Democratic Reform in the Miners’ Union

0n December 22, 1972, Arnold Miller and other members of the Miners For Democracy (MFD) reform slate were sworn in as new officers of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW). Exactly ten years later, on December 22, 1982, Richard Trumka and his slate of challengers took the same oath of office as elected leaders of the miners’ union. Few leaders of the MFD movement were present and there was little talk of democratic reform or of giving the union back to the membership. The absence o...