Abstract
While it is often thought that the conditions current workers are forced to endure are difficult and unsafe, they are truly nirvana compared with those endured by workers at the turn of the twentieth century, particularly those who worked in mines. Green provides a well-written chronicle of those struggles in his latest book. It comes at an opportune time, as recent reports show that the last union mine in nearby Kentucky has closed down, indicating that there are no longer any union miners in the entire state of Kentucky, years after the struggles in Harlan County were made famous (Lovan 2015).
The parameters of the miserable working conditions in the mines are well known—the extremely hazardous working conditions, the use of boys as young as ten years old, and the debts in company towns that made the workers into debt slaves. Green further shows the interplay of the West Virginia establishment—whether law enforcement or the state government in thrall to the mine owners.
Against these powerful forces were arrayed a set of determined individuals. Green’s sympathies clearly lie with those figures, which include such well-known individuals as Mother Mary Jones and United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) President John L. Lewis, and also include such crucial leaders as Frank Keeney. Keeney, who first went to the mines as a mere boy to support his family, rose to a position of leadership in the union hierarchy, and maintained his belief in the struggle for mine workers’ rights through the many defeats and few victories of the first years of the twentieth century.
For union leaders in the twenty-first century, the lessons Keeney teaches of keeping the struggle going through the worst of times, involving the workers and letting them know why the struggle is important, and realizing the interplay of politics and representation are still as important now as they were almost one hundred years ago.
The book climaxes with the Battle of Blair Mountain, in which almost ten thousand armed miners confronted first thousands of law enforcement officials and then military forces sent in by Presidential order. While the Battle was a defeat for the mine workers, the resultant publicity would be crucial in future New Deal support of miners and their union rights. Hopefully, union officials will not be confronted with armed police and bombers when they defend the rights of workers in the twenty-first century. Yet the interplay of government on the side of management is not an event that labor can take lightly. Taking inspiration from the struggles of miners, as Green chronicles, is one way to defend these rights.