Thesis on "Coal Mining in the United States Reasons"

Thesis 4 pages (1389 words) Sources: 6 Style: Turabian

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Coal mining in the United States [...] reasons for coal mining companies to provide benefits to their employees. Coal miners have one of the most dangerous and demanding jobs in the nation. Coal mining has been going on in the United States since the nineteenth century, but miners did not receive health and pension benefits until 1946, largely due to the efforts of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) union and its president, John L. Lewis. The benefits were partially due to social pressures, but mostly due to the activism of the union and a miners' strike that threatened to affect the entire nation.

The UMWA formed in Ohio in 1890, and one of its goals was "to seek favorable legislation for the protection of miners' health and welfare."

The union struggled to gain support for health and pension benefits for decades, and even stopped negotiations during the Second World War. However, after the war, they stepped up their efforts to gain benefits for coal miners. Their Web site notes, "When the National Bituminous Wage Conference convened in early 1946, a health and welfare fund for miners was the union's top priority."

The UMWA was at the heart of the fight for benefits, but several other matters all combined to bring the issue of health and benefits to the public and government's eyes.

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created a commission on health and welfare matters around the country. The head of the committee had ties to coal mining, and had many health and safety ideas about making mining safer. This helped bolster the union's cause for creating health and pension benefits for miners. In addition, in 1946, a photographer named Russell W. Lee completed a photographic exhibition of the nation's coalfields, indicating the health and safety issues at America's coal mines. President Harry S. Truman commissioned the study after a 1946 mining strike that was driven by health and safety concerns. This exhibition helped bring national attention to the issues facing coal miners and their families, and ultimately led to the awarding of health and pension benefits to miners.

The government actually seized the mines under the War-Labor Disputes Act because of ongoing strikes throughout Appalachia. The coal miners were angry about the lack of benefits they received, and they struck. The UMWA signed a deal with the government that would require coal companies to offer health and pension benefits to employees, and this fund through the union also created a major change in health care throughout the coal mining regions of the country. A college professor notes, "The UMWA Fund built eight hospitals in Appalachia, established numerous clinics and recruited young doctors to practice in rural coal field areas."

A mining safety and health act was also passed in 1969 that addressed the health issue of black lung, which is still a largely untreated problem in the industry.

The 1946 strike that precipitated the coal benefits fund began in April 1946, when UMWA president John L. Lewis called a strike of over 350,000 coal miners, joining many thousands that were already on strike. President Truman authorized government seizure of the mines, and the strike was so vast it threatened to bring the entire nation to a halt. It was under these terms that the mine owners finally gave in and agreed to start the pension and benefit fund for union miners.

The UMWA Web site notes, "After a week of negotiations, the historic Krug Lewis agreement was announced and the strike ended. It created a welfare and retirement fund to make payments to miners and their dependents and survivors in cases of sickness, permanent disability, death or retirement, and other welfare purposes determined by the trustees."

A royalty on coal production financed the fund, and it was administered by a trustee from the government, one from the union, and one from the mine owners. The mines were returned to the owners and work continued.

The mine owners did not give in to the union out of care for their employees. Another writer notes, "Prior to 1946, employers controlled miners' health care through two wage-deduction, or 'check-off' schemes. The… READ MORE

How to Reference "Coal Mining in the United States Reasons" Thesis in a Bibliography

Related Thesis Papers:

US Endangered Species Act Research Proposal

Endangered Species Act

US Endangered Species Act: An Annotated Bibliography

Preserving our biological heritage in an important issue for all of humanity. For various reasons many species of plants and… read more

Research Proposal 12 pages (3752 words) Sources: 20 Topic: Animals / Nature / Zoology

---

Turkey Reflects US Economy Term Paper

Turkey Reflects Us Economy

Turkey and the U.S. Economy

Economy is the undisputed force that both unites and separates global entities. Countries are economically united in the meaning that they… read more

Term Paper 8 pages (2356 words) Sources: 5 Style: MLA Topic: Israel / Palestine / Arab World

---

Coal Mining Term Paper

Coal Mining Industry Report

The objective of this work is to discuss the impact on the coal mining industry in terms of shifts and price elasticity of supply and demand,… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (1477 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA Topic: Energy / Power

---

Success and Fail of the Gold Exchange Standard Thesis

Coal mining in the United States [...] how the gold-exchange standard system worked and why it failed. The United States (and many other countries) used the gold standard exchange system… read more

Thesis 4 pages (1378 words) Sources: 4 Style: MLA Topic: Economics / Finance / Banking

---

Steel Industry Term Paper

steel industry from 1875-1920 in the Great Lakes region

Foundation Course

Steel Production

The Great Lakes Region

THE HISTORY and the DEVELOPMENT of the STEEL INDUSTRY FROM 1875-1920 in the… read more

Term Paper 16 pages (5103 words) Sources: 12 Topic: Environment / Conservation / Ecology

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>