Archives West Finding Aid

The Western Federation of Miners was formed in Butte, Montana, in June 1893. It became the major union in the non-ferrous metals industry in the West. The WFM briefly affiliated with the American Federation of Labor in 1896-1897, but withdrew due to conflicts of philosophy concern industrial vs. trade unionism and radicalism. The WFM re-affiliated with the AFL in 1911. Due to a variety of causes the union declined dramatically in the 1910s. In 1916 in recognition of the fact that many of the locals were smelter workers, the union reorganized as the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers. By 1933 there were only 6 active locals in the country. But due in part to federal protections of union organizing, the Mine-Mill grew rapidly in the early years of the New Deal.

One of the new unions organized was local 24 in Philipsburg. During the next few months miners working at the various mines around Philipsburg joined the union. Black Pine Silver Mines and Moorlight Mining Company signed contracts with the union during the 1930s; Taylor-Knapp Company followed in 1946; and the Trout Mining Co. in 1960. In June 1967 the Mine-Mill union merged into the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) as their local union #24. With the closing of Taylor-Knapp Company mines in 1968, the Philipsburg USWA local declined rapidly. By 1971 there were only 22 members compared to over 100 in 1969.