in 1933brought twothirds ofall UMWA districtundercontrol oftheInternational: Lewis that administrative efficiency and cobargaining power conflicted with districnomy. In 1936, when discussing theelectionof districtofficials, wis stae question ofwhetheryoudesire yo ur organ


22/68

be the mst eetive instmentality within

e realm pssibility . r whether yueer t sariie the eiieny yur rganatin . . r a little mre aademi reedm ine seletin sme lal representatives in amber distrits any UW members tday believe thatwis was right that he had t assme nearly

tatrial pwers in rder t rerganize thein and help lanh the CI against sme

e mst brtal pratins in the nty Iny ase ewis's legay t indstrial ninismmains a ntraditry ne day President

ld iller attempts t maintain the ntratry psitin pursing the natinwidettern lletive bargaining as well asntinuing t push himsel as the rermer wh

sted ny Byle and helped the rank and ilegain the right t rati the ntrat t enjytrit atnmy and t elet their distitiials rse iller is a mh weaker

ader than Jhn L wis Wh isnt? But manyiller's trbles lw rm the at that he ising t prsue the traditinal pattern

tinwide lletive bargaining while allwingr a level nin demray and distrittnmy ewis wld have und inn

vable the miners' urrent militany an hardly bed diretly t the legay wis, thugh the

W gdather" is still remembered r his bakward step pliy and his deiane eral gvernment pwer. herere the legay

the natinal indstrial nin s thrughlyaped by Lewiss year reign is als bius signiiane even thgh traditins strial nin slidarity remain aliven the hand-lading pieewrk era whihted up t the 930's the islated irregularrk the skilled miner allwed r anazing degree ntrl at the pint

dutin where mpany men" were ew andbetween When it signed its irst natinal

ntrat the UW wa u t pb f lak f pln an gubu th unn fu t nf ntl an allw th uta wk u pval In1921 th junalIndusrl Mn av fat wn nt t h b au f th lak pn In th m t h pby f ntant upvnsri tests nt xt. h al angly tan t a h pl aranplant uh a an nt a fatyprdtin p an n agnatqu t tu what wl happn

Th a an th thng al n th lf f n tha ak f th

andloading ca ue nknwn


23/68

LBlack lung activists (I. to r.) Don Bryant and Clde AIen(kneelin), Willie Anderson and Martin A mbure

(tanding). Photo from UM WA Joual June 1-15, 1975

Gdrch woe efeing o the amout oftime mines had o socialize while no workingo when avelng to nd fom work on the "mantip 6 By the lae 1920's mechanized poduc-tio was exeding ino he ion fields andundemiing he soces of mines' job conolby maing ine wo moe factolike andmore sbjec o close spevision However,scientfic anagemen has neve been veysuccessful i the mines. Mining is still sch avaried, difficlt tas tha it has been impossiblefo manageme o ae al of the decision

making powe away fom mes on the jobThough mechanized podcion has taken

away some of he silled mines aditionafeedoms, social solidaiy has remained as parto the job. It still takes mines a long ime to get

-- ------to and rom he piace; ork s stil ols reguar than aemblle roducstil omehat dicu o urve coure mning l trem dangrohazardos nau o the ork contnu orkers on the ae sh and in he amIn man smaer uon ca ke the

rkide a arlan Count th relected trke oidar

It oud b romanc o uget hovunity in coa trkes come i ad becaue o th cocve dager nrMners ar o a ver ndvduacwhoe ut ha to be obad hroughzaon In the h centur coa mg o th rads in hch orker r proud o her "man oe a

bld gh againt the orator g"h crat hc code dman bearing oard the bo rhstoran "Fe ords enjoed orlar in h etenh cnu hahonoric th l t cooao o resectabii d earan archa uprmac Da nes i dg ih oe lo orkrmorant as it w n conro h

"Udermining or connvig at anohjob was codeed bhavoeam n th earl ork o h UMmbedded the "rncipe of he quar equa dsribution of mne car retradiional miner eeing tha each ato get a a sare of the work that Staing anothe mans ca or hs cendagerng ohr brother h dawork habts as ot onl consdred "behavior; t coituted grounds or erom the uno I ths sene he qu"manlness a asatd not o suprmac but ih the right and r"reebo Amrcan workgman oudend 7 O core the tra o brava


24/68

maho were also involved, and indeed they stillare, beause many miners still feel the need toprove themselves as men before the bosses,their fellow workers, and their families.

