COLLECTION NAME:
Colorado Coal Project
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Colorado Coal Project
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Collection Name:
Colorado Coal Project
collection_name
Colorado Coal Project
Collection Name
false
Title:
An injured miner tells her story
title
An injured miner tells her story
Title
false
Creator:
Margolis, Eric, 1947-
creator
Margolis, Eric, 1947-
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false
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http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n00101170
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false
Creator:
McMahan, Ronald L.
creator
McMahan, Ronald L.
Creator
false
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http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no94033808
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false
Subject:
Coal Strike (Colorado : 1913-1914)
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Coal Strike (Colorado : 1913-1914)
Subject
false
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http://id.worldcat.org/fast/1404237
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false
Subject:
Coal mines and mining--Colorado
subject
Coal mines and mining--Colorado
Subject
false
Subject:
Coal mines and mining--New Mexico
subject
Coal mines and mining--New Mexico
Subject
false
Subject:
Labor disputes--Colorado
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Labor disputes--Colorado
Subject
false
Subject:
Strikes and lockouts--Coal mining--Colorado
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Strikes and lockouts--Coal mining--Colorado
Subject
false
Subject URI:
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http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85128770
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Subject:
Coal miners--Personal narratives
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Coal miners--Personal narratives
Subject
false
Subject:
Coal mines and mining
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Coal mines and mining
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false
Subject URI:
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http://id.worldcat.org/fast/865355
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false
Subject:
Interviews
subject
Interviews
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http://id.worldcat.org/fast/1423832
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Description:
Stuckert first mined coal in the non-union Somerset mine, 1927, owned by the Utah Fuel Company. He describes it as a self-contained "company-owned camp". Workers were paid in the script and shopped at the company store. He describes 16-hour work-days, black lung (which was then known as "miner's asthma"), and no compensation for injuries. Still, he felt his employer was better than most coal mines in the state. The workforce (which included many ethnic groups) had no machines, only picks. They had no check weighman, to validate their coal output. During the Depression (1933), they were finally able to unionize with little trouble and could finally raise safety concerns with impunity. He is upset with recent efforts at a right-to-work law. He recalls organizing Hispanic miners in New Mexico, just before they were called to active duty in the National Guard. Early mining was more physically demanding, and there were few options for a company town and store. Underground mining has become more technical, specialized, and pay is based on hourly rates (not the tonnage produced). He describes John R. Lawson, a UMW district president in 1913/14, who was shot during a strike, but later became president of Rocky Mountain Fuel Company -- Josephine Roach had controlling interest; the union lent the company money, to keep miners working. The company then signed UMW contracts. John L. Lewis sent Stuckert to organize the union (U.M.W.A). The Ludlow strike (which eventually required intervention by the regular army) broke the union in that area. By contrast, in western Colorado Stuckert never saw a gun "in the hands of the company or the men". From about 1936-1946, Stuckert worked in New Mexico, where mines were mostly non-union. John L. Lewis sent him after the failure of the 1933 strike by the National Miners' Union -- which failed to get a contract and (Stuckert claims) was dominated by communists. Despite initial resistance, he eventually organized all the miners in the area. Stuckert now sees an effort to destroy the U.M.W.A. [Moose] had some organizer's training back east; he comes from a mining family on both sides. His disability is due to back injury from Thomson Creek and black lung. The company would lay off and avoid hiring "undesirable" union activists; similarly, the company would alter work assignments to favor employees they liked. Moose started mining in 1947, at the age of 18, after 3 years in the navy. Stuckert describes the Taft-Hartley injunction being used against the U.M.W.A in the mid-1940s. Soon, the railroads switched from coal to oil, further threatening the coal industry. Miners instituted a 3-day workweek in July 1949, which helped deplete coal stockpiles; in March 1950, miners went on strike. The govt. invoked the Taft-Hartley law (which the union ignored), levied fines upon the union and its president, and nationalized the mine. Eventually, all parties signed a good contract. Both Moose and Stuckert agree that current wages are good but that recent contracts have reduced benefits. They discuss the 1917 strike at Kebler Mine, Colorado, between U.M.W.A and Rocky Mountain Fuel. The U.M.W.A formed a corporation (Lou Merkin Company) to operate union mines. After the 1950 contract, the union worked toward a nation-wide agreement. Stuckert organized in New Mexico among Hispanic and Navajo miners, who were often treated even worse than their Anglo counterparts. By the mid-1930s, he succeeded in signing contracts for these miners but was later attacked by company goons at a Labor Day party. Similarly, in 1973 Moose was arrested while picketing in Wyoming, handcuffed and jailed. Stuckert was organized in Madrid, New Mexico, where Appalachian subcontractors opposed unionization. The union struck for 16 weeks, beginning 1 April 1941; the picket line became a violent confrontation. Silver Lorenzo assisted in the organizing effort. They discuss the compensation for black lung disease, which took so long to pass that many benefits went to widows: the miners themselves had died. Stuckert recalls John L. Lewis, his skill as a union organizer, even his work as a coal miner. Stuckert speaks of the current strike and feels it could have a positive outcome, unifying the union. The organizers now encounter larger corporations that hope to standardize contracts by driving them down in cost, not up. The miners express concern about new coalfields and oil shale deposits, especially their effects on the way of life in nearby towns and farms.
