CCBA Feature
BLOOD RUNS COAL:
A Modern Look at a 1970 Union Murder
Mark A. Bradley; W.W. Norton Fall, 2020 By Mark Ashton, Esq. Fox Rothschild, LLD.
W
e live in contentious times. Many would say these are unprecedented times where there are entirely divergent views of America’s future direction. History says otherwise. Our country experienced widespread violence in the 1840s over whether Catholic immigration would ruin America. We saw a million killed or wounded over whether eleven states could secede and retain slavery as an institution. In 1968 the murder of Martin Luther King triggered major riots in six American cities while, anger over the draft and our involvement in Vietnam prompted hundreds of protests culminating in riots in Chicago during the Democratic nominating convention. Almost 1,000 were injured. While decidedly more violent, the battles of 1968 are not much different than those of today. Half of us embrace the way things were when America was “great.” The other half suggest that things are far from “great” and change is required.
6 | New Matter
Attorney Mark Bradley’s history of the murders of Joseph Yablonsky and his family on December 31, 1969 reminds us how badly people react when they perceive themselves as threatened. The United Mine Workers were organized in 1890. Like other elements of organized labor, they experienced a rocky start until 1920 when John Lewis took over and made the miners a central element of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Lewis took the miners out of the CIO in 1942 and headed the union until 1960. He was revered by the humble men for whom he fought and when he told them that Tony Boyle was a worthy successor, they never questioned that endorsement. Although he came from a mining family, Boyle was an odd choice. He never was really in touch with the rank and file and some miners thought he ignored their economic and safety needs. But others accepted Boyle’s heavy-handed control of the union. After all, he was John Lewis’ guy. Unions in the 1960s were more autocratic than democratic. Leaders like Boyle could hand pick their boards and decide whether a member did or did not get