Needless to say, there are many negativeresults of this espeially in personal lives Whenthese manly qualities are ombined with the

strong individualism of many miners, there anbe disastrous results ranging from ignorane ofsafety rules to performane of lone ats ofterrorism nly a few women are now working in

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the mines, but maybe they will bringhanges, beause mining is one of the oblearly stereotyped as man's work. Theulture of the miner helps explain a sesoldarty and ombativity at the worklevel and the loal union level, but thesupport ulture reated by mining famili

ommunities is far more important iregard.The role played by women in this strik

in mining strikes down through the

_

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25/68

deseves speial teatment in and of itselfSffie it to sa in this ontext that the nsalmilitan of women in mining ommnities hasmade a itial diffeene in man stgglesThe histoial eod shows these womenplaing fa moe than a sppotive ole the havebeen a vangad in violent onfontations with

sabs polie and gn thgs This was etainlthe ase in the Bkside stike, as depted inHalan Coun, USA The msi of nt MollJakson Saah Oga ing and Hazel

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26/68

leades conflcts developed agan ove thewomen's oles n a stke stuaton n whchmany of the mnes beleved the "manhoodwas "on the lne These confontatons ofcouse develop out of a sot of famly soldatythat has tadtonally been unque to mnngcommuntes

nally the knd of communty suppot themnes often acheve not only helps them holdout n long stkes but also nceases themltancy Thee was stong communty soldaty wthn late 9th-centuy mnng townsaganst the actons of the alen absentee-ownedcopoatons often contolled by aloadsames and mechants as well as doctoslawyes peaches and even law offces tookthe sde of the mnes aganst the bosses

because they too wee theatened by thecompany-contolled town n whch ndependentpopeos would be estcted o elmnated

The petty bougeose n the mnng camps wasalso closely connected to the mnng famlesthough commecal tes (the mnes wee theonly clents o customes) and though knshptes (many saloon keepes etc wee etedmnes) So these people often extended themnes cedt and even joned them n battleaganst the company's foces. Ths tadtonseems to have held up as well As the New YorkTimes epoted the "mnes' abty to weathea long stke s aded by mechants' suppot andcedt A goce on Cabn Ceek n WestVgna sad the mnes thee "wee goodhonest people but they've had to fght fo eveythng they've got They'e ou people and wehave to help them anyway we can Nobody'sgong hungy n ths valley f can help t 29Dung the geat mnng stkes of ths centuyand the last the mddle cass n mnng communtes has fequently faced a polazedstuaton a volent stuaton of cass conflct nwhch they chose to stand wth the mnes whenasked: "Whch Sde Ae You On?

CONCLUSONTo etun then to the questons ase

outset t seems that the long stke of was not an unmtgated defeat but btte ank and fle stuggle n whch themnmzed the defeats the opeatos nflct upon them

What wll the futue bng? Manymembes fea that the unon tself s n not because of ntenal "anachy as thwould have t but because the "takeawths context wl make t even moe dfoganze non-unon mnes At the momabout one-half the coal mned n theunon coal Only a sevee wnte feezngnland wateways pevented the movemsuffcent non-unon coal to beak the st

980 when the UMA begns to negonext contact an even hghe pecentagcoa mned wll be nonunon coal

The mnes' defance of TaftHatley hashown n the efusal to gve up thestke n the face of govenment epessmght seve as an mpotant lesson twokes uthemoe the stke pevenBCOA fom establshng a outne conpocess fo fng wldcat stkes Hunde the potectve umbella of the Adecson opeatos wll be able to move the "nstgatos of unoffcal wok stoThe wldcat stke tend wll pobably ebmnes ecove fom the long stkeguela wafae at the pont of poductactualy ncease as companes ty to ndustal dscplne to gan the podncease they wee dened unde thcontact (

Anold Mle's eadeshp badly shakesult of the last contact atfcaton s nsubject of scon and hostlty thoughcoal felds Whle the ank and fle demakable unty dung the 977-78 stleades fell out wth each othe The mo


27/68

to recall il probabl ail and it remainsto be sn i leaders ill emerge on a districtlevel ho are more responsive to the demands othe rank and ile especiall the demand or theright to strike I Miller himsel is to retain ancredibilit he ill have to move radicall thenet e ears perhaps in the direction o

organizing the unorganized

In an case hatever happens to the Uleadership and hatever happens to compolic vis-avis ildcats the rank-anfileminers are in an unusuall strong positmake their on histo. Though geat ere sustained in this stike, one s not gsense that the miners returned to wo

deeated men. Fustrated an ang, yenot deeated

The auhor hank al of he people in We Virinia who o he ime an ffor i h urrn ri an

poia work conneced wih i. Than ao o arery Davie an Priila Lon for od avie an o Fran Bro

for h via help ih inerviewin reearhin and eiin

Srikin miners Noron Va Phoo by Bill Worhinon from ounain Le & Wor Jan


28/68


29/68

,

20. New Yok Time Mar. 5 1978.

2 1 . On t he importance of indusrial unio nism in genera

and the UMW in particuar with respec o inter-racia

organizing, see Pau B. Worhman and James R.

Green, "Back Workers in the New South, 1 8651 91 5,

i n Nahan I Huggins, e. aI., eds., Key ue in the

o-merican Experience, (New York, 1971), Vo. II

pp. 4769

22. Jon Amsden and Seven Brier, "Coa Mi ners on Strike:

The Transformaion of Strike Demands and the

Formaion of a Naiona Union, Joual o nter

Dicipnary Hitory VII (Spring 1977), pp. 583616.

