Detail View: Colorado Coal Project: Interview with Mike Livoda (part 4 of 4)

Colorado Coal Project

Interview with Mike Livoda (part 4 of 4)

Margolis, Eric, 1947-

http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n00101170

McMahan, Ronald L.

http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no94033808

Coal Strike (Colorado : 1913-1914)

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/1404237

Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/572994

Jones, Mother, 1837-1930

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/1730605

Chase, John, 1856-

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/1812186

Lewis, John L. (John Llewellyn), 1880-1969

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/1758648

Lawson, John R., 1871-1945

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/372494

Berwind Mine (Colo.)

Coal mines and mining--Colorado--Huerfano County

Coal mines and mining--Colorado--Las Animas County

Strikes and lockouts--Coal mining--Colorado

http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85128770

United Mine Workers of America

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/515758

King, William Lyon Mackenzie, 1874-1950

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/16432

Interviews

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/1423832

Coal miners--Personal narratives

Coal mines and mining

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/865355

Mike Livoda was 88 at the time of this interview. In 1903, he began work in Pennsylvania mines, but left for Alaska and ran out of money in Montana. He worked in Red Lodge coal mines, moved on to the Leyden mine near Denver, and then to southern Colorado (1910). Miners weren't paid for non-production work (timbering, laying track, etc.), had to work 10 hrs. /day instead of the statutory 8, and couldn't hire an independent weigh-man to check their coal production. In 1912, John Lawson recruited him to organize for the United Mine Workers of American, U.M.W.A. Enforcers for the company followed Livoda everywhere, and forced him to meet with Jeff Farr (sheriff of Huerfano County), who proclaimed himself "king of this county". In Ravenwood, he was beaten by these enforcers. He views photos of the 1913-14 strike leaders, their opponents, the "death special" armored car, the "death hole" at Ludlow (where women and children died), the tent colony, the funeral of Louis Tikas, and the armed strikers. Also viewed are photos of Frank P. Walsh (a former miner, then the Secretary of Labor under Pres. Wilson and head of an investigatory commission), and of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (who came to Colorado after the 1913/14 strike and opened up his company's mining camps). Livoda shows an original copy of the strike call, effective 23 Sept. 1913 (when it showed heavily at Ludlow, Colorado). (The current president of the union district, Bill Hortado, invites Livoda to the Ludlow memorial service each year.) About 1500 people were living in the tent colony at Ludlow; Mike fondly remembers listening to the music coming from the tents. He sings the strike song, Union Forever. On 28 Oct. 1913, there was a fight at Ludlow: railroad men informed the strikers that guards were coming in. During the Sunday morning of 20 April 2014 -- when fighting broke out at Ludlow -- Lawson and Livoda were in Trinidad; they sped toward Ludlow; Livoda got out at Aguilar, to gather men and weapons; over 400 armed men arrived from Trinidad to support the strikers. After the Ludlow massacre, about 180 armed strikers exacted revenge upon the miners at the Forbes mine. Federal troops soon arrived, to replace the state militia. Later, John L. Lewis recruited Livoda to work for the U.M.W.A in Pennsylvania and in Youngstown, Ohio. Mike increased union recruitment by holding meetings near the miners' homes. From there, Livoda moved to western Canada to counter communist influence upon striking coal miners. The IWW ("Wobbly") strike occurred in Colorado in 1927. Colorado rangers would arrest hundreds of strikers and throw them into the Trinidad jail; Livoda signed the strikers' bonds and got them released. Livoda praises FDR and the NLRB, for protecting workers involved in the union. ML says the IWW didn't believe in "contacts" [i.e., "contracts"] and feels the workplace would've been too chaotic under the Wobblies' leadership. He describes the U.M.W.A as non-socialist -- tho some individuals may have favored