The logo of the Correctional Corporation of America

In 1997 the Tennessee branch of the AFL-CIO made an agreement with the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) to support the privatization of Tennessee’s state prison system. This opened the door for Tennessee’s prison labor being used to compete with private industry.  Currently the highest-paying prisoner in Tennessee earns 50 cents an hour to produce jeans for K Mart and JC Penney, among other things.

Of all the states, Tennessee unions should have been the last ones to support prison labor. The reason lies more than a century in the past, in the days following the end of slavery.

Worse than Slavery

Use of convict labor in Southern industrialization prompted criticism

With the end of the Civil War, employers all over the south were confronted by the reality of the end of free labor. They appealed to their state representatives for help and their representatives responded by finding a pool of free labor previously untapped – prisoners. It was called Convict Leasing. The prisoners would work for companies during the day outside of prison, and then return to their cells at night. Neglect, brutality, and abuse of the prisoners were rampant, as was official corruption. The conditions were so harsh that prisoners rarely survived longer than 10 years, but everyone was making money from it (except for the prisoners, of course) so the system remained.

In fact the system was so successful that there was a need for more labor. In many states simple assault carried sentences of seven and eight years of hard labor. Larceny could get you twenty years in prison. Stealing five dollars worth of goods could net you twelve months. Even the theft of a rail fence could put you in prison stripes.

Of course, this reality wasn’t true for everyone (read: white people). If it was then there would be a political backlash. Instead these inhumane laws fell disproportionately on the recently freed black community.

Image of a Cumberland Plateau coal miner, 1875, from the TSLA Blue Book Collection, RG

At Tennessee’s main prison in Nashville, African-Americans represented 33 percent of the prisoners in October of 1865. In 1866 Tennessee passed it’s convict leasing law. By 1869, 64% of the prison was African-American, and it kept climbing in the following years. The benefits of this new slavery fell on a select few – the rich. Poor whites workers found themselves at a disadvantage in this system when their interests conflicted with the upper-class.

In January 1871, free white miners in Tracy City struck for higher wages against the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company (TCI). TCI brought in convict labor as strikebreakers. The strike ultimately failed and was broken.

By 1889, TCI was contracting, or sub-contracting out 60 percent of all of Tennessee’s prison population for over $100,000 a year. Strikebreaking of this sort would pop up several more times in the following twenty years. Whenever the miners tried to organize for better wages and working conditions, the companies would use the threat of convict labor. In the words of TCI company vice-president A. S. Colyar, “an effective club to hold over the heads of free laborers.”

This stalemate ended in 1891.

The New South Rebellion

“Kill a man, get another; kill a mule, buy another.”
- a familiar phrase in the mines the convicts worked

In 1866, right around the end of the War between the States, coal began to be mined in an area of Anderson County known as Coal Creek. By 1870 this sparsely populated area contained 10 businesses, three of them saloons.

Governor John Buchanan

In 1890 John P. Buchanan become governor of Tennessee with the Farmers’ Alliance and Laborers’ Union party.

This labor-friendly political environment emboldened the miners of Coal Creek Valley to make two demands. One demand was the end of company script. The miners wanted to be paid in cash rather than being forced to pay for overpriced goods at the company store. The other demand was to be able to elect their own checkweighmen – the specialist who weighed the coal the miner produced, and thus determined the miner’s wages – rather than the checkweighmen the company hires.

Since state law already barred scrip payment and company-hired checkweighmen, most of the coal companies agreed to these demands. However, the Tennessee Coal Mining Company (TCMC) rejected the demands, and on April 1, 1891, they shut down their mine near Briceville. Two months later they demanded the miners agree to a yellow-dog contract before working in the mine. The miners refused.

The Coal Creek Mine

On July 5, TCMC reopened the mine with convict labor. The company had torn down several houses in order to build the stockade for the prisoners. On Bastille Day, 300 armed miners surrounded the Briceville stockade. After the guards surrendered without a fight, the 40 convicts and the guards were marched to Coal Creek where they were loaded onto a train and sent to Knoxville. The miners then sent a telegram to Governor Buchanan, stating their actions were taken to defend their property and wages, and asked for his intervention. The Governor responded by accompanying three state militia companies, and the prisoners, back to Briceville.

Free miners waiting at Thistle Switch near Fraterville for the arrival of Governor Buchanan on July 16, 1891

At Thistle Switch several hundred angry miners confronted the governor. He assured them he was a champion of labor, but as governor he was obligated to enforce state contracts. He didn’t mention the state laws concerning cash wages and checkweighmen. The governor left 107 militiamen to guard the stockade and fled the area.