23 On he Sociais Party influence in he UW during he

1910 see John HM. Lase, Labor and the Left

(New York, 1970 chapter VI n the Southwest where

the Sociaists conroed two UMW disrts in this

period he Sociais Party esabished is earies and

stronges ocas in the mine union ocas where UMW

sruggles had aready esabished some solidariy across

lines of race, naionaity and skil. See James R. Green,GaRoot Sociam: Radical Movement in the

Southwet, 1895-1943 (Baon Rouge, La., 1978),

chaper .._

24 Keith Dix, "The Pint of Production, P

Appalahia (Winer 197273 p. 25.

25 Ibid.

26. Carer Goodrich, The Miner' Freedom (B

1925) pp. 5766.

27 David Montgomery, "Workers' Contro and M

Production in he Nineteenh Century, Labor H

XVIII (Fal, 1976) p. 491 For an eceen firaccount of the miners' pi face conro and t

forma work rues, se John Brophy, Miner

(Madison, Wis., 19), chapter IV

28 erbert Gutman, "The Workers Search for P

in H.W. Morgan, e., The Gilded ge Reap

(Syracuse, 1963) pp. 3868

29 New Yo Time, arch 10, 1978.

JIM GREEN, an editor oj Radical Am

teache hitory at UMa, Boton in te c

oj Community and Public Service. He writing a hort hitory oj US workers

190.


30/68

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31/68

I

Ford, we are twelve: oh make us one

Like drops within the social rivero make us now together runAs sWtly as thy shining ivver

-Song of the Alphas and Betas

an ,

In Aldous Huxley's Brave New Word

Jack Rus

The enquiries conducted by the industrialists into the workers' private lives and inspection services created by some rms to control the moraty' of their workers

necessities of the new methods of work. People who laugh at these initiatives (ailu

though they were) and see in them only a hypocritical manestation of uritanithereby deny themselves any poibiity of understanding the importance, signicance objective import of the American phenomenon, which is aso the biggest collective effor

date to create, with unprecedented speed, and with a consciousness ofpurpose unmatcin history, a new type of worker and of man

Antonio Gramsci, Prson Noteoos

Please, Mr Foreman, slow down your assembly line

Please, Mr Foreman, slow down your assembly lineYou know I don 't mind workin ', but I do mind dyin '

- blues by Joe L Carter,popular in Detroit in the 1960s


32/68

As Detroit entered the 20th centu the city

already possessed much o the industrial capacity and skilled workorce which the early automakers would require. But the 46 wageeaers o the tu o the century Detroit werenot easily controlled seants at the beck andcall o employers. Although onethird o the

city's people were oreign bo, the majority othese were rom Germany and Great Britain,where strong labor movements had no doubtinluenced many o the skilled workers whosettled in Detroit. hey and their Yankeebrehren had ormed several crat unions in thepreceding tenty years. he ouncil of radesand Labor Unions included representatives romthe carpenters, metal polishers, iron moulders,core makers, and machinists. hese catsmen

were usually able to control the conditions underwhich they worked, including the pace oproduction.

In the early 1s perhaps 12, Detroitwage eaers about / of the total wereskilled workers organized in crat unions. heirstrength was a serious problem or the leadingbusinessmen o the city whose plans for Detroit'suture greatness and their own uture profitsdepended on a subordinate workorce and

steady production. Knowing they must breakthe power o the skilled workers, manufacturersin particular industries had tried to organizeassociations. In 12, spurred on by an unprecedented national strike wave and the recentsuccesses o local unions, they ormed a uniiedEmployers' Association o Detroit E.A.D.).

In the spirit of their oicial motto, Prevention is Greater than ure," the E.A.D. began acampaign to crush the unions and make Detroitthe most open shop city in America. he newunity of the bosses allowed them to establishirm control o the labor market. In clash aterclash they reused to meet with union representatives, and discharged and blacklisted unionmen. Where necessary, they locked the workers

out and hired new hands. heir paireported regularly rom the shop lrpress tried to mould public opinio. heicould oreclose a worker's mortgage.

he best weapon o the E.A.D. was itsBureau, established in 103 he Bureavital information on as many Detroit w

men as it could. Where was he employedwas his trade and abili? Did he getwith his ellow workers? Was he a maker," that is, pro-union? Would aemployer rehire him? Within a ew yeE.A.D. had records on 40,workers anact as an employment agency or membeneeded scab labor.

he employers were aided in their battsevere national recession in the mid1

by technological developments which eropower o the skilled workers. he anicbrought tw years o harsh times. Detroit was less hard hit than elsewherworkers knew there were ew jobs in otheand were reluctant to risk their steadyresisting the E.A.D oensive. till worsthe eects o rationalization. As new mawas developed to do particular tasks preperormed by a multitalented cratsm

property" in his skill was reduced. Eathere were ewer allaround machinismore specialized operators who couldonly one speciic machine. he unapprentice systems which had produccratsmen and controlled the supply olabor were dying out, and the cratthemselves were being divided into smalweaker parts

From 107 on the emploers oconsolidated their victory. In August o ththe Board of ommerce informed thegration authorities at Ellis Island hatfactories were eager to employ the eastesouthe Europeans now pouring into Ain record numbers. he E.A.D. made s


