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Labor contract between United Mine Workers of America and coal operators expires. Contract provides a wage of $6.10 per day
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Miners reject coal operators demand for reduced wages. Miners strike state-wide.
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Illinois miners overwhelmingly reject $5/day contract. 224 of 240 locals reject offer.
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After District 12 President, John Walker and UMWA President, John L. Lewis campaign for the $5/day wage, Illinois miners vote on the contract.
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Two armed thugs steal ballots. Witnesses report automobile of District 12 Vice President, Fox Hughes used for get-away. Ballots overwhelmingly oppose new contract. John L. Lewis declares emergency and notifies coal operators that contract offer is accepted.
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First martyr of the mine war. Shot near Orient, Illinois.
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Governor Horner sends orders troops to Taylorville. Brigadier General Tom Hammond states %u201CThe move is merely a precautionary measure.%u201D
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Progressive picketers stop coal production in Taylorville & surrounding area.
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Killed at Zigler, IL.
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Caravan of 25,000 miners march to win support of Southern Illinois miners. Marchers pledge peaceful picketing. Sheriff's deputies & thugs intercept caravan near Mulkeytown, IL. Marchers beaten and cars damaged in melee. Charlie McCreaken, divisional superintendent of the Peabody Coal company sarcastically thanks marchers for "moonlight party."
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25,000 Illinois miners split from the United Mine Workers. Founding convention, Gillespie, IL.
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Edited by Gerry Allard. "The Progressive Miner will reflect the struggles of the coal miners for the building of union organizations and their struggles to raise themselves from the hellish holes of poverty and degradation that capitalism has placed them in. It will conduct and educational program for the stimulation of the intellectual powers of the mine workers...It will expose the exploitation of the masters of industry, depicting forcefully the class struggle."
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Hundreds of picketers arrested. Officials report a roaming band of about 300 members of the %u201CBonus Expeditionary Force%u201D of war veterans were among those arrested.
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State militia shoot Gynes at Tovey, IL.
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Taylorville City Council acts to curb activities of Illinois National Guard units stationed in the Christian county mining area. The resolution was supported with a 4,000-word opinion written by City Attorney Leal W. Reese which declared that citizens have a right to forcefully resist illegal attempts to arrest them. Any person %u201Cillegally arrested, abused, or assaulted has the right to resist the arrest with force.%u201D
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Agnes Burnes Wiecke is elected president. James P. Cannon later writes, "The great importance of organizing the women, even where they are not directly employed in industry, was brought out very clearly in this experience. The Women%u2019s Auxiliary of the Progressive Miners set the pace for the whole labor movement and by right holds first place as the real pioneer."
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William Green, President of the American Federation of Labor rules that the Progressive Miners of America is a dual union.
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54 miners killed underground in methane gas explosion. To commemorate the loss, 50 women appear in black at the January 26 Women's Auxiliary march in Springfield, IL
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Emma Cumerlato, miner%u2019s wife and mother of three children, "shot through the heart when she opened the door of her home to save her husband from the terrific gunfire of Lewis-Peabody thugs and Sheriff Wieneke%u2019s deputies attacking pickets at the nearby Kincaid mine."
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10,000 women demonstrate in Springfield for the restoration of civil liberties in the coal fields. Governor Horner grants an audience but does nothing to address their concerns.
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John H. Walker was re-elected President of Illinois District 12 of the United Mine Workers of America
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The forces of "law and order" in Franklin county showed themselves in their true light last Sunday at a PMA organizing meeting in West Frankfort. Four men and four women were severely beaten by U.M.W.A. gun thugs working in conjunction with county and local authorities. A telegram of protest was dispatched to Governor Horner and a delegation from the injured elected to call on the Governor in person, and demand that civil rights be guaranteed. From "The Progressive Miner"
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West Frankfort, IL
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Du Quoin, IL
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Du Quoin, IL
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Organized by the Social Justice Commission in St. Louis, Lewis attempts to dominate meeting. "They have left their father's home," Lewis said, referring to the revolt of the Progressives, "And now there is no mercy for them." Agnes Burns Wieck provoked Lewis into a rage when she told the conference of a dying miner's wife last words were curses for Lewis. The conflict remains unresolved.
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Springfield, IL
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West Frankfort, IL
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London Mills, IL
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Christopher, IL
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Springfield, IL
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Galatia, IL
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Kincaid, IL
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Bulpitt, IL
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Shot September 10 in Bulpitt, IL
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Harrisburg, IL
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Harrisburg, IL
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Springfield, IL
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The new law protects the rights of most workers in the private sector to organize labor unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in support of their demands. The PMA opposes the new law.
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Initially the Committee of Industrial Organization, the Congress of Industrial Organizations was a federation of unions proposed by John L. Lewis to organize industrial workers. The PMA is not affiliated.
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Springfield, IL
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10 CIO unions expelled for dualism. Among those is the United Mine Workers of America. In 1938, these unions form the Congress of Industrial Organizations as a rival labor federation.
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Commissioned and funded by the Progressive Miners of America, the dedication ceremony was attended by an estimated 50,000 people in the tiny town of Mt. Olive, IL. Lewis attempted to secure an injunction to prevent the monument from being built.
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41 federal indictments were issued in connection with 23 railroad bombings, six attempted bombings, and one railroad bridge burning which occurred between December 17, 1932 and August 8, 1935. The first time in U.S. history that indictments were returned on the federal anti-racketeering act against a labor union.
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PMA Local 1 workers initiate an 8-day 'stay down' strike to challenge mine mechanization and resulting job loss. Joe Ozanic, national president of the Progressive Miners, disclaimed responsibility for the action and said the strike was 'unauthorized.'
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The Progressive Miners of America, rival to John L. Lewis' United Mine Workers in Illinois, join the American Federation of Labor.
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34 members of the Progressive Miners of America and two others charged with conspiring to violate the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and interfering with U.S. mail found guilty of all charges. Federal district attorney, Welly Hopkins, who was appointed to prosecute the Progressives was later hired as chief counsel of the United Mine Workers.
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Imprisoned for the accidental killing of a 12-year-old girl during a mine war battle, a nation-wide campaign and rare collaboration of the UMWA, PMA and the girl's father result in their release. Former PMA editor Gerry Allard leads the national committee for their release. PMA officials Jack Battuello and Dave Reed are later kicked out of the union for leading the collaboration.