On the morning of July 20, 2,000 armed miners again surrounded the Briceville stockade. Their numbers had been bolstered by union miners from surrounding regions, including Kentucky, which had removed their own convicts from mines several years earlier.

The militia, seeing the futility of resistance, surrendered. Once again the convicts and guards were marched to Coal Creek and put on a train back to Knoxville. The miners then marched to the nearby Knoxville Iron Company mine, which also used convict labor. Just like at Briceville, the guards surrendered and they were all put on a train to Knoxville.

The following day the governor met with a committee of local leaders friendly to the miners, especially United Mine Workers organizer William Webb. He convinced them to agree to a 60-day truce while he called for a special session of the legislature where he recommended the convict leasing law be repealed. The miners agreed.  Much to the chagrin of the miners, the only action the legislature took was to make it a felony to interfere with the leasing system. A court challenge of the system was also defeated in October.  On October 28, 1891, the committee representing the miners resigned and denounced the legislature. The path to violence was now open.

The Coal Creek War

The Coal Creek War

On October 31, a large group of armed miners surrounded, and then burned down the convict stockade at Briceville. The prisoners were supplied with food and civilian clothing and then turned loose into the surrounding woods after being urged not to commit any more crimes. The Knoxville Iron Company stockade was also seized that day, and several company buildings were destroyed in the process. All told 300 prisoners were released by the miners. On November 2, another prison stockade at the Cumberland mine in Oliver Springs was burned and another 153 prisoners were released. Another truce was negotiated which allowed the return of the convicts to Coal Creek and Oliver Springs, but not to Briceville (TCMC president B.A. Jenkins had grown disenchanted with convict labor).

The state dispatched an 84 man militia detatchment under the command of J. Keller Anderson. Anderson constructed Fort Anderson, equip with a gatling gun, atop “Militia Hill” to guard the stockade at Coal Creek. The convicts returned on January 31, 1892.

Looking up at Militia Hill

In the following months miners and soldiers at Coal Creek shot at each other indiscriminately. Both sides blamed the other.

The Revolt Spreads

The use of convict labor, and the violence associated with it, had given the practice a bad name. Most coal companies were moving away from convict labor, with one major exception – TCI.  When Cumberland Coal decided against using convict labor at the Oliver Springs mine, TCI purchased the mine lease. TCI then began minimizing the use of free labor.

On August 13, 1892, free miners tore down the stockade at Tracy City and freed hundreds of convicts. On August 15, convicts from the TCI stockade at Innman were also freed.  On August 17, a group of miners attacked the TCI stockade at Oliver Springs, but were beaten back by the guards. However, the miners regouped and enlarged their numbers. The guards then surrendered. The stockade was burnt down and the convicts and guards were put on a train to Nashville.

Coal Creek in 1899

The following day in Coal Creek, militia commander Anderson was captured by the striking miners. The miners then sent a demand to Fort Anderson’s second-in-command, Lieutenant Perry Fyffe, to surrender. When Fyffe refused the miners charged the fort and a fierce firefight ensued. The miners failed to capture the fort, but two militiamen were killed by snipers.

Governor Buchanan declared martial law in the Coal Creek region. He dispatched 583 militiamen under the command of General Samuel T. Carnes. He also ordered sheriffs in effected counties to organize posse.  Most of the sheriffs ignored the command, however volunteers in Knoxville organized themselves and marched on Coal Creek to relieve Fort Anderson. As the volunteers descended Walden Ridge they were ambushed by a group of miners and two of the volunteers were killed. The rest fled back to where they came.

Carnes arrived on August 19 and quickly restored order. He negotiated the release of Anderson, and then conducted a sweep of the entire Coal Creek region.  Carnes arrested hundreds of miners, which in effect ended the Coal Creek War.

Aftermath

The Coal Creek Mine in Tennessee

Some 300 miners were put on trial, but the jurors only convicted two – D.B. Monroe and S.A. Moore, for conspiracy. Neither of which served more than a year in prison. Most of the violence associated with convict labor was spent, although there was a failed attack on a stockade in Tracy City in 1893. Buchanan was attacked by both miners and mine owners for indecisiveness. He failed to win his party’s nomination for governor in 1892. The legislature proved more willing to address the subject of convict leasing in their 1893 session. They agreed to construct a new state penitentiary and abolish convict leasing at the expiration of the lease contract in 1896.

