(erielack) Organized Crime In The Coal Region

[Njricky2_@_aol.com]

Thanks for posting the information on the two books that discuss organized 
crime in the coal region. Although I have not read the second book, but 
will, I did read and review Anthracite Labor Wars. My review was published 
during the summer in Citizens Voice, a Northeast Pennsylvania regional newspaper.
 
Your words about the two books are extremely well thought through and offer 
very good insight into the authors' works. I offer my review as a 
complement to your words. For those who want to learn more about what it was like 
back then, the status quo, the "alliances" at times between the companies in 
question, unions, politicians and the miners' determination to live a better 
life, Anthracite Labor Wars is not just a good read, but also an excellent 
research tool.
 
Rick Sedlisky
 
Anthracite Labor Wars: 
Tenancy, Italians and Organized Crime 
In the Northern Coalfield of 
Northeastern Pennsylvania 1897 – 1959 
By Robert P. Wolensky and William A. Hastie Sr. 

Anthracite Labor Wars is a book of many stories, all intertwined. It tells 
about miners and their attempts to confront and eliminate abusive labor 
practices. It  describes blatant corporate greed, union versus union, failed 
union movements, organized crime, politics, murder and the contributions made 
by the Italians to improve working and living conditions for anthracite 
miners and their families in Northeast Pennsylvania. 
The reader will learn about and understand the two forms of tenancy, 
leasing and subcontracting, and why they were major causes of labor unrest in the 
region. Miners’ attempts to eliminate these practices continued for decades 
with the odds of a just victory stacked against them. 
Two coal companies owned by the Erie Railroad were at the forefront of 
tenancy. The authors explain in great detail the companies’ use of tenancy to 
maintain the status quo in order to ensure their goals of increased revenues, 
greater profits and a weakening of the union. The use of violence to 
maintain the status quo was not unusual. 
Anthracite Labor Wars is the result of more than a decade of research. 
Authors Wolensky and Hastie dug deep into Northeast Pennsylvania’s history to 
offer the reader a detailed look at the complexities of and connections 
between ethnicities, corporate goals, unionism on many levels, as well as the role 
played by organized crime in the Northern Coalfield. 
The authors thoroughly explain mineworkers’ history versus mining history, 
the long-ignored and very important contributions made by the Italians to 
Northeast Pennsylvania, and how through their leadership miners from 25 other 
ethnic groups joined the fight for just wages, fairness and improved safety 
standards. 
Anthracite Labor Wars also allows the reader to understand not only the 
nature of the anthracite industry in general, but also the nature of a corrupt 
industry and how it influenced the region’s cultural life. 
This well-researched, detailed work takes its place with similar books. It 
is highly recommended to anyone who wishes to gain a deeper understanding of 
what our anthracite ancestors endured so that future generations would live 
a better life. 
Richard Sedlisky, 
Author of the forthcoming Underwood Village: A Progressive Community

	The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
	http://EL-List.railfan.net/
	To Unsubscribe: http://Lists.Railfan.net/erielackunsub.html

------------------------------