Sam Church

Sam Church (September 20, 1936) was a miner and president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) from 1979 to 1982.

Sam Church was born in Matewan, West Virginia, in 1936. His family moved to Virginia in 1944. He took a job at a sugar plant in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1956 and joined the United Packinghouse Workers of America. He was elected to a variety of local union positions.

In 1965, Church became a coal miner, working as an electrician and mechanic. He rose quickly within the union, and was elected an UMWA field representative for District 28 in 1973. Although he supported W. A. Boyle for UMWA president in 1972, he joined Arnold Miller's reform movement after evidence of Boyle's complicity in the murder of Joseph Yablonski became known.

In 1975, Church became an international field representative and a member of Miller's headquarters staff. In 1976, he was named deputy director of the UMWA collective bargaining department. in October 1976, Miller named Church his executive assistant.

In 1977, Church was elected vice president of the union. When Church punched a former UMWA staffer in a dispute over a leak to the press, Miller asked Church to be his running-mate. [Peterson, "The Tragedy of the Miners," Washington Post, January 16, 1977.] But Miller was not in good health, and after a stroke and heart attack in the spring of 1978 he turned day-to-day operation of the union over to Church. Mostly recovered by the fall, Miller exhibited many of his autocratic, defensive habits. He told the union's executive board on October 29, 1979 that he was considering resigning. Then, in the same speech, he accused Church of plotting to against him to seize the presidency of the union. ["A Very Different Kind of Leader of the UMW," "Business Week," December 3, 1979.]

Miller continued to fight with the union's executive board and leadership, but ill health ended his presidency. In November 1979, Miller suffered a second heart attack while at his home in Charleston, West Virginia. By this time, his political opponents had decided that his erratic behavior and poor physical condition justified putting him on involuntary leave. Church traveled to Charleston. At Miller's bedside, Church negotiated Miller's resignation. In return, UMWA's executive board agreed to give Miller the title of "president emeritus for life" and guaranteed him his full salary as well as medical and pension benefits until the end of his term of office (which would end in l982). Miller resigned the presidency of the United Mine Workers on November 16, 1979. Church was elected to succeed him. [Franklin, "Arnold Miller is Dead at 62," "New York Times," July 12, 1985.]

Two years later, Miller told reporters that he was sorry he named Church his running mate and that he was "not very happy" about Church becoming union president. ["Miller Funeral Monday," Keyser News Tribune and Mountain Echo, July 13, 1985.]

Church's tenure as president of UMWA was a difficult one. The union suffered from an epidemic of wildcat strikes, which were severely affecting its revenues. Automation and the strikes were driving down membership. Church set out to reverse the unin's decline: In 1981, he led the union out on a two-month nationwide coal strike. After union members rejected a tentative agreement, he negotiated a new contract which led to substantial improvements in benefits. ["A New Coal Pact," "Time," June 8, 1981; Hartson, "Sam Church Faces His Greatest Challenge," "Gettysburg Times," March 30, 1981; "Surprise Strike," "Time," April 13, 1981.]

However, when Church ran for re-election as UMWA president in 1982, he was defeated. Union members were upset that Church had not continued to reform the union. And despite Church's victory in the 1981 coal strike, miners felt the union's collective bargaining power and clout at the worksite had not been restored. The 1982 UMWA presidential campaign was hard-fought and bitter. Church and his supporters allegedly accused Church's opponent, Richard Trumka, of having ties to Communist and socialist groups. In the end, however, Trumka won election by a margin of more than two-to-one. [Mills, "A Victory for Miners' Rights," "The Nation," February 15, 1986; "Mine Union Chiefs Sue Over Campaign Tactics," "New York Times," March 5, 1983; Seltzer, "Death of Reform in U.M.W.", "The Nation," May 31, 1980.]

Church is now semi-retired. He is coordinator of the Virginia Coal Miners' Political Action Committee (COMPAC), and is a member of the Appalachia, Virginia, Town Council. [Lohmann, "Home Field Advantage," "Richmond Times-Dispatch," October 20, 2002; Still, "Virginia Sen. Jim Webb Returns to Thank Coal Miners for Their Support," "Bristol News," September 16, 2007.]

Notes

References

*"A New Coal Pact." "Time." June 8, 1981.
*"A Very Different Kind of Leader of the UMW." "Business Week." December 3, 1979.
*Clark, Paul F. "The Miners' Fight for Democracy: Arnold Miller and the Reform of the United Mine Workers." Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press, 1981. ISBN 0875460860
*Fink, Gary M., ed. "Biographical Dictionary of American Labor." Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1984. ISBN 0313228655
*Franklin, Ben A. "Arnold Miller Is Dead at 62; Former Mine Workers' President." "New York Times." July 12, 1985.
*Hartson, Merrill. "Sam Church Faces His Greatest Challenge." "Gettysburg Times." March 30, 1981.
*Lohmann, Bill. "Home Field Advantage." "Richmond Times-Dispatch." October 20, 2002.
*"Miller Funeral Monday." "Keyser News Tribune and Mountain Echo." July 13, 1985.
*Mills, Nicolaus. "A Victory for Miners' Rights." "The Nation." February 15, 1986.
*"Mine Union Chiefs Sue Over Campaign Tactics." "New York Times." March 5, 1983.
*Peterson, Bill. "The Tragedy of the Miners; Arnold Miller and the Disarray of the Reform Movement." Washington Post. January 16, 1977.
*Seltzer, Curtis. "Death of Reform in U.M.W." "The Nation." May 31, 1980.
*Still, Kathy. "Virginia Sen. Jim Webb Returns to Thank Coal Miners for Their Support." "Bristol News." September 16, 2007.
*"Surprise Strike." "Time." April 13, 1981.

External links

* [http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tri/news.apx.-content-articles-TRI-2007-09-16-0013.html 2007 photo of Sam Church, from "Bristol News," Bristol, Va.]
* [http://www.umwa.org United Mine Workers of America]