Samuel Morgan Church, Jr.[1] (September 20, 1936 – July 14, 2009[2]) was a coal miner and president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) from 1979 to 1982.
[2][5] 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.
[6] Miller continued to fight with the union's executive board and leadership, but ill health ended his presidency.
[3] By this time, his political opponents had decided that his erratic behavior and poor physical condition justified putting him on involuntary leave.
[3] Miller resigned the presidency of the United Mine Workers on November 16, 1979, and Church was elected to succeed him.
After union members rejected a tentative agreement, he negotiated a new contract which led to substantial improvements in benefits.
[12] 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.
Church had responded with an off-color joke when pressed by the women for the addition to the contract for affirmative action and improved sickness and accident coverage.
[1] Church suffered from Parkinson's disease in the last few years of his life, and died in Bristol, Virginia, on July 14, 2009, from complications due to surgery.