socialism. During the violence at the Columbine Mine, Livoda was far away in the southern part of the state. He recalls his friend Henry Matthias. Livoda remembers Louis Tikas, from the Ludlow strike: speaking the same language, Tikas was able to deter the other Greek miners from acting as strikebreakers, especially in Delagua and in Berwind Canyon. (Delagua was the last mine that Livoda worked.) By 1917, the Victor American Fuel Co. was low on funds and amenable to a contract (which lasted until 1922). At their Hastings mine, over 100 men were killed in a gas explosion. Accidents declined when safety regulations were more strongly enforced. After an appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court, miners eventually forced Sheriff Jeff Farr out of office. Livoda discusses Gen. Chase, (a dentist who also served as head of the state militia at Ludlow) and the Linderfelts (one of whom struck Tikas over the head with a gun and killed him). After the 1913/14 strike, Mackenzie King was brought from Canada to head the Rockefeller Foundation, and according to Livoda " wasn't too bad a guy." Livoda met John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in Trinidad. Mother Jones warned Livoda to be careful in the mines. Her father had mined in Ireland, and she had gone into the mine with him. In Pennsylvania, she became active in coal miners' union but she also helped with other struggles, such as the copper-miners' strike in upper Michigan. She was on the payroll of the U.M.W.A. He also met Emma Goldman, who was with the IWW. Livoda's specialty was union-organizing. He felt that it should be approached like doing a good job: plan and arrange organizing efforts for an 8-hour (or longer) day. Mike actually worked in the mines for 10 years. In later life, John R. Lawson worked for Josephine Roach in a management position for Rocky Mountain Fuel Co. She took on too much debt, at a time when the entire coal-mining industry was in decline. Livoda expects demand for coal to rebound when oil and gas become scarcer. Also, he believes that coal produced domestically would be more secure than reliance upon foreign suppliers of oil and gas. Livoda feels that corporations should be preserved but should treat their workers fairly. He favors Ted Kennedy rather than Gerald Ford in the upcoming Presidential elections (1976). Looking at old photos, Livoda recalls the 1913/14 strike: Pat Hamrock wouldn't let the undertaker or coroner in to retrieve a dead striker's body. Livoda usually supports Democratic candidates, but at least once campaigned for a Republican who had proven friendly to labor. In return, Mike was hired as manager of the Red Rocks Amphitheatre ("…the best paying job I ever had in my life.") Today's miners are well supplied by their employers; in his day, Mike had to provide his own tools. Livoda reads from his list of CF&I mines: Morely, Starkwood, Engleville, Cyprus, Valdez, Segundo, Primero, Tercio, Tabasco, Bourbon, Tollerberg, Ulton, Bakerik, Hastings, Delagua, Piedmont, Majestic, Forbes, Ramey, Cedar Hill, Bear Canyon, Vines, Empire, Royal; Green Canyon, Jewel, Southwestern, Rapson, Rugby, Primrose, Colorado, Diamond, Cokedale, Dick, Boncarbo, and Suffield. After 1927, coal mining began to decline in this area. Trinidad, especially, has suffered from the loss of business and income. Livoda recalls several members of the war labor board, on which he was CIO representative.

summary

University of Colorado Boulder Archives

Livoda, Mike, 1886-1984

1978-06-01

Text

application/pdf

narv_coloradoCoal_transLivoda4.pdf

https://ark.colorado.edu/ark:/47540/n4912d9452sc

English

Title: Interview with Mike Livoda (part 2 of 4), including his wife, Kate

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https://ark.colorado.edu/ark:/47540/ts4x3314z0rh

Title: Interview with Mike Livoda (part 3 of 4), including his wife, Kate

isPartOf

https://ark.colorado.edu/ark:/47540/q6406299s277

Title: Interview with Mike Livoda (part 1 of 4)

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Aguilar (Las Animas, Colorado, United States, North America) (populated place)

1903/1974

Huerfano County (Colorado, United States, North America) (civil)

Las Animas County (Colorado, United States, North America) (civil)

Ludlow (Las Animas, Colorado, United States, North America) (populated place)

Trinidad (Las Animas, Colorado, United States, North America) (populated place)

Walsenburg (Huerfano, Colorado, United States, North America) (populated place)