Unions and Labor Issues
The United Mine Workers of America is the organization that represents coal miner’s interests in the work place and serves as liaison between management and labor.  The early 20th century saw many confrontations, often violent, between the companies and the workers. 
In the early days of coal mining, working conditions were difficult and hazardous. Miners worked long days, ten hours or more. They did not get paid for the time spent preparing to load coal, only for the coal they dug. Preparation tasks included digging out an undercut, drilling holes, blasting the rock and clearing the non-coal rock away.  Once this was complete, they could dig coal.  Miners would load as much as 16 tons in one day. However, they were required to load a “long ton” of coal. A “long ton” was actually a ton and a quarter. The company said that the men loaded too much rock with the coal, so they had load extra coal to get paid for a ton.  That means that on a day a man was loaded 20 tons of coal, he was only paid for 16 tons.