About Garrett Johnson

Garrett Johnson is a free-lance writer who’s been published in the San Francisco Independent. He is a political activist, economics enthusiast, history buff, and a frequent contributor to such blogs such as the Daily Kos and Economic Populist. In his spare time he is an IT Specialist, beer drinker, pool player, backpacker, and all-around geek. This article is republished here with the generous permission of the author.

On April 29, during one of the most contentious annual shareholder meetings in Bank of America’s history, shareholders called for new leadership and greater accountability as 50.3 percent voted in favor of a resolution forcing Chairman Ken Lewis to resign as Chairman of the Board.  “Today, we saw a vote of no confidence in Ken Lewis who has overseen record losses in stock value and whose short-sighted business plans have put personal gain ahead of shareholders and the long-term health of the company,” said SEIU Master Trust Chairman Andy Stern.

Andy Stern also happens to be the President of the Service Employees International Union, or “SEIU”, one of the largest labor unions in the world and arguably the most powerful politically in the U.S.  Stern and SEIU have developed a new strategy in combating large corporations who mistreat their workers or their customers.  They are using the power and resources of organized labor to become corporate shareholders who have a voice in how a company conducts business.  The SEIU Master Trust is a consortium of funds that has total assets of more than $1.3 billion and is an active proponent of sound corporate governance as a vital means to protect and enhance shareholder value.  The resignation of Ken Lewis follows more than three years of SEIU Master Trust advocacy and engagement with Bank of America to improve its corporate governance practices.  For the first time ever, shareholders have been able to amend the corporate by-laws in a proxy vote of an S&P 500 company and the SEIU Master Trust resolution required that the Board of Directors appoint an independent Chairman to its board.  “Bank of America investors are calling for swift, fundamental reform of a bank that has lost its way. Appointment of a new Chair is just the first step; in coming weeks, Bank of America must make fundamental changes to restore shareholder trust and to build a banking governance model that will succeed over the long term,” said Stern.

Ken Lewis’ resignation is only the latest in a series of victories for the SEIU Master Trust and this new way of doing business.  Last year, the Trust made a shareholder proposal to separate the combined positions of Chairman and CEO at Washington Mutual (“WaMu”).  That proposal received a majority vote by shareholders, resulting in a major corporate restructuring at one of Wall Street’s highest profile mortgage-lending firms.  And in 2004, the SEIU Master Trust asked the board of Intel to adopt a policy that made a significant portion of future stock option grants to senior executives performance-based.  That proposal won 40% approval, resulting in a non-binding resolution supporting the practice.

While the SEIU is the first major union to use these tactics successfully, they aren’t the only one.  In fact, what SEIU has accomplished so far may eventually pale in comparison to what the United Auto Workers may accomplish.  As part of a negotiated deal between the UAW and the failing American auto manufacturers, the UAW may end up owning 55% of Chrysler stock, 39% of GM, and a significant stake in Ford pending an agreement to trade stock shares for Ford’s pension obligations to the union.  According to the Financial Times, “the UAW has given no inkling of how it will behave as a shareholder.  But union watchers predict that it will be less confrontational at the boardroom table than at the bargaining table.  “I suspect that the union will find it a sobering responsibility”, says Peter Feuille, director of the Institute of Labour and Industrial Relations at the University of Illinois.

Despite the success of SEIU and the UAW so far, only time will tell how if this 21^st century, free-market version of a picket line will be a sustainable model for empowering workers.  One thing’s for sure though – this isn’t your father’s labor movement anymore.

And, unlike Wurzelbacher, he’s a licensed plumber.

Joe Moenck, a plumber in Zumbrota, Minn., is a member of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters (UA) Local 6—which, like all building and construction trades unions, has high professional standards for its members—such as making sure they hold a license to practice their craft.

Moenck was dismayed to see McCain repeatedly trot out “Joe the Plumber” during this week’s presidential debate with Sen. Barack Obama. Says Moenck:

“I felt that when John McCain was talking about Joe the Plumber, I didn’t feel that that was sincere. He didn’t mention the middle class in the last two debates at all. It upset me that he brought this up strictly because he had to, because his ratings are low among the middle class. I don’t think he believes what he said, but he knows his support is low there and said that strictly for the ratings, as a campaign strategy.”

When “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher met Obama in Toledo on Sunday, Wurzelbacher expressed concern about being taxed on earnings of $280,000 per year should he ever start a small plumbing business.