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Lstate legslature passed laws faorable to management, kept a watchful eye on any radcalagtaton n the cty, and concentrated onrecrutng both workers and entre orporatonsto Detrot Eager to enjoy the benefts of theopen shop guaranteed by the ED, manymajor manufacturers relocated n Detrot dur

ng the 1s The Burroughs ddng Machneorporaton, the Tmken ompany, and Packard Motors packed up ther best workers andther famles and moed en masse to DetrotThese new arrials, the older Detrot ndustries,and the expandng auto companes all neededhands The ED adertse n the newspapersof nearly 2 North mercan ctes adisngboth sklled workers and mmgrant laborers toseek jobs n boomng Detrot

They came The cty sweled to 5, by1911, to 6,by 1914, to nearly a mllon bythe end of the decade Buckwheats, unneededsons of mdweste and ntario farm familes,came because the land held no future for themBright kds who had learned part of a trade nsome ho, Indana or Illnos town camelookng for a ladder up n auto Men who hadworked n the great forests of northe Mchganand n the sawmll towns of Sagnaw, Bay ty

and Muskegon retreated to Detrot as the whtepne bonanza ded wth the tmberlands fter1917, war moblizaton brought southe blacksn large numbers for the frst tme Immgrantworkers who had already endured a few years nPennsylana coal felds, as gandy ancers onthe ral lnes, or as day laborers n urbanconstructon moed to Detrot hopng for moredollars and less drudgery

They were joned by countrymen who had justreached merca The great majority wererefugees uprooted by the collapse of peasantsocetes n southern and easte Europe Rapdncreases n populaton, ecesse subdson ofthe land, the nason of a money economy, andthe begnnng of world trade n agrcultural

staples had doomed ther once selfsullages Men came to the nted States thard, sae all, and return wth enough toagan Some made the oyage home, buremaned n the ndustral towns of mThe older mmgrant groups expanded aas thousands of Brtsh, Scandnaan, B

and ustran natonals found ther wDetrot Detrot became a jumble of faand warehouses, old neghborhoods that dfferent peoples eery few years and nblocks whch only month before had beroads and empty felds

Lfe could be cruel n the crowded dstreery 1,chldren bo, 18 ded n theyear There were some forces of stabltPoles, the frst, largest, and best establs

the "new mmgrant groups, had ther and an extense school system ther afounded beneolent socetes and culturacatons But churches and natonal halalways outnumbered by saloons (lega1917, more proftable thereafter) and brota cty where men would exceed women b85 n 1920

From ths mass of uprooted, unorgmmgrants and mgrants dded by expe

custom, fath and language, the Ford ompany recruted the workers who manHghland Park Plant durng ts frst hdecade.

Durng the last decade of the 19th centmanagers of mercan ndustry ntensfequest for ncreased producton and effcthey battled for bgger shares of new nand nternatonal markets The maoffense took many dfferent forms but had one basc objecte to establsh

complete control oer the plannng, proand pace of work Bosses began to management as a scence whch could trathe ways n whch ther employees laboreundertook a full "ratonalzaton of p


34/68

ssy mps phswhh ss h mv ff f myhs z m k hpw f hhy sk wks wh hympz kw f hq sdhs v f h w p fwk z md mh wk y skd fsm y smpfy dv sks Mhs w dvpd whhcod my ff fs whi hs whh h wks pfmd wddd d ddd g h dd my spzd j. zq k w h s ss w fms f wk. Exps sfmm m whs f ws h wks h w md fp As z pdd dpdvs ws p. Th p sps f w spd fm h pfm f h wk p ws vdfm x hh fm Thsj ssh w ds vs fwk h hhy sk s d mh ds whs ws v dhs wh h ssy pv jswhs vs w d.

z m Amisy I ws p whmy s vry p dy fis h ms S sk f 92 hw hs shpf skmshs. N ps ws sv N ws m sfhwv h h s f mss pd h k Th v hs m mmp f ff hsy.Ny vy xk vs p

p h h f h mss-pd Md . Y f hs fw hvxp wh sh sdd h msmp qs sk hv f z pd: how ddh woks c?

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ds d hs ys B w ry h vs w mp 2 Ms ws hy d. Thy w h fs hps wsss vms mm f h

DETOIT: 90hy ws D h h y f h

y s h y whh pm? Tw fs w rs fd whh y xh d h vs w h mpys w mk h shp w

I h ys f h Cv Dm y sd h dsrypp md ms h d shs d shppd f d pk dMhs hdwd fss fsd fm ds yd sds w mkd hh h wd

fms md D phm Nms -pss fd h Tmp f h Nh

m h 0s hv ds m mp 9h ry Dsv mk h . Th MD d s Sv Cmppyd hsds my f hm skd mks ps mdspshs sh m wks. D

ms f h sock f hws s whh shd h PTh i wks w h ys mpys h m. Af sms yp f h az fps h 90s h shps


35/68

pa of he naional Ameian Ca an onCompan whih emploe loall a hen of he en Mos of hese men weenskile laboes he olish immigans whobegan aiving in lage nmbes in he 890ssogh obs in he a woks as an esape fomlowe-paing see paving an sewe igging.

