Father's Murder and Union Activism
In the 1960s, Yablonski's father, Jock, made a number of attempts to reform the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). Jock Yablonski ran for the presidency of UMWA in 1969 against W. A. Boyle and lost in an election. He sued to overturn the election with the assistance of labor attorneys Joseph Rauh and Daniel Edelman, and sons Kenneth and Joseph "Chip" Yablonski. Jock Yablonski brought five suits alleging that Boyle and UMWA had denied him use of the union's mailing lists as provided for by law, that he had been removed from his position as acting director of Labor's Non-Partisan League in retaliation for his candidacy, that the UMW Journal was being used by Boyle as a campaign and propaganda mouthpiece, that UMWA had no rules for fair elections and printed nearly 51,000 excess ballots which should be destroyed, and that UMWA had violated its fiduciary duties by spending union funds on Boyle's re-election.
On December 31, 1969, Jock Yablonski, his wife, and his 25-year-old daughter Charlotte were murdered by three assassins hired by Boyle and paid for with embezzled union money. Worried that he had not heard from his family since Christmas, Ken Yablonski and a friend drove to the Yablonski home in Clarksville, Pennsylvania on January 5, 1970 and discovered the bodies of his slain family.
In the aftermath of his family's murders, Kenneth Yablonski joined with his brother and other miners to form Miners for Democracy, a reform movement within UMWA. Lou Antal, president of UMWA District 5, hired Kenneth Yablonski to represent him as he attempted to overturn his district's 1970 election results (which had been rigged by Boyle).
The ensuing outcry over the murders led to the 1969 election being overturned and miner Arnold Miller unseated Boyle in 1972.
Read more about this topic: Kenneth Yablonski
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