But, as Moenck can tell you, hard workers like him in the building trades aren’t paid anywhere near $250,000 a year. For Moenck—and even for Wurzelbacher, who right now makes far less than his dream salary—Obama’s tax plan would mean a decrease in taxes by more than $1,200 a year—more than under McCain’s tax plan. And should Wurzelbacher ever pull in $250,000, he’d only pay a few hundred dollar more in taxes under Obama’s plan. Not a deal-breaker for a guy thinking of starting a small business.

Wurzelbacher also has a bit of an agenda. He’s a member of the Associated Builders & Contractors, a nonunion trade group that has endorsed McCain.

So, in addition to Moenck, we’d like to introduce McCain to a few other real Joe the plumbers.

There’s Joe Gutzwiller, a licensed plumber in Indianapolis and member of UA Local 440. Gutzwiller shares a lot in common with Moenck, including seeing through McCain’s pretensions of support for America’s middle class.

“I heard the one about health care, where McCain wants to tax our benefits, and I just think he’s looking out for bigger businesses and corporations leaving middle class people out of the whole picture.

“I think Obama is actually trying to help out middle class people who are feeling the effect of our economy. From what I’ve seen in the debates, he’s trying to prevent future problems and give the middle class a tax break to help stimulate the economy.”

And then there’s Joe Tatum in Virginia, who’s been a licensed plumber for 35 years after apprenticing with UA Local 10.

“McCain thinks we make over $200,000. I don’t make anywhere close to that. If I did, I could retire now instead of waiting ’til I’m 62.”

Over in Colorado, Joe Martinez, a plumber and member of UA Local 3, has this to say:

“John McCain doesn’t understand working families and I don’t understand how any plumber can vote for John McCain. He’s just not in touch with the working man at all.”

And there’s Joe Vicena, a member of UA Local 75 in Milwaukee, who sees McCain as continuing the same disastrous economic policies as George W. Bush.

“Our jobs are being sent overseas, people are losing their pensions and their 401(k)s, and the stock market is tanking. We need change in a positive manner. McCain is not the person to do it.  He is absolutely not the person.  Me and my family can’t take four more minutes, much less four more years, of the missteps and mis-policies we’ve had the past eight.”

Moenck, Gutzwiller, Tatum, Martinez and Vicena agree with their union that Obama is the best choice for America’s plumbers—and all middle-class workers—because, as under Bush, McCain’s economic policy would benefit the wealthiest and flush the rest of us down the tank. As Moenck puts it:

“If the middle class doesn’t have money to call Joe the Plumber, Joe the Plumber’s not gonna be in business very long.”

About the Author

This is a cross-post from the Firedoglake blog in partnership with the author Tula Connell, AFL-CIO managing editor. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly known as the AFL-CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States made up of 56 national and international unions including Canadian together representing more than 10 million workers. This organization gave Barack Obama one of his biggest Union endorsements.

When Democrats from five Tennessee counties gather at the Charles Hand farm, Ben Johnson is sure to be there with his campaign buttons, lapel pins, and bumper stickers. Johnson, who lives in Lebanon, Tennessee, was quick to point out that he makes his wares “for democrats only,” and will use only Union vendors to print his products.

In fact, the theme of the day was a strong support of Unions throughout the area. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), which represents Trane workers locally, was a major sponsor of today’s event.  The strong Union presence was in honor of the Labor Day event.

According to the Department of Labor, Labor Day was first celebrated in New York City on Tuesday, September 5, 1882. By 1894, the US Congress had passed its recognition of Labor Day as a national holiday to be celebrated on the first Monday of September of every year.

The Ballistic Pintos of Old Hickory, TN performs at the Charles Hand Farm. Photo by David W. Shelton

The strong Union presence was matched by a sincere excitement of area Democrats who had a single mission in mind for next November’s election, as voiced by Kim McMillan, senior advisor to Governor Phil Bredesen: “Tennessee is and will be a blue state.” This was a message that was voiced by nearly everyone who spoke at the event.

Speakers were quick to point out that their mission wasn’t to put an end to the Bush regime, but rather send home those who they say “empowered” him. One target is the US Senate seat currently occupied by former governor Lamar Alexander. McMillan introduced Mike McWhorter, the son of another former governor—Ned McWhorter—as a possible candidate. His mission, McMillan said, would be to “send Lamar and that plaid shirt back home.”

