On New Year’s Eve, 1969, Joseph “Jock” Yablonski, his wife Margaret, and 25-year-old daughter, Charlotte slept peacefully in their Clarksville, Pennsylvania home, unaware of hired henchmen who creeped into their bedrooms. They were all shot dead around 1 am. Their bodies went undiscovered for six days, as newspapers lay strewn on the front porch and letters accumulated in the mailbox.
The three small-time, beer-chugging hoodlums hired to kill the Yablonski family were quickly captured and confessed to the murders. They’d been hired to do the job by Albert Pass, a member of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) executive council. Albert Pass in turn was directed by union president, Tony Boyle to find willing assassins and given $20,000 from embezzled union funds to perform the task.
In this Feb. 18, 1978, AP photo by Bill Ingraham, former UMWA President, Tony Boyle, center, looks toward his attorney, Charles Peruto, right, and is followed by an aide, Burton Rose during Boyle’s trial in Media, Pennsylvania. That day Boyle was found guilty of the Yablonksi family murders and sentenced to three consecutive terms of life in prison. He died in 1985 at age 80.
Coal mine workers began organizing unions in the 1890s as coal played an increasingly key role in the nation’s growth, fueling train locomotives, power plants, and home heating. By 1946 under the leadership of President John L. Lewis, union membership peaked at over half a million members. However, in return for lifetime health care, the union agreed with coal operators to allow increased mechanization that reduced membership by a third in 1950. After 40 years in office, Lewis retired from the presidency in 1960 and was succeeded by “Tough Tony” Boyle who gained the nickname due to his fiery temper and Irish roots.
Jock Yablonski challenged Boyle for the presidency of the union and in an election held on December 9, 1969, “Tough Tony” defeated his challenger by a two-to-one margin. Yablonski conceded the election but asked the Department of Labor to investigate the election for fraud. Yablonski also initiated lawsuits against UMWA in federal court. At Boyle’s trial, it was proven that he ordered the murders months earlier after a meeting with Yablonski at UMWA headquarters that degenerated into a screaming match.
This coming weekend, Black Diamond, named for the coal that was mined for more than a century, will celebrate its annual Labor Day which culminates with a parade on Monday at 10 am. For a complete list of a weekend featuring “Ol’ Fashion Family Fun,” including Doggy Day, entertainment, games, and a movie on Sunday, visit https://www.blackdiamondlabordays.org/
