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The Mother of All Union Women
Mary Harris Jones, better known as Mother Jones, called herself a born "hell raiser." After losing her family to Yellow Fever and her home to the Chicago fire of 1871, she became a fiery activist who organized textile, railroad, steel, factory and coal miners unions. Her protests and pickets often landed her in jail, but she never gave up the fight. West Virginia storyteller and actress Karen Vuranch brought Mother Jones to life at the CWA Women's Conference. What follows are excerpts from her monologue, starting when Jones begins to organize West Virginia coal miners who were doing backbreaking work 18 hours a day.
When I first arrived here, I was told how backward and peculiar the mountain folk would be. I was told that the ignorant hillbillies would take a wooden nickel for a day's work. But these were not ignorant, huddled masses. These were proud men, beckoning me to swear them into the United Mine Workers of America.
The first time I was ever arrested, I was in Fairmont. I was talking to some coal miners about union matters. I did this in spite of the fact that there was an injunction keeping union organizers from talking to the miners. Well, there was no place to put a woman in jail in Fairmont. And, even though I begged to be allowed to stay with my boys, I was taken by wagon to Parkersburg. From then on, I was in jail and out of jail.
Now, I wasn't always arrested. Once, during the 1912 and 13 strike on Cabin Creek holler, I wanted to talk to the boys 'way up at the head of the holler. But there was an injunction keeping union organizers from setting foot on coal company property.
Well, they owned even the roads, in those days. But they didn't own the rivers. It was February, and I was 72 years old. I hitched my skirts to my knees and I walked up the river. I stood on a rock in the middle of the river and gave a 45-minute organizing lecture and turned back the way I came. And I never got arrested, because I never stepped foot on company property.
Another time, I visited a young man in the Kanawha County jail. I asked him why he was in jail and he told me that it was for stealing a pair of shoes. I told him it was a pity: If he had stolen a railroad, they would have made him a senator.
Oh, you may laugh at that all you like, but 'tis true. The rich get richer at the expense of the workers like you. I've seen how they live and I have seen how you live. I have seen their opulent mansions and your meager shacks. I have seen their spoiled wives and your wives bent with the toil of hard work. I have seen their pampered children and then looked at your children, mutilated by factories and coal mines. You are not making enough noise in Congress. I have been watching you and I have been watching them, and I know this now - the government of this nation is not in Washington, it is on Wall Street. So, fight like hell in Congress.
My friends, it is the solidarity of labor we need. The corporate powers have joined together and we must do the same thing. We must join together as men and women, blacks and whites, workers - of the coal mines, the factories, the railroads, the steel mills. Wherever workers work, we must unite as one.
In 1910, I experienced my greatest victory. I was in Milwaukee with the girls who worked in the breweries washing the beer bottles. From the moment they started work until the moment they stepped out of the door, they were drenched, wet to the bone. Now, you know how cold the Milwaukee winters can be . . . All they wanted was a private place in the brewery to change their clothes. But those greedy owners couldn't spare one corner for the girls. Well, I organized all of the U.M.W.A. coal miners not to drink any Milwaukee brewed beer until those girls got a contract. Those owners were so terrified of losing the sale of one lousy bottle of beer, that they gave the girls a contract before we even had to call the strike. By working together, coal miners and bottle washers, we created decent conditions for those young women.
Every American today benefits from the blood and the bravery of the union movement. I hear about things such as 40-hour weeks, decent wages, sick benefits, workers' compensation.
Whether you belong to a union or not, these things were not given to you, they were fought for and won by union workers.
Karen Vuranch regularly performs as Mother Jones and other women in American history for conferences, banquets, schools, and labor events. She can be reached at (304) 574-4840 or by e-mail at wventerprises@inetone.net.
When I first arrived here, I was told how backward and peculiar the mountain folk would be. I was told that the ignorant hillbillies would take a wooden nickel for a day's work. But these were not ignorant, huddled masses. These were proud men, beckoning me to swear them into the United Mine Workers of America.
The first time I was ever arrested, I was in Fairmont. I was talking to some coal miners about union matters. I did this in spite of the fact that there was an injunction keeping union organizers from talking to the miners. Well, there was no place to put a woman in jail in Fairmont. And, even though I begged to be allowed to stay with my boys, I was taken by wagon to Parkersburg. From then on, I was in jail and out of jail.
Now, I wasn't always arrested. Once, during the 1912 and 13 strike on Cabin Creek holler, I wanted to talk to the boys 'way up at the head of the holler. But there was an injunction keeping union organizers from setting foot on coal company property.
Well, they owned even the roads, in those days. But they didn't own the rivers. It was February, and I was 72 years old. I hitched my skirts to my knees and I walked up the river. I stood on a rock in the middle of the river and gave a 45-minute organizing lecture and turned back the way I came. And I never got arrested, because I never stepped foot on company property.
Another time, I visited a young man in the Kanawha County jail. I asked him why he was in jail and he told me that it was for stealing a pair of shoes. I told him it was a pity: If he had stolen a railroad, they would have made him a senator.
Oh, you may laugh at that all you like, but 'tis true. The rich get richer at the expense of the workers like you. I've seen how they live and I have seen how you live. I have seen their opulent mansions and your meager shacks. I have seen their spoiled wives and your wives bent with the toil of hard work. I have seen their pampered children and then looked at your children, mutilated by factories and coal mines. You are not making enough noise in Congress. I have been watching you and I have been watching them, and I know this now - the government of this nation is not in Washington, it is on Wall Street. So, fight like hell in Congress.
My friends, it is the solidarity of labor we need. The corporate powers have joined together and we must do the same thing. We must join together as men and women, blacks and whites, workers - of the coal mines, the factories, the railroads, the steel mills. Wherever workers work, we must unite as one.
In 1910, I experienced my greatest victory. I was in Milwaukee with the girls who worked in the breweries washing the beer bottles. From the moment they started work until the moment they stepped out of the door, they were drenched, wet to the bone. Now, you know how cold the Milwaukee winters can be . . . All they wanted was a private place in the brewery to change their clothes. But those greedy owners couldn't spare one corner for the girls. Well, I organized all of the U.M.W.A. coal miners not to drink any Milwaukee brewed beer until those girls got a contract. Those owners were so terrified of losing the sale of one lousy bottle of beer, that they gave the girls a contract before we even had to call the strike. By working together, coal miners and bottle washers, we created decent conditions for those young women.
Every American today benefits from the blood and the bravery of the union movement. I hear about things such as 40-hour weeks, decent wages, sick benefits, workers' compensation.
Whether you belong to a union or not, these things were not given to you, they were fought for and won by union workers.
Karen Vuranch regularly performs as Mother Jones and other women in American history for conferences, banquets, schools, and labor events. She can be reached at (304) 574-4840 or by e-mail at wventerprises@inetone.net.