"Such contented workers": Mine-mill organizers in the Ely, Nevada copper district, 1920--1943

This thesis historically examines CIO union organizers in the Ely, Nevada copper district from 1941 to 1943, when three International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (Mine-Mill) affiliates won National Labor Relations Board certification elections. Through their educational function of mobilizing working-class support for the union and of filtering the international union's progressive program to its locals, the Mine-Mill organizers fulfilled Antonio Gramsci's concept of the "organic intellectual." Although conditions favorable for unionization were apparent by the mid-1930s, Mine-Mill was initially frustrated as the union's left-wing and moderate leaders clashed over tactics, allowing several AFL craft unions to gain a foothold in the district. Mine-Mill's ultimate victory in 1943 ended the informal mediation of industrial relations that had developed after 1919 when employers instituted antiunion strategies such as welfare capitalism and the open shop.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

1993

Author dc:creator

• Anderson, David Myrwin

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/342

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-1341