description
Stuckert first mined coal in the non-union Somerset mine, 1927, owned by the Utah Fuel Company. He describes it as a self-contained "company-owned camp". Workers were paid in the script and shopped at the company store. He describes 16-hour work-days, black lung (which was then known as "miner's asthma"), and no compensation for injuries. Still, he felt his employer was better than most coal mines in the state. The workforce (which included many ethnic groups) had no machines, only picks. They had no check weighman, to validate their coal output. During the Depression (1933), they were finally able to unionize with little trouble and could finally raise safety concerns with impunity. He is upset with recent efforts at a right-to-work law. He recalls organizing Hispanic miners in New Mexico, just before they were called to active duty in the National Guard. Early mining was more physically demanding, and there were few options for a company town and store. Underground mining has become more technical, specialized, and pay is based on hourly rates (not the tonnage produced). He describes John R. Lawson, a UMW district president in 1913/14, who was shot during a strike, but later became president of Rocky Mountain Fuel Company -- Josephine Roach had controlling interest; the union lent the company money, to keep miners working. The company then signed UMW contracts. John L. Lewis sent Stuckert to organize the union (U.M.W.A). The Ludlow strike (which eventually required intervention by the regular army) broke the union in that area. By contrast, in western Colorado Stuckert never saw a gun "in the hands of the company or the men". From about 1936-1946, Stuckert worked in New Mexico, where mines were mostly non-union. John L. Lewis sent him after the failure of the 1933 strike by the National Miners' Union -- which failed to get a contract and (Stuckert claims) was dominated by communists. Despite initial resistance, he eventually organized all the miners in the area. Stuckert now sees an effort to destroy the U.M.W.A. [Moose] had some organizer's training back east; he comes from a mining family on both sides. His disability is due to back injury from Thomson Creek and black lung. The company would lay off and avoid hiring "undesirable" union activists; similarly, the company would alter work assignments to favor employees they liked. Moose started mining in 1947, at the age of 18, after 3 years in the navy. Stuckert describes the Taft-Hartley injunction being used against the U.M.W.A in the mid-1940s. Soon, the railroads switched from coal to oil, further threatening the coal industry. Miners instituted a 3-day workweek in July 1949, which helped deplete coal stockpiles; in March 1950, miners went on strike. The govt. invoked the Taft-Hartley law (which the union ignored), levied fines upon the union and its president, and nationalized the mine. Eventually, all parties signed a good contract. Both Moose and Stuckert agree that current wages are good but that recent contracts have reduced benefits. They discuss the 1917 strike at Kebler Mine, Colorado, between U.M.W.A and Rocky Mountain Fuel. The U.M.W.A formed a corporation (Lou Merkin Company) to operate union mines. After the 1950 contract, the union worked toward a nation-wide agreement. Stuckert organized in New Mexico among Hispanic and Navajo miners, who were often treated even worse than their Anglo counterparts. By the mid-1930s, he succeeded in signing contracts for these miners but was later attacked by company goons at a Labor Day party. Similarly, in 1973 Moose was arrested while picketing in Wyoming, handcuffed and jailed. Stuckert was organized in Madrid, New Mexico, where Appalachian subcontractors opposed unionization. The union struck for 16 weeks, beginning 1 April 1941; the picket line became a violent confrontation. Silver Lorenzo assisted in the organizing effort. They discuss the compensation for black lung disease, which took so long to pass that many benefits went to widows: the miners themselves had died. Stuckert recalls John L. Lewis, his skill as a union organizer, even his work as a coal miner. Stuckert speaks of the current strike and feels it could have a positive outcome, unifying the union. The organizers now encounter larger corporations that hope to standardize contracts by driving them down in cost, not up. The miners express concern about new coalfields and oil shale deposits, especially their effects on the way of life in nearby towns and farms.
