But above all the United Mine Workers have been handicapped in West
Virginia as nowhere else by court interference in strikes and in
campaigns of organization. In 1907 a temporary injunction was granted at
the behest of the Hitchman Coal and Coke Company, a West Virginia
concern, restraining union organizers from attempting to organize
employes who signed agreements not to join the United Mine Workers while
in the employ of the company. The injunction was made permanent in 1913.
The decree of the District Court was reversed by the Circuit Court of
Appeals in 1914, but was sustained by the United States Supreme Court in
March 1917.[56] Recently the United States Steel Corporation became a
dominant factor in West Virginia through its ownership of mines and lent
additional strength to the already strong anti-union determination of
the employers.
Very early the United Mine Workers established a reputation for strict
adherence to agreements made. This faithfulness to a pledged word, which
justified itself even from the standpoint of selfish motive, in as much
as it gained for the union public sympathy, was urged upon all occasions
by John Mitchell, the national President of the Union.
Pages:
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252