Biling he olling sok eqie skille hansin he mahine shop an fon howeve.hese men wee available o he flegling aomakes

As he iies an owns along he Gea Lakesgew apil in he 1890s so i affi on heLakes Deoi beame he leaing spplie ofommeial an please vessels fo he geainlan waewa evea fims wee onsoliae as he Deoi hipbiling Compan in

1899 hei as a he Oleans ee whafan in Wanoe emploe 15 men mos ofhem highl skile afsmen. he maineins was paial impoan in aing hefonaion fo he eal ao poion sineman of he af wee powee b gasolinebning inenal ombsion engines

RAONALZAON THROGH 1914Moe han a eae passe beween he fis

ommeial poion of aomobiles in Ameia an he opening of os Highlan aklan. hese eal eas of he ao ea weelivel imes. Eve new ao show foseaenion on impoan innovaions an feaenew moels an biles Eah season seemeo bing he bih of new ompanies an heeah of ohes. he svivos eape a bonanzaThe ineases in invesmen wokfoe opan pofis wee ve lage Bease apihange was he onl onsan goo eos weeno alwas kep Now hee qaes of acen lae we know moe abo he aniqepos of hese eas han we o abo hewokes an he poesses whih poehem

Ceainl he ealies mehos wee piAs Hen o himself woe "n oassembling we simpl sae o pogehe a a spo on he floo an wobogh o i he pas as he wee neeexal he same wa ha one bils a hh infomali was geneal ing he

shop peio of ao poion in he veeas of he en ine no moe hansoe wokes wee assembling pehaps ffive as a an one ime "hee was poee bease afe all hee wasnssem

Afe he o Compan move o heonse fao a iqee an Beabhe wine of 19-05 assembl beame wha moe effiien Thee was mh moe

an managemen was spe on b inoes fo o as Majo omponens she moo wee now omplee in pae weman fo hem a final assembl. B noavanes wee mae in he wa he aaall p ogehe This is lea fom heaile esipion of pe-Highlan akos whih svives he esimon of OConno who was hie as an assembleiqee lan in 1907 an woke hee f

eas nil ansfee o he new faHighlan ak.Th cs w ll lnd up n w

ssld. You wnt up on sd nd dooth. W hd out foty-f cs lndths ccl. Of cous, thy wn t ongw stton ght on th oo.

Thy hd woodn hoss nd thy st thxl on th nd thy dd th s w ut tht ws tht n s jo, just long nd sttng thos xls on thos hossoon s th c lft tht plc, th hosst down nd thn noth ln sttd

Aft th xls w on thn th n wco long wth tucklod of fs.w fou-whld tucks Thy w p


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cks H would push hm by hnd Thr ws m going wih h ruck nd h ws lhy hd o do k h frm ou of hr nds hm on hos horss Thn h ssmblrscm long nd pu h clmps on Thy wouldmo long fm cr o cr down h linssmbling ch frm o h ls Th would

b hir obThy go up o whr h moors wr, nd

hr would b rucklod of moors comlong, nd hy would g hold of moor nds i in Thy jus pu chin round i ndpickd i up omims hy hd hr mnOn would b on hfn nd on would b onch sid Th ws ll hy hd o do, drop hin h frm

Thn h ssmblrs would com long nd

connc h l up o h moor Thy wouldsick n iron br hugh his chin nd pick iup nd drop i in ombody ls on nohrm would com long nd ch i

Thy would com o h dsh ssmbly hnnd s h dsh on Thr ws nohing on hdsh Anohr fllow would com long, nd iws his job o bring h dshs nd s hmdown nd bol hm down Anohr mn wouldcom long wih h sring pos nd sick i

hrough h door Thn nohr group wouldcom long wih h coil bo Thy pu h coilbo on, ssmbld i nd hn hy srdhooking h conncing d down h boom

,

Thn mn cm long wih lod offndrsnd running bords H would si hm righdown on op of h frm Thy wr ssmbldThs ssmblrs would mo from cr o crBy h im h mn go o h ls cr h firscr would b ll don

Thn hy cm long wih bodis Of coursh ws big job Bodis ook up lo of ombing ruckd bck d forh Four mn wouldpick h up nd dp i on h chssis Th wsll hy hd o do Ths cks wr coming inl h im nd hs mn wr jus lfing hm

on Thn hy ssmbld h body, c Thhoor bords in nd d i o h linwhls would bpu on righ fr h lpu on

Wh hing ws nishd, hyknock h horss down Afr h whlson, hy pulld hos horss ou nd s

cr righ on h oor Whn h mn ck h cr wy, h hd lil dos sho in undr h whls On would bfron nd h ohr on h bck Thh o h grg hn nd h ws i Fgrg i ws gssd up s nd h cdon

We lea everal thing from thi paThe new Piqette factory, Flander' effimeare, and the introdction of the

deigned Model T had increaed the nmimltaneo final aemblie tenfold ovMac Avene day The delivery of compoand part to the final aembly area warelatively elementary arge nit were win on bly phcart, maller oneapparently tocpiled in barrel or on hOConnor' accont alo indicate how peach individal aembler' ta wa becoWhile bilding p a motor or tranm

certainly till reqired illed hand,aembly wa already by a eqenmany particlar and qite imple obperformed by a different worer No "maembler bilt Model T Thee wmoved from car to tationary car, doingand then waling to the next car while angrop came along to the nit they hadObvioly there wa till mch lac in proce The men cold move at their own

lowing for a ret or a word All percold do wa bar or prod if the aw thlag They cold not be everywhere at on

