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- [00:03]
Nicola Minoni
Lowe's knows tough jobs call for tougher tools. The new DeWalt Elite Series power Tool accessories are built to last. For the pro who doesn't stop with precision, fitment, durability and impact resistance, finishing jobs faster has never been easier. Shop the new DeWalt Elite Series at an everyday low price exclusively at Lowe's. We help you save Friends of the POD Subscribers can listen to the full season of Shadow Kingdom right now. Join friendsofthepod.com friends.
- [00:46]
Chip Jablonski
Campsite media.
- [00:50]
Nicola Minoni
It had been a long year for Jock Jablonski, maybe the longest year of his life. And it had come at the end of a long and tumultuous decade. It was November of 1969. Chalk was tired, so he did what he always did. At 11pm he sat back in his recliner, closed most of the curtains in his Pennsylvania farmhouse, and he turned on the evening news.
- [01:17]
Chip Jablonski
This is Bill Burns in the KDKA television news role as the keeper of the budget.
- [01:23]
Nicola Minoni
Jock was so immersed in the news that he didn't notice the man lurking outside his house, the man who had been sent to kill him, a man named Paul Gilly. He'd been hunting Jock Jablonski for weeks by then, and now he'd made his way to Jock's home, isolated in rural Clarksville, Pennsylvania. This is from an interview I did a few years ago with Paul.
- [01:51]
Chip Jablonski
I drove into Clarksville, that little, little town there where he lived. I parked up on that hill just above his house, just up on the.
- [02:01]
Nicola Minoni
Hill above it, holding a World War II rifle. The hitman crept up Jock's porch, watching him through the window, taking in his mark. Jock looked exactly as he'd been described to Paul.
- [02:15]
Chip Jablonski
He was short, heavyset and big bushy eyebrows and he gray headed, mostly gray.
- [02:25]
Nicola Minoni
The two men had never met. Paul had never even heard of Jock before his father in law asked him to kill the man. This man with the bushy eyebrows reclining now in front of the news.
- [02:36]
Chip Jablonski
I didn't know who he was. I didn't know any of them. And my father in law was the one that one had told me about him. He told me Uvlonski was trying to wreck the union and they wanted to get rid of him.
- [02:50]
Nicola Minoni
His father in law said Jock was trying to wreck the union, the coal miners union, one of the most powerful institutions in America at the time. At its peak, a Union with nearly 500,000 members, one with so much sway that its president could storm into the White House without an appointment. Jacques Jablonski had been a Union leader for 27 years. He knew the rules. You don't question the union. Ever. The union was as untouchable as it was powerful. But Jock had become worried about the direction his beloved union was taking. So he'd done the unthinkable. He begun to publicly criticize the union, pushing for a change. For a revolution even. It had become a contentious public battle. Headline news. So as Jock tilted back in his recliner, oblivious to the armed man outside, he might have heard his own name on tv.
- [03:57]
Chip Jablonski
Jablonski says the miners want a change. The coal miners in this country want to be treated like the other industrial workers.
- [04:08]
Nicola Minoni
The killer held his gun, staring point blank at Jock. One minute ticked by. Then another. Then another. There was movement in the house. Possibly Jock's wife doing the dishes. Paul Gilly was a house painter, not an assassin. He barely had it in him to kill Jock. He definitely couldn't kill Jock's wife too. So Paul back backed away from Jock's house. This would have to be just a dress rehearsal, a scouting trip. But it wasn't the end. Their paths would cross again and again against a ticking clock. A race between a reluctant killer and a revolutionary. From crooked media and campside media, this is Shadow kingdom. Cold Survivor Episode 1 the Invisible Crown I'm your host, Nicola Minoni.
- [05:08]
Chip Jablonski
Detention. You could cut it. You could see it. His eyes inventory the world from behind satanic brows. There is only one institution that the coal miners can depend upon. This is gonna be a showdown. Boyle doing nothing for the widows. Boyle doing nothing for the pensioners. That son of a bitch will rue the day that this happened.
- [05:34]
Nicola Minoni
Several years ago, I did something impulsive. I quit my job to make a podcast. It all began when my friend Mario gave me a lead about the death of Roberto Calvi, AKA God's banker. That lead turned into a multi year odyssey to find Calvi's killer, which involved mafia soldiers, spies and far right terrorists. And while I was investigating God's banker, another story came across my radar. A story that hit close to home. You see, I grew up hearing the story of Jacques Jablonski's revolution because his son Chip is a family friend. Chip and his buddies got involved in his dad's revolution way back in the 60s. And pretty much every Thanksgiving since, they get together, have a little too much to drink and retell the story. A story about secret assassins and a rebellion that rocked the American labor movement. I was a teenager at those Thanksgiving dinners, so I mostly ignored them. I figured they were either exaggerating or tipsy. Or both. But recently, Chip got sick, and I heard that he wanted to record his side of the story. I had microphones and audio editing software already, so I figured it was worth a shot to reach out. And a bit to my surprise, Chip agreed. We talked for hours and hours, which turned into days and days, and his story sounded unbelievable. But the more I researched, the more I followed up with eyewitnesses, the more obsessed I became. This all went beyond unions and politics and family dramas. There's a question at the heart of this story that captured my imagination. How do you take back power when bullies have hijacked the system? The answer to that question is this story. A story of how one of the most influential unions in American history turned murderous and remade itself. A story that'll take us through one of the largest FBI manhunts ever into men so powerful they could cripple the US Economy with one phone call for one man. My friend, Chip. It's just the story of his father. Stay with us. This episode of Shadow Cold Survivor is brought to you by. Remy. Let me know if this has happened to you or if it's highly specific to me. You left a lucrative life as a lawyer to become a podcast host. You're happy, of course, but you're also thinking, what have I done? And inevitably, what happens is at night, you start to grind your teeth. Then you go to the dentist to get a mouth guard. You drive there, you read magazines from 25 years ago, you get called in, you do the weird impressions and you leave. And then you get a bill for $1 million or something like that. Something pretty high. Well, that, anyway, is my horror story. Until, that is, I met these people for whom I am now an evangelist. If you are part of the 30% of Americans who grind their teeth, then your smile needs protection. And there's no better solution than Remy's custom fit night guard. Both dentists and teeth grinders all recommend Remy because a custom fit night guard is the best way to protect your teeth. And get this, Remy is 80%. 80 or so they say, less than the dentist and way easier. Unless you have the world's cheapest dentist, it's going to be cheaper. Here's how it works. You receive your impression kit straight to your door. It's beautiful, colorful. Remy gives you a step by step guide and instructions to how to get your impressions. You basically bite down into this clay. Then you ship your custom fit nightguard back to Remy and they make it in the US In Las Vegas. And finally, you get your night guard back and you start protecting your precious teeth. The best part is Remy is so wildly confident that you'll get a perfect fit that they offer an astounding 45 night perