Joseph Albert "Jock" Yablonski (March 3, 1910 – December 31, 1969) was an American labor leader in the United Mine Workers in the 1950s and 1960s known for seeking reform in the union and better working conditions for miners. In 1969 he challenged Tony Boyle for the presidency of the international union and was defeated. He asked for a Department of Labor (DOL) investigation, charging a fraudulent election. In addition, Yablonski filed a lawsuit against the UMWA on five different charges related to fraud. On New Year's Eve, Yablonski, his wife, and his 25-year-old daughter were murdered, fatally shot at home by three gunmen found to have been hired on orders of Tony Boyle.
A total of seven persons were convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder; two of the assassins were sentenced to death for first-degree murder. DOL completed its investigation, aided by the FBI, and won a suit to overturn the 1969 election by 1972. A new election was held in December of that year and a reform candidate elected, defeating Boyle. Boyle was indicted in 1973 for the three Yablonski murders; he was convicted in 1974 and received three life sentences. The union made important reforms.
Early life, marriages and union career Joseph Yablonski, called "Jock", was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on March 3, 1910, as the son of Polish immigrants, After attending public schools, Yablonski began working in the mines as a boy, joining his father in this industry.
After his father was killed in a mine explosion, Yablonski became active in the United Mine Workers and began to advocate for better working conditions. He was first elected to union office in 1934. In 1940, Yablonski was elected as a representative to the international executive board. In 1958 he was appointed president of UMW District 5.
As a young man Yablonski married Ann Marie Huffman. Their son Kenneth J. Yablonski was born in 1934. After Yablonski and Huffman were divorced, he married Margaret Rita Wasicek, an amateur playwright. They had two children, Joseph "Chip" and Charlotte Yablonski. Both sons became labor attorneys, representing their father in his union activities and later in private practices. Charlotte became a social worker in Clarksville, Pennsylvania, where her family lived. She took leave to work in 1969 on her father's campaign for the UMWA presidency.
Yablonski clashed with Tony Boyle, who was elected president of the UMW in 1963, over how the union should be run. He believed that Boyle did not adequately represent the miners and was too cozy with the mine owners. In 1965, Boyle removed Yablonski as president of District 5 (under changes enacted by Boyle, district presidents were appointed by him, rather than being elected by union members of their district, giving him more control).
In May 1969 Yablonski announced his candidacy for president of the union in the election to be held later that year. As early as June, Boyle was reportedly discussing the need to kill his opponent.
UMWA presidential candidacy The United Mine Workers was in turmoil by 1969. Legendary UMWA president John L. Lewis had retired in 1960. His successor, Thomas Kennedy, died in 1963. From retirement, Lewis hand-picked Boyle for the UMWA presidency. A Montana miner, Boyle was as autocratic and bullying as Lewis, but not as well-liked.Lewis, Murder By Contract: The People v. 'Tough Tony' Boyle, 1975.Franklin, "Rank and File Rebellion Stirs in Mine Union, Posing Threat to Lewis Legacy," New York Times, June 13, 1969.
From the beginning of his administration Boyle faced significant opposition from rank-and-file miners and UMWA leaders. Miners' attitudes about their union had also changed. Miners wanted greater democracy and more autonomy for their local unions. There was also a widespread belief that Boyle was more concerned with protecting mine owners' interests than those of his members. Grievances filed by the union often took months—sometimes years—to resolve, lending credence to the critics' claim. Wildcat strikes occurred as local unions, despairing of UMWA assistance, sought to resolve local disputes with walkouts.Lockard, Coal: A Memoir and Critique, 1998.
In 1969 Yablonski challenged Boyle for the presidency of UMWA. He was the first anti-administration insurgent candidate in 40 years. In an election widely seen as corrupt, Boyle beat Yablonski in the election held on December 9, by a margin of nearly two-to-one (80,577 to 46,073). Yablonski conceded the election.Franklin, "Boyle Claims Victory In Mine Union Race," New York Times, December 11, 1969
On December 18, 1969, he asked the United States Department of Labor (DOL) to investigate the election for fraud."Loser Asks Inquiry Into Mine Election," Associated Press, December 12, 1969 He also initiated five civil lawsuits against UMWA in federal court, on related matters. He alleged that: Boyle and UMWA had denied him use of the union's mailing lists as provided for by law, he had been removed from his position as acting director of Labor's Non-Partisan League in retaliation for his candidacy, the UMW Journal was being used by Boyle as a campaign and propaganda mouthpiece, UMWA had no rules for fair elections, and had printed nearly 51,000 excess ballots which should have been destroyed; and UMWA had violated its fiduciary duties by spending union funds on Boyle's reelection.Franklin, "Mine Union Change Likely After Vote," New York Times, December 14, 1969. These charges and their resolution are outlined in the civil case Kenneth J. Yablonski and Joseph A. Yablonski v. United Mine Workers of America et al., 466 F.2d 424 (August 3, 1972), which his sons carried to the end.
Murder On December 31, 1969, three hitmen fatally shot Yablonski, his wife Margaret, and his 25-year-old daughter Charlotte, as they slept in the Yablonski home in Clarksville, Pennsylvania. The bodies were discovered on January 5, 1970, by one of Yablonski's sons, Kenneth.