More btantial gain had been maderationalization of part fabrication A thindtry matred it prred the prodct


37/68


38/68

oting of patsinpogess thogh the gowingthicket of tools, ovens, belts, and stkpiles, thecloselygoped machines wee linked togetheby a netwok of gavity sldes, olways, andchtes. ats wee no longe handed along ocaed between statons o floos

The manages wee amazed at the abocostedctions achieved by these instalations. sthey soon ealzed,

Whr workn cn por olutlyir uccion of ovnt h v oongin grt kill coind with grt rpid ofuculr ction; ut if th utin of thworkn ovnt i rokn h utinvitly c hi rin into ction to find tht n of ridging hi tul nd utlo o ti in dviing nd cuting hi

unuul lin of pcdur.s they appoached the beakhogh of the

moving assemby line, the Fod efficiency menbegan to conceive thei ideal woke as a pai oftained hands seveed fom the bain by theotine of wok

Towad the end of 2 the Fod ompanyseffots to ationaize ato making enteed a newstage as they began to impement the methodswhich wold, in the net two yeas, achieve mass

podction on the basis of movng assemby.Sevea eamples can sggest the chaacte ofthe geneal tansfomation.

The fist steps wee taken in the fondyUntil the fall of 2 the Highand ak fondywas a typical wheelbaowandshove opeation.Then a mechanic who had once woked in abewey whee gain was moved in hoppessggested a device which wold cay medsand ove a line of mold packes and delve it

to each station thgh a chte as needed Whenthe conveyo was also n nde the moldesbenches to ecove nsed sand and sand fomsed molds was ecycled to the hoppes, thefist Fod endlesschain mateals handle wasbon. Ealy in 3 the concept was applied to

baking the coes and poing the molten into the mods. Two lps of conveyos pthe coes thogh ovens at the pecise eqied to pepae them Molds wee calong on low chaindiven lines to be fllstationay ovehead spts. ooled moldtaken to the shakeot aea on a chain conv

Lao costs went down apidly. Mechathe movement of the wok specializedsimplified the tasks pefomed by many dyen The fondy spentendent asset that if an immigant, who has neveseen the inside of a fondy befoe, cannmade a fistclass molde of one piece othee days, he can neve be any se on theand two days is held to be ample time to mfistclass coe make of a man who has

befoe seen a coemaking bench in his n pil o May of 3 came the fist at

at moving sbassembly. The flywheel mawas a elatively compact bt compleBefoe the sping of 3 magnetos assembled by individal men woking at bes. The most epeienced hands cold ano bette than one assembly each 20 miWhen the Fod enginees decided to beaopeation down into 2 sepaate tasks

fomed by 2 men as the nit passed bthem on a moving belt, the eslts wee staveage assembly time dopped to 3 mand 0 seconds Epeiments with the spthe belt detemined the best pace, inchminte, and evealed an impotant advantmoing assembly. The chain dive poveda vey geat impovement hying themen, holding the fast men back fom pwok on to tose in advance and acting

allond adjste and eqalize. ndctte. By ealy 94, fthe epeience ainstallation f a ighe line had edcemagneto assembly cew to 8 men pe linthe aveage time pe nit to seven mintestheeafte a line of 4 men was tnin


39/68

magneto at ive minute pe unit In le tan ayea, te poduction time ad been alved, andten alved again.

Suc ucce emboldened Fod poductionenginee In te late umme o 93 teyattacked te inticacie o aembling te entiecai. By ten tationay aembly o te

cai ad pobably eaced te limit oeiciency Two line 6eet long eac povided50 tation o building up te cai on awoe Tee line wee manned by a total o6 and, 5 aemble and caieTei bet ecod o te labo timeinveted in aingle aembly wa 2 ou and 2 minutetei aveage wa about 4 ou. In Augut apecial team expeimented wit a cude veiono moving inal aembly and buied all ecod

A ope and windla pulled a caiinomation down a 20oot line a ix aemble,walking wit te wok, attaced componentaleady laid out at te igt pot. Teyaveaged ou and 0 minute o labo timepe cai, bette tan alving te peviou

)ecod. But wit te cange, in lea yea, by May Day 94, te aveage labwa only 93 minute.

One moe example, tat o moto awill illutate te pace at wic ationapoceeded in te 93-194 peiod and coe ow damatically moving aembte ubdiviion o te manual tak canwok wic eac individual peomedGimaw woked in te moto depauntil otly beoe te intallation oaembly. He decibe i ob I wa wat one benc and doing all ti wok place We put in te cankat, ten plte piton and igtened tem up, tente valve. We built te wole engine tat benc I did mot o te w

building up an engine myelBut by May, 94, te motoino

wa diven along ail by an endleconveyo and te tak o building up twa boken into 4 epaate opeation ing 0 men on eac line Te ob menti


40/68

Grmshaws re account o hs work had n thelanguage o the classc Ford shop manual,ecome:

No. ofmen:35. Run in cranksht

Operations 6 to 4inclusive, serve toplace the crankshaft

and gear assmblyand are worked on abench leve with theassembng ines

6 Ream bearing

7 Ream bearing

8 Fl barng

9 Fie off burrs ocam-sht fange

4 Assemble front

bearing to camshaft

4 Assembe spring tobearing and assembecenter bearing

4 Assembe gear

4 Test out size of

cam-shaft gear44 Drive brass bushing

in case and linereamsame

4 Assemble push rodsin push-rod guides

46 Drive camshaft incylinder and bowout motor

47 Put in camshaftbearing and inspectand take push rods

from below vaves(Pton and rods

8

Time sec

7

7

4

9

4

44

70

52

53

6

assbg is aseparate job onpisto-androdssmbin bnh)

48 Gauge pin baring oncrankshaft and

scrp orrs oncyindr bors

49 Fit istons

Fit rings to pistons

3

wenty hands or the work which onlyeore had een ut part o one manwenty men endlessly repeating a simpeve ew seconds Now motors were asswth 28 mnutes o laor tme, less than nvestment o a ew months eore.

he achevement o the Ford engineesupervsors was monumental In the language o Ford Mho and h Fordthey had appled team work to the extent, and y ths eature in conunctiothe arrangement o successve operationclosest proximty, so as to minimize tran

tion and to maxmze the pressure owork, t succeeds n mantaining speed wotrusive oremanshp" In act theestalshed a new relaonshp etween mment and worker, capital and laor onthe line was a potent weapon in the neattle or what the managers called a awork." he comng o the line destroyremainng slands o crat control over pon work and suected oundryman op

and assemler to a common mechanizednyAlthough he conessed the prospect o

tive laor terriied hm, Ford asserted thanot troule the workers at the Plant-


41/68

To so ps of ind hough is bsolulyppling To h h idljob is on whr hcri insincs nd no b xprssd Thrg workr sor o sy wns job inwhich h dos no h o pu forh uchphysicl xrion bo l h wns job inwhich h dos no h o hink

Bu od knew bee A he vey momen ofmos inense aionalizaion a Highland Pakhe wokes wee demonsaing wha heyhough of he new ode.

"THE HOUSE O CORRECTIONSTHE LABOR CRISIS O 1913

od and he ohe Deoi auo makes hadcoped wih a esless wokfoce fom hebeginning As he indusy boomed new obs

wee ceaed evey monh and dependableacoy hands in sho supply despie he beseffos of he E.AD. became he obec ofcompeiion Local newspapes wee full ofadveisemens designed o lue wokes fomone employe o anohe The pacice wasdisupive expensive and widespead Shohanded shifs could no fill poducion quoas

Pocessing and beaking in new wokes cosdolas One exensive suvey of he peiod

showed ha 3% of he auo wokes had beenwih hei cuen employe less han sixmonhs In he sping of 1912 he Employes'Associaion bough he auo manufacuesogehe and convinced hem o abandon ovecompeiion fo labo in favo of inensifiedecuimen ouside Deoi Bu hey couldhadly wish away he igh labo make heiboom ceaed Wokes looking fo beecondiions o meely fed up wih he egime a

hei faco could and did move abouEven befoe 1913 he od Moo Companyhad special poblems ecuiing a sable wokoce The Plan was locaed on wha was hene ouskis of Deoi fa emoved om moso he woking class neighbohoods The exa

pennies i cos o ake he see ailway suely discouaged some laboes fom obs a Highland Pak especially inceand hous he wee no bee han a faclose o home

As he new mehods inceased he pwok and placed unfamilia pessues

men hei haed of he wok became o"I was a eible shock . some of he bno wan o wok on his kind of conveyohead mooassembly foeman William Equally desed was he close spacmachines and he sysem of gaviy slidollways "The men didn like i Klanbecause hey had o wok hade Thewee hee and hey didn' have ime back and ake a es in beween

ws hrd o g h propr ssbly work W ook ny kind of Eployn Dprn g us nd on forn hd o l in Engish GPolish, nd lin ws hur up puchpuch prno in Polish ch schGrn nd prso prso in lin

James OConno who had now becfoeman on he chassis assembly linobseved a widespead eecion of h

wok. "We all would ge new men eveThey kep coming and going . . Thee lo of people who wouldn even yhough hey couldn do i The weighline boe down on he men axing he nsysem in ways which heavy field woklabo on he sees and ailways of Aneve had As many naionaliies wee ogehe by he flow of moving assficions inceased. "We used o have qui

of ouble admied a seup man in hemachine depamen "I've seen as manyfis ighs hee in ou shop walking fodepamen o anohe "Because welong sone wall aund he foundy facoy manage PE Main "hey used


42/68

te Ford Plant te House o Correctons"No mode prson ever recorded a tuover o

ts nmates to equal te Hgland Par Plant n1913 n December o 191 te tuover rate as40 or te mont alone Durng te prolongedlabor crss o 1913 te annual rate as 30 Tomantan a ororce approacng 14 Fordred over 5 men Most o te tens otousands o let te actory ere not redTey smply aled out Quts outnumbereddscarges sx to one Te maorty o aledjust pulled ter pay and dsappeared touttellng te Employment Oce Ater ve dayster names ere taen o te rolls

Te managers ept te actory runnng bytang almost all comers and puttng tem toor on te ncreasngly smpled jobs created

by ratonalzaton Some lasted some dd notTe nstablty as bot expensve and dsturbng t cost us as remember about 38 perman to brea tem n on te job" rote AGBonde ead o te Employment Oce At tsrate turnover alone cost Ford to mllon dollarsn 1913 or ully one trd o te orgnalnvestment n plant and macnery at HglandPar! More troublng stll as te prospect ocontnung on te course o ncreased ratonal

zaton nvestment and expanson t a labororce c ad to be completely reneed everye monts and ose dscontent t te neor could be expressed n ays more dangerous tan quttng Readng te nespapersearng reports rom te eld and talng tter peers at te Employers' Assocaton teFord men ad every reason to ear a mltantorers movement c mgt totally dsruptter plannng

e oter Amercan ndustralsts te automanuacturers o Detrot ad atced tegrot o orng class mltancy and laborradcalsm n te past e years n some o temost dely publczed o te battles leaderspas gven by te ndustral Worers o te

40

World Knon popularly as te WobblWW stood or all tat as loatsoAmercan men o property Tey belecontest beteen bosses and orers merely a quarrel over ages and oursnevtable ar c ould result n teo captalsm and te creaton o an ncommonealt run by te producers

Te WW never became a serous revoary treat to Amercan captalsm bubold pursut o ndustral unonsm (aten te AF o L turned ts bac on unzed actory abor) and ts role n oents o nsurgency n te years World War dd alarm te explounsled ands n ndustres ere razaton as ntense

urng te year 191 a small WW gDetrot ad begun to reac ndustral Membersp ncreases requred a movlarger all and eely rater tan semmmeetngs Te WW locals ere stll band operatng almost unnotced but t


43/68

vigorou oapboxer carrying on regular agitation for the 8-hour day and indutria unionim

In late pril of 1913 they focued theirattention on ord Highland Park Plant nthe 8th, reported one local paper, IWWerwere een haranguing employee of the ordotor o Harrament by official quickly

followed, but the Wobblie reued the nextday and drew a very large crowd etimated at3, uriou ord worker lined the factowindow and miled about in front of the lunchtand on ancheter Street he main IWWattraction wa atilda Rabinowit, veteran ofawrence and kron, ent by the national officeto ait the Detroit group In ucceion, heand four other Wob, two of whom were ordemployee, mounted a mal platforto addre

the worker The police moved with dipatch,eting each of them in tu

The judge lectured the five about diturbingthe peace and locked them up overnight Bynoon the next day they were back at theHighland Park Plant, but thi time drew amaller crowd becaue ord had apparentlyupended outdoor lunch "priviege

Undaunted by the arret at Highland Park,the Wobblie turned their attention to Stude

baker, the econd larget auto maker in the ciWhile Rabinowitz wa called to the Pittburghgion by the national office, everal lamitant hired in at Sudebaker, joining menready in the IWW circle They thought thelarge crowd they had gathered at ord mightmark a new tage of opportuni for agitaonSeven week after the Highand Park epiode,he auto boe were confronted with the fitmajor trike in the auto indut

n the morning of une 17, 1913, a mjoio the 3,5 hand on the day hift atudebaker No 3 Plant at Wet efferon andark downed tool and walked out of thecto or ome ime the men had been aking weeky rather than bi-monthly pay day The-

A Wil V WORKHO O

\E FO aM I. r$ n 12 I o+ . 12 ' 0 AfTER " J R J 1 To , O 1 9 F M Y A ;

,2 8 14 :C ! _. , 1 5 G I UP c Wl&:H U R S W R K

ompany had aid nothing and angegrown Then Dale Schloer, one of the mehad acted a an informal repreentative worker, wa fired He had taken a day

leafet another factory, had lied abouabence, been dicovered, and cannedword of hi dimial pread through thethe men truck

t one Detroit Sudebaker plant on u1913, a ma wakout occured to protefiring of an informal worker leader morning apparently the majori of the hand left, hutting down that plant, andto pread the revolt to other Studebaker p

The IWW conducted ma meeting ofworker, and the triker voted to conductruggle under IWW auice But mocop chaed and clubbed picketer, and end the trike wa contained to theStudebaker plant n the ixth day of the even thoe worker began going back totheir job The walkout had come at the dethe ummer lack eaon, tactically the poible time

Stil, in the aftermath of the Studebakerthe capitalit of Detroit overetimatethreat which the IWW poed The thought there might be , Wob in thhop in the late ummer of 1913, but alikely figure i le than 6 atida R


44/68

wi herelf leve more ober ccoun of herorgniion cpciy In he he of he blehe vlued "he mo plendid deonrion ofolidriy for common cue nd climed iw one of he few hor rike of he period"where he mo revolui

Documents

Radical America - Vol 12 No 3 - 1978 - May June