The Miners of the Mingo Colon Coke Mines

80 of 92 Bernwell miners walked off their jobs and sent two of their number to Charleston to ask District 17 for a charter. Hundreds of other miners elsewhere in Mingo did much the same thing. In accordance with Union policy, they were instructed by the head of the Union to return home, reclaim their jobs and reopen the mines. Then the Union promised they would be welcomed into the Union. As the last week of April began, the organizing drive swept like wildfire through Mingo County. The Union counted 300 new members in one day and hundreds more than next. And of course, true to form, the bosses fired every single man who came in to work with a Union card. They then