An investigation found that the killings had been ordered by Boyle, who had demanded Yablonski's death on June 23, 1969, after a meeting with Yablonski at UMWA headquarters degenerated into a shouting match. In September 1969, UMWA executive council member Albert Pass received $20,000 from Boyle (who had embezzled the money from union funds) to hire gunmen to kill Yablonski. He hired Paul Eugene Gilly (September 5, 1932 – July 6, 2021), an out-of-work house painter and son-in-law of Silous Huddleston, a minor UMWA official, and two drifters, Aubran Wayne "Buddy" Martin (May 7, 1948 – March 12, 1991) and Claude Edward Vealey (July 9, 1943 – January 31, 1999).
The murder was ordered postponed until after the election, however, to avoid suspicion falling on Boyle. After three aborted attempts to murder Yablonski, the killers completed the assassinations, deciding to kill everyone in the house. They left so many fingerprints behind that the police identified and captured them within three days."The Yablonski Contract," Time, May 15, 1972; "The Fall of Tony Boyle," Time, September 17, 1973.
A few hours after Yablonski's funeral, several of the miners who had supported Yablonski met in the basement of the church where the memorial service was held. They met with attorney Joseph Rauh and drew up plans to establish a reform caucus within the United Mine Workers.Peterson, "The Tragedy of the Miners," Washington Post, January 16, 1977.
The day after the bodies of the Yablonskis were discovered, 20,000 miners in West Virginia walked off the job in a one-day strike, protesting against Boyle, who they believed was responsible for the murders.Franklin, "More Miners Protest Slayings," New York Times, January 8, 1970.
Aftermath of Yablonski's murder On January 8, 1970, Yablonski's attorney waived the right to further internal review of the election by the union and requested an immediate investigation by DOL of the 1969 union presidential election. On January 17, 1972, the United States Supreme Court granted Mike Trbovich, a 51-year-old coal mine shuttle car operator and union member from District 5 (Yablonski's district), permission to intervene in the DOL suit as a complainant, which kept Yablonski's election fraud suit alive. Labor Secretary George P. Shultz assigned 230 investigators to the UMWA investigation and Attorney General Mitchell ordered the FBI to join the murder inquiry."Mitchell Orders F.B.I. to Join Inquiry Into Yablonski Slayings," New York Times, January 7, 1970; Franklin, "Inquiry Is Ordered Into Mine Election," New York Times, January 9, 1970.
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. DOL is authorized under the act to sue in federal court to have the election overturned. By 1970, however, only three international union elections had been overturned by the courts."Vindication for Jock Yablonski," Time, March 16, 1970.
Gilly, Martin and Vealey were arrested days after the assassinations and indicted for Yablonski's death. All were convicted of first-degree murder. Gilly and Vealey were sentenced to death (the death sentences were later reduced to life in prison due to Furman v. Georgia); Martin avoided execution by pleading guilty and turning state's evidence.Franklin, "3 Held in Yablonski Deaths," New York Times, January 22, 1970; Flint, "Murder Charges Filed," New York Times, January 23, 1970; "Yablonski Friends Say Suspect Visited Slain Man's Home Before Killing," New York Times, January 23, 1970; Franklin, "Yablonski Inquiry Reported to Focus On a Sum of Money," New York Times, January 24, 1970; "Grand Jury Is Checking Financial Records of a U.M.W. Local in Tennessee," United Press International, February 4, 1970
Eventually investigators arrested Paul Gilly's wife, Annette Lucy Gilly;Franklin, "Wife of Suspect in Yablonski Case Is Indicted by U.S. Jury as Member of Plot to Kill Union Rebel," New York Times, February 6, 1970"Yablonski Defendant Sentenced To Death for Three Murders," New York Times, November 14, 1971 her father Silous Huddleston;Confession Given in Yablonski Case," New York Times, May 4, 1972 Albert Edward Pass (30 June 1920 - 7 April 2002; who had given the money to pay the conspirators for murder) and Pass's wife. All were convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, in trials extending into 1973."Pass Guilty in Yablonski Deaths," New York Times, June 20, 1973. (Both Annette Gilly and her father Silous Huddleston pleaded guilty in 1972, receiving life sentences to avoid the death penalty.)Franklin, "Yablonski Defendant Pleads Guilty to Escape Chair," New York Times, April 12, 1972
Miners for Democracy (MFD) formed in April 1970, while the DOL investigation of the 1969 election continued. Its members included most of the miners who belonged to the West Virginia Black Lung Association and many of Yablonski's supporters and former campaign staff. MFD's support was strongest in southwestern Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and the panhandle and northern portions of West Virginia, but MFD supporters existed in nearly all affiliates. The chief organizers of Miners for Democracy included Yablonski's sons, Joseph (known as "Chip") and Ken, Mike Trbovich, and other union supporters."Oral History Interview With Dr. Donald Rasmussen," March 1, 2004.Franklin, "U.S. Action Urged By U.M.W. Faction," New York Times, October 4, 1970; Franklin, "Dissident Miners Seek Funds Here," New York Times, November 15, 1970.
The DOL filed suit in federal court in 1971 to overturn the 1969 UMWA election. After several lengthy delays, the suit went to trial on September 12, 1971. On May 1, 1972, Judge William Bryant threw out the results of the 1969 UMWA international union elections.