International Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers

The International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers played an important role in the protection of workers and in desegregation efforts beginning in the 1916 when the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) changed its name to International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW), also known as Mine Mill. The union was created in the western United States, and eventually expanded throughout the United States and Canada. The union was known for its militant measures in dealing with opposing forces, and firm in its opposition to the politics that existed in the country during the Cold War. The Mine Mill union was very active politically from the 1930s to the 1960s, when it merged with the United Steelworkers. Ironically, the principles that the union supported in the workplace often clashed with popular ideology found in the home and community. The philosophies of the union often mirrored communism, and some of its leaders were believed to be members of the Communist Party. Just as the nation struggled with the idea of communism in the 1920s, unions were faced with philosophical treatment of those in positions of power. Reid Robinson, IUMMSW president appointed communists to union positions of authority. Anticommunist members called for Robinson to resign in 1947, but were aggravated when they learned that Maurice Travis, a communist, would succeed him. Travis eventually left the party to comply with specifications of the Taft-Hartley Act, but his activities were heavily scrutinized by Senator Joseph McCarthy and his investigators. By the 1950s, the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers had achieved establishment of approximately 300 locals, with about 37,000 total members in the United States and Canada. Although all locals had some common goals, such as establishing ways to ensure that all workers are treated fairly, each local dealt with issues specific to that group.

During the McCarthy era, Americans were very suspicious of communist sympathizers in the midst. The senator and his followers created fear and panic as they accused Americans of having communist ties, and they tried and punished them for these beliefs. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 gave the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) the power to spy on suspected communists. This included tapping phones and other surveillance measures. It also required that union officials remain clear of the communist party and sign statements saying that they were not members. The Smith Act of 1948 gave the government the power to indict suspected Communists and the McCarran Act of 1950 established internment camps where those who did not comply could be held. These powerful measures created an atmosphere of fear, and Mine Mill’s leaders' ties to the communist beliefs caused debate inside and outside of the union. Mine Mill leaders in the United States (Philip Murray) and Canada (Aaron Mosher) were both conservatives with a leaning to communist beliefs. During this anti-communist movement among unions, leaders of the United Steel Workers of America (USWA) were encouraged by the CIO to infiltrate the Mine Mill organization and take over its membership. Throughout its history, USWA attempted to steal away Mine Mill members, often using communism as a dividing factor. In 1950, the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO) expelled eleven member unions that did not conform to their political standards, including the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW). The CIO leaders assumed that the Mine Mill and other unions’ members could be persuaded to leave their existing affiliations and join with more mainstream groups, but there was not a rush of Mine Mill members to move. The CIO and the Steelworkers groups, who expected to benefit from an exodus, failed to recognize the loyalty of the western mine workers who did not respond to the propaganda that had been sent their way. Miners in Montana, for example, were more concerned with the Anaconda Copper Mining Company as a threat than they were threatened by communism. They trusted Mine Mill to continue to secure benefits for them. During the McCarthy era, labor leaders like Harvey Murphy came under scrutiny, but the unions maintained a loyal following. Communist ties of Mine Mill officers caused concern for Americans inside the union, in other unions and the CIO, and those not connected to unions. In order to ensure that labor leaders complied with laws against their membership in the communist party, leaders were required to sign affidavits renouncing any communist ties. Leaders of the Mine Mill Union opposed signing the affidavits based on First Amendment grounds, but eventually they complied. Secretary/Treasurer Maurice Travice publicly renounced his association with the Communist Party, but several of Mine Mill leaders were convicted of falsifying their Taft-Hartley affidavits. James L. Daugherty, the union’s chief negotiator, refused to sign an affidavit, and he appealed to the president to stop the indictments against communist sympathizers. Leaders who reluctantly signed the affidavits were later called on charges of falsifying the documents.

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