McWhorter has not officially announced his candidacy, but said that he was seriously considering the option. He pointed out several issues that he would address, including the war in Iraq, which came up often throughout the night. Republican policies in Iraq, he said, “are wrong.” He also said that the current administration is “mortgaging our country’s future” with an “out-of-control” national debt.

Tennessee’s Democratic party president Gray Sasser addressed a general excitement for the future for the party in the state, and said that the party’s primary goal is “to make darn sure that no red pickup truck will ever get anywhere near the White House next November.” The reference was to the popular “red pickup truck” senatorial campaign led by former Republican US Senator Fred Thompson, who announced his candidacy for the Presidency this week.

Other speakers for the event were 5th District Congressman Jim Cooper, TN AFL/CIO president Jerry Lee, and the keynote address was provided by the R. Thomas Buffenbarger, International President of the IAM union. Buffenbarger has served as president of that union since 1997.

The day wasn’t all speeches and rhetoric, though. Music was provided by the Ballistic Pintos, a country group out of Old Hickory, Tennessee. The group featured drummer Richie Albright who often played with Waylon Jennings, and vocals by Bobby Keel.

State Senator Rosalind Kurita talks with attendees at the Labor Day Celebration. Photo by David W. Shelton

There was a dart competition between unions, for which a trophy was awarded to the United Auto Workers, who apparently “played only slightly less badly that everyone else.”

Attendees had an opportunity to vote for their nominee for the President of the United States of America. In an informal (and unofficial) straw poll, Hillary Clinton was the clear favorite, with John Edwards coming in second.

The day wasn’t without its lighter moments, which featured “the world’s smallest horse,” as described by his owner, local attorney Kevin Kennedy. He said that the miniature dwarf horse, “Twinkie the Wonder Horse,” is only 46 pounds and 16 1/2” tall. The equine miniature was a star attraction, drawing children from all over to pet a horse that was far smaller than they were.

Clarksville electrician Bill Edmonson provided democratic spirit by donning a donkey mask, which he kept on throughout the speeches. Edmonson offered plenty of applause and “thumbs ups” for the speakers.

There is a growing threat to worker’s right to organize in this country which must be addressed in a positive context if the right to organize is to be maintained. We must act in ways which preserve the rights of workers and strengthen our unions. There are currently three cases pending at the Bush-appointed National Labor Relations Board which will have a significant impact on workers’ right to form and join unions in this country. The three cases are: Oakwood Healthcare Inc. (UAW), Golden Crest Healthcare Center (USW) and Croft Metals, Inc.

These cases deal with the roles of supervisors in nursing, health care and manufacturing facilities. A broad interpretation of who is a “supervisor” could allow employers to strip hundreds of thousands of workers of their right to union protection. The impact is likely to be particularly dramatic in the health care industry, in construction, and in other skilled occupations where it is common for higher skilled workers to direct the work of lower skilled employees.

On Wednesday, July 12th I participated in a mid-day rally in Nashville to support the rights of supervisors to belong to a Union. Over one hundred people participated in this rally because they are concerned about the future of this country and the health of our economy. In order to preserve this right we must support the rights of all workers, including those classified as supervisors. Unlike other employees, supervisors do not have protected rights under the National Labor Relations Act to form and join unions, and employers often try to classify workers as supervisors in order to deny them the right to union representation.

The effects of a bad decision by the NLRB would be devastating to average Americans and would hurt our strength and effectiveness both locally and in the global economy. Skilled workers are especially vulnerable in this situation of losing their union representation. For example, registered nurses who tell nurse’s aides to perform certain tasks for particular patients and journeymen/building trades workers who direct other workers on a crew are in real danger of being falsely categorized as management under a new interpretation of the law.

Big business would like nothing more than to strip these workers of their rights, and employer groups ranging from the Chamber of Commerce to the American Hospital Association have filed briefs with the Board urging them to adopt a broad interpretation that would allow employers to reclassify many employees as supervisors, in effect shrinking or wiping out existing bargaining units, and stripping federal protection for the freedom to organize for hundreds of thousands of nonunion workers.

Working class people in this country and union members will not stand by and let the Labor Board clear the way for opportunistic employers to strip away their rights without a real fight. Workers deserve to be heard on the this issue, which is why thousands of union members have asked their members of Congress to appeal to the Labor Board for an opportunity to provide oral arguments. I support the rights of workers to organize and I believe preserving this rights of workers keeps America strong.

Chris Lugo
Green Party of Tennessee
Candidate for US Senate

Vote For Peace in 2006!
http://www.chris4senate.com/