William Anthony "Tough Tony" Boyle (December 1, 1904 – May 31, 1985) was an American miner, union leader, and convicted murder-for-hire conspirator.
Shortly thereafter, Boyle's father died from tuberculosis, a lung disease often associated with mining, or exacerbated by its conditions.
During World War II, Boyle served on several government wartime production boards, and on the Montana State Unemployment Compensation Commission.
From the beginning of his tenure, Boyle faced significant opposition from rank-and-file miners and UMWA leaders.
[citation needed] There was a widespread belief that Boyle was more concerned with protecting mine owners' interests than those of his members.
Boyle was found to have ordered Yablonski's death months earlier, on June 23, 1969, after a meeting with his opponent at UMWA headquarters had degenerated into a screaming match.
[citation needed] In September 1969, UMWA executive council member Albert Pass received $20,000 (equivalent to $166,000 in 2023) from Boyle (who had embezzled the money from union funds) to hire assassins to kill Yablonski.
Paul Gilly, an out-of-work house painter and son-in-law of a minor UMWA official, and two drifters, Aubran Martin and Claude Vealey, agreed to do the job.
[citation needed] The Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) of 1959 regulates the internal affairs of labor unions, requiring regular secret-ballot elections for local union offices and providing for federal investigation of election fraud or impropriety.
Its members included most of the miners who belonged to the West Virginia Black Lung Association and many of Yablonski's supporters and campaign staff.
The chief organizers of Miners for Democracy included Yablonski's sons, Ken and Joseph (known as "Chip"), both labor attorneys; Mike Trbovich, a union leader, and others.
[7] Over the weekend of May 26 to May 28, 1972, MFD delegates gathered in Wheeling, West Virginia, nominated Arnold Miller, a former miner and leader of a black-lung organization, as their candidate for the presidency of UMWA.
Miller was the first candidate to defeat an incumbent president in UMWA history, and the first native West Virginian to lead the union.
[citation needed][4] In early March 1971, Boyle was indicted for embezzling $49,250 in union funds (equivalent to $370,530 in 2023) to make illegal campaign contributions in the 1968 presidential race.
A nationwide FBI investigation produced sufficient evidence to charge three Cleveland-area residents with conspiracy to murder Yablonski.
Boyle served his murder sentence at State Correctional Institution – Dallas in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
Barbara Kopple's 1976 documentary Harlan County USA included a segment on Yablonski's murder and its aftermath.
Charles Bronson (a native of Ehrenfeld, in the western Pennsylvania mining region) portrayed Yablonski and Wilford Brimley played Boyle.