During the first years of the 20th Century, the various organizational districts of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) retained substantial autonomy for the negotiation of contracts with mineowners.
[1] This time, however, after the ratification vote was taken, tally sheets vanished and union president Lewis unilaterally put the new contract into effect, over the strenuous objection of rank and file members in District 12.
Strikers believed Lewis and the UMWA leadership to be in cahoots with mineowners and lawmen in suppression of the Mulkeytown strike, and sentiment began to grow for a split of Illinois miners from the national union.
[2] Rejecting Lewis's autocratic, personalized leadership, the new union adopted democratic policies and instituted measures intended to ensure that their leaders would be held accountable to the membership.
Historian Caroline Waldron Merithew notes, "the PMA was one of the few movements in which non-wage-earning women became leaders in organizing an industry that employed only male labor.
A wage conference was called in Edwardsville, Illinois in October, attended by a dissident segment of the state's mine operators, who were themselves divided as to the approach to be taken towards the organized labor movement.
[1] The PMA did gain official recognition and an automatic dues check-off system, concessions necessary for the group's survival but failed to restore daily wage levels to the abandoned 1928 rate.
[2] The two rival unions and groups of operators stood in opposition to one another for the rest of the decade, with the UMWA retaining its hold over key coal mines in Southern Illinois through its closed shop agreement.
[2] Under the AF of L's umbrella the PMWA approximately doubled its original membership during subsequent years, topping the 35,000 mark by the end of World War II.