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The Metal Mine Workers Union developed from the labor unrest in Butte, Montana in 1917. The copper mines of Butte produced a strong union presence in the city; by 1887, all of the city's mines were unionized. This "closed shop" persisted until 1914 when internal struggles destroyed the once powerful Butte Miners Union of the Western Federation ...
The Butte Miners' Union created branches all over Montana. Even across state lines the BMU had a presence. The miners' struggle in the Coeur d' Alene district of north Idaho witnessed the strength of the BMU when they were sent thousands of dollars in relief funds. The Butte Miner's Union mortgaged their own buildings to send more money as well.
On April 19, 1920, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the Metal Mine Workers Industrial Union called for a strike in the mines around Butte. They hoped the strike would help secure higher wages, an eight-hour day, and end the use of the rustling card, a system that allowed employers to blacklist employees involved in union organizing, among other goals. [1]
The federation was formed through the merger of several miners' unions representing copper miners from Butte, Montana, silver and lead miners from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, gold miners from Colorado and hard rock miners from South Dakota, and Utah at a five-day convention held in Butte, Montana. [1]
The Butte Miners' Union No. 1 was founded in 1878. In 1885, the Butte union hosted the organizing conference for the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) , and became the WFM's first chapter. The WFM took advantage of the "War of the Copper Kings," a struggle of mine owners to control the
Whatever the reasons for the decline, the WFM was particularly hard hit in the copper mining industries of Michigan and Arizona, and in the WFM's stronghold around Butte, Montana. [ 1 ] [ 9 ] [ 14 ] In 1916, Moyer led a successful movement to change the union's name to the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers (colloquially ...
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Sealed bulkheads prevented men from escaping toxic fumes in the various levels of the mine. Afterwards, mine workers formed a new union, Metal Mine Workers' Union, and were joined in a strike by other trades. Prior to Little's arrival in Butte, on July 12, 1917, about 1200 striking mine workers in Arizona were rounded up and deported to New ...