Joseph Yablonski

Joseph "Jock" Yablonski was an American labor leader who was murdered in 1969 by assassins hired by a union political opponent, W.A. "Tony" Boyle.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 3 March, 1910, Yablonski began working in the mines as a boy, and became active in the United Mine Workers after his father was killed in a mine explosion. He was first elected to union office in 1934. In 1940 he was elected as a representative to the international executive board, and in 1958 as president of UMW District 5.

He began to clash with Tony Boyle, who became president of the UMW in 1963, over how the union should be run (Boyle had consolidated the power of the presidency) and his view that Boyle did not adequately represent the miners.

In 1965 Boyle removed Yablonski as president of District 5 (based on Boyle's reforms, district presidents were appointed, not elected). In May 1969, he announced his candidacy for president of the union, and as early as June Boyle was discussing the need to kill him.

Yablonski lost the election, in December, but asked the U.S. Justice Department to review the election for possible fraud. Boyle then ordered the murder and on December 31, 1969 three hit men, paid by union funds, shot Yablonski, his wife, and daughter in his home in Clarksville, Pennsylvania. The bodies were discovered several days later by his son.

The 1969 election was overturned by a federal judge in 1972. Meanwhile, in April 1970, a group called "Miners for Democracy" was formed to carry on Yablonski's fight for a more democratic union. Candidates of this group won election in December 1972.

Investigations of the election led to the indictment of Boyle in March 1971 for misuse of union funds and illegal campaign contributions. The investigation also uncovered the $20,000 that was paid to the assassins, which led to a charge of murder. Boyle was convicted in April, 1974 and sentenced to life in prison. He died in prison in 1985.

The murders were portrayed in a 1986 movie, Act of Vengeance, in which Charles Bronson portrayed Yablonski.

links

• 1999 retrospective
• 2001 article
• Movie summary for "Act of Vengeance"
• Academic research on the event