Description
false
Description Type:
summary
description_type
summary
Description Type
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Description:
Miner Yvonne Biggs talks about her recent hand injury, which happened at the non-union Westmoreland mine, and led to a worker's compensation dispute. The conversation includes a former safety officer at the mine, Jerry Diaz. Yvonne joined the union hoping for some sort of job protection. She thinks a union mine would be a safer workplace, with more emphasis on safety and less on production. She was unable to get a safety committee hearing after her accident. In an attempt to ward off unionization, opponents to the U.M.W.A have spread lurid tales about possible threats from union members.
description
Miner Yvonne Biggs talks about her recent hand injury, which happened at the non-union Westmoreland mine, and led to a worker's compensation dispute. The conversation includes a former safety officer at the mine, Jerry Diaz. Yvonne joined the union hoping for some sort of job protection. She thinks a union mine would be a safer workplace, with more emphasis on safety and less on production. She was unable to get a safety committee hearing after her accident. In an attempt to ward off unionization, opponents to the U.M.W.A have spread lurid tales about possible threats from union members.
Description
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Description Type:
summary
description_type
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Description Type
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Description:
(First part of Biggs/Diaz interview not on transcript) 15:00 -- Pickett2 transcript begins (pg. 1 of pdf transcript); 20:00 -- Yvonne's hand injury and her decision to join the union (pg. 4 of pdf transcript); 30:00 -- Safety issues in the mine, management tries to block unionization by spreading falsehoods (pg. 9 of pdf transcript); 30:00 -- Stuckert interview begins (pg. 3 of Stuckert pdf transcript); 40:00 -- Difficulties of his early work in the mines and life in the mining camps (pg. 7 of pdf transcript); 50:00-- Mine organization, changes in mines after WWII, modern unions (pg. 11 of pdf transcript); 60:00 -- His early work as an organizer, the chaos of the 1913-1914 strike (pg. 15 of pdf transcript).
description
(First part of Biggs/Diaz interview not on transcript) 15:00 -- Pickett2 transcript begins (pg. 1 of pdf transcript); 20:00 -- Yvonne's hand injury and her decision to join the union (pg. 4 of pdf transcript); 30:00 -- Safety issues in the mine, management tries to block unionization by spreading falsehoods (pg. 9 of pdf transcript); 30:00 -- Stuckert interview begins (pg. 3 of Stuckert pdf transcript); 40:00 -- Difficulties of his early work in the mines and life in the mining camps (pg. 7 of pdf transcript); 50:00-- Mine organization, changes in mines after WWII, modern unions (pg. 11 of pdf transcript); 60:00 -- His early work as an organizer, the chaos of the 1913-1914 strike (pg. 15 of pdf transcript).
Description
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Description Type:
Segment Sequence
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Segment Sequence
Description Type
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Publisher:
University of Colorado Boulder Archives
publisher
University of Colorado Boulder Archives
Publisher
false
Contributor:
Biggs, Yvonne
contributor
Biggs, Yvonne
Contributor
false
Contributor:
Diaz, Jerry
contributor
Diaz, Jerry
Contributor
false
Contributor:
Martinez, Moose 1919-1989
contributor
Martinez, Moose 1919-1989
Contributor
false
Contributor:
Stuckert, Earle 1906-1984
contributor
Stuckert, Earle 1906-1984
Contributor
false
Contributor:
[Stuckert, Earle]
contributor
[Stuckert, Earle]
Contributor
false
Date:
1978-03-08
date
1978-03-08
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Type:
Moving image
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Identifier:
139-Stuckert.mov
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139-Stuckert.mov
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English
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Relation:
An injured miner tells her story: Interview with Earle Stuckert and Joe "Moose" Martinez, March 8, 1978, Delta, Colorado (part 1 of 4) .
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Coverage (Spatial):
Dawson (historical) (Colfax, New Mexico, United States, North America) (populated place)
coverage__spatial_
Dawson (historical) (Colfax, New Mexico, United States, North America) (populated place)
Coverage (Spatial)
false
Coverage (Temporal):
1890/1978
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1890/1978
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Coverage (Spatial):
Delta (Delta, Colorado, United States, North America) (populated place)
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Delta (Delta, Colorado, United States, North America) (populated place)
Coverage (Spatial)
false
Coverage (Spatial):
Kebler Mine (Huerfano, Colorado, United States, North America) (mine)
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Kebler Mine (Huerfano, Colorado, United States, North America) (mine)
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false
Coverage (Spatial):
Mentmore Coal Mine (McKinley, New Mexico, United States, North America) (mine)
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Mentmore Coal Mine (McKinley, New Mexico, United States, North America) (mine)
Coverage (Spatial)
false
Coverage (Spatial):
Thompson Creek Mine (Pitkin, Colorado, United States, North America) (mine)
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Thompson Creek Mine (Pitkin, Colorado, United States, North America) (mine)
Coverage (Spatial)
false