Murray's political power base was primarily in the coal mining towns starting in the south hills of Pittsburgh and roughly running on both sides of Route 88 towards Monessen. From these areas he launched his career as vice-president of a union that mostly existed on paper, the United Mineworkers of America. By an alliance with John L. Lewis of Illinois, Murray had become vice-president around 1920.
The first national test of Murray's mettle was in 1922, often referred to as the '22 strike and by some as the start of the mine wars. This was a bitter often armed struggle between the coal companies and the union. It saw the coal barons hire thugs who were deputized sheriffs(Coal & Iron Police, Baldwin Felts), the use of the state police, and even the army against the miners.
One incident involving Murray was the start of the Armed March on Logan, WV. The union miners in the Kanawha Valley of WV had decided on an armed show of strength. Their plan was a march over the mountains and into the non-union coal fields of southern WV as a demonstration of strength. Murray was there while the miners gathered and he confered with the UMW district and local officials. Murray left, possibly to confer with Lewis. Shortly after Murray left the march began. It ended in a pitched battle at Blair Mountain in which machine guns and air planes dropping bombs were reportedly used. The leadership of the UMW in the area was arrested after this incident and charged with treason!
The treason trial was held in Charlestown, in the rural Protestant eastern panhandle of WV. The story that I tend to believe knowing what I know of Murray, is that Phil Murray influenced public opinion and a long with it the jury in this area by using mineworkers acting as bible salesman!(Doug and Mark please note) The union leaders on trial were acquitted.
Tom
Mark Rickling wrote:
> From: Michael Yates <mikey+ at pitt.edu>
>
> > I think that it is true that the Church's teachings are corporatist.
> > This means that they will at times have a populist element, though when
> > push comes to shove, the Church hierarchy will go for the "bundle of
> > sticks" (i.e. fascism or some other totalitarian variant). BTW, I did
> > my college senior paper on th eeconomics of the papal encyclicals!
>
> But it isn't just the tendencies of the Church hierarchy that is at issue,
> and thus that when "push comes to shove" Catholic corporatism will
> necessarily veer to the right. For instance, in the immediate post-WWII
> period, it is true that a group like the Association of Catholic Trade
> Unionists, which probably had more to do with the success and growth of the
> CIO than say the CPUSA, lost what remained of its corporatist critique of
> American capitalism and became an organization dedicated solely to
> anti-communism in the labor movement. But the post-war period also saw the
> Catholic and ever-cautious CIO leader Philip Murray put forth his Industry
> Council Plan, which tried to extend into the postwar period the tripartite
> (business, labor and the state) bargaining patterns seen in wartime
> institutions such as the War Labor Board and the Office of Price
> Administration. Said Murray, "The Industry Council Plan is a program for
> democratic economic planning and for participation by the people in the key
> decisions of the big corporations." Sounds good to me.
>
> mark
>
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