UMWA DISTRICT & LOCAL BUTTONS

UMWA DISTRICT FOBS & RIBBONS

District 27 Aug. 15,1911

District 9 Sept. 17, 1907

District 1 July, 15, 1906.

District 14 March 8, 1920

District 19 Aug. 1904

District 50 Sept. 1946

District 5

UMWA DISTRICT & LOCAL RIBBONS

MORE UMWA FOBS, RIBBONS & BADGES

The UMWA was founded in Columbus, Ohio, on January 22, 1890, by the merger of two older groups, the Knights of Labor Trade Assembly No. 135 and the National Progressive Miners Union. It was modeled after the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The union was initially established as a three-pronged labor tool: to develop mine safety; to improve mine workers' independence from the mine owners and the company store; and to provide miners with collective bargaining power. After passage of the National Recovery Act in 1933, organizers spread out throughout the United States to organize all coal miners.

During the 1930s the UMWA was often thought by many men in the field as being too involved in "Washington Politics", a movement which spawned such alternative unions such as the Progressive Mine Workers.

Famous UMWA leaders include John Mitchell, co-founder Phil Penna and long-time president John L. Lewis.