Coal River 1

Conflict at Coal River Collieries:
The UMWA verses the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers

Dear Sirs and Brothers:

I came across this article on the Internet and thought it would be of some interest on the Brotherhood's history. This article also speaks volumes of the conflicts that can arise from employee ownership of a unionized work site or where a union is required to act and perform many management functions.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, I remain,

Yours Fraternally,

Thomas G. Hucker Vice President & National Legislative Representative

Conflict at Coal River Collieries:
The UMWA verses the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers

By Thomas J. Robertson and Ronald L. Lewis

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One of West Virginia's most unusual strikes began on April 1, 1924, when union miners walked out at the Coal River Collieries. Miners often went on strike in West Virginia during the early 1920s, but this strike was exceptional because the Coal River Colliery Company (CRC) was an investment venture of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE). The company's stock was owned by members of the Brotherhood, and chairman of the board Warren S. Stone was also the Grand Chief Engineer of the Brotherhood. The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), called the miners out of CRC mines because the company refused to pay the current union wage scale. That a union would be compelled to conduct a strike against a union-owned company for refusing to pay the union scale sparked a controversy which called into question the principles and goals of both labor organizations.

The bitter feud that developed over CRC between Stone and UMWA President John L. Lewis illustrates a little understood cleavage rally w they can become capitalists as well as workers."(4) By the second decade of the twentieth century, the BLE had created three "parent companies" through which the union controlled over thirty-five banking and investment businesses.(5)

These financial enterprises were influenced by the writings of the banker and essayist Walter McCaleb who advocated that labor "expand its limited horizons by organizing and managing banks."(6) In response, the Brotherhood's 1915 national convention authorized Stone and the Advisory Board to study "the advisability of forming a bank at an opportune time." Five years later, in November 1920, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers' Cooperative Bank was formed in Cleveland, Ohio.(7) The great success of the bank, reaching over $1 million in deposits within two months, further encouraged the BLE to open banks in other cities, such as Hammond, Indiana, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Spokane, Washington.(8) The BLE further diversified its investments during the early twenties with the establishment of the Brotherhood Holding Company in 1922, and the Brotherhood Investment Company in 1923. With these two companies, and the subsequent addition of the B. of L. E. Realty Corporation, the union became immersed in a wide variety of capital investments, one of which was the Coal River Collieries.(9)

The Brotherhood's ventures into labor capitalism were due in large part to the leadership of Warren S. Stone. As Grand Chief Engineer of the Brotherhood (the office was subsequently renamed President of the Brotherhood), Stone's personality and union philosophy played a central role in the CRC controversy. Warren Stone was not the typical labor leader. For example, in 1910 Stone declared that it was " Un-American" to force workers into a union. While admitting that organized labor had improved the condition of workers, Stone also believed that if a worker "wants to join a union, all right, but it is contrary to the principles of free government and the Constitution of the United States . . . to make him join."(10) The ultimate goal of a union, according to Stone, was not simply to achieve a living wage but to move to a "higher type of living." Political action was one vehicle available to workers for attaining this higher status in society, but only if they voted for politicians who served their interests. In short, workers should be political independents rather than loyal to a single political party.(11) Stone also supported the Plumb Plan, proposed by attorney Glen E. Plumb, noted for his work in railway legal matters, which advocated public ownership of the railroads. Given his prominent position with the Locomotive Engineers, Stone undoubtedly saw an important role for himself in the management of the railroads under this plan.(12)

For all his seemingly progressive ideals, however, the thrifty and tenacious Stone was described by some BLE officials as "a Czar" who ruled the BLE financial and industrial empire with "an iron hand and strong arm."(13) One segment of the BLE investment empire where the "strong arm" certainly was exercised was the CRC which operated four drift mines along the Coal River in Boone County.(14) Situated between Kanawha County, where the UMWA had a strong membership, and the virulently anti-union bastion of Logan County, Boone County was one of America's top fifteen coal-producing counties in 1923 and a predominately non-union bifurcation of its two neighbors. Some UMWA officials initially saw a strategic advantage in the penetration of a union-owned coal company into this non-union district where the UMWA was locked in a bitter struggle for survival.

The early twenties was a time of great turmoil in southern West Virginia where the UMWA's efforts to organize the coalfields collided with the determined opposition of mine owners. Bitter strikes in Logan and Mingo counties led to violent confrontations between strikers and "gun thugs" hired by the companies. In 1920, these agents of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency murdered Sid Hatfield, the popular police chief of Matewan, in revenge for his involvement in the "Matewan Massacre," which left seven Baldwin-Felts guards dead. Hatfield's murder in full public view prompted thousands of miners, many of whom had just returned from fighting in World War I to "make the world safe for democracy," to arm themselves and organize a march to free Logan and Mingo counties of "gun thug rule." They fought a pitched battle for days on Blair Mountain, before being turned back by state militia and federal troops.(15)