The United
Mine Workers of America is a union that includes coal miners, clean coal
technicians, health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and
public employees throughout the United States and Canada. The UMWA was founded
in Columbus, Ohio in 1890 by the merger of Knights of Labor Trade and the
National Progressive Union of Miners and Mine Laborers. The first leaders were
John L. Lewis, Phil Murray, Bill Green, William B. Wilson, John Mitchell and
Mother Jones. By 1920 the UMWA had gained about
500,000 members.The UMWA has also been a leader in the field of worker
health and safety. The UMWA was an early pioneer of health and retirement
benefits. Today, the UMWA’s primary role is speaking out on behalf of American
coal miners. But it also has taken on an active international role by working
to end apartheid in South Africa and by helping workers in the former Soviet
Union and developing nations form democratic labor unions.
Sources
. N.p.. Web. 27 Mar 2014.
<http://www.umwa.org/?q=content/umwa-leadership>.
. N.p.. Web. 27 Mar 2014.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/616253/United-Mine-Workers-of-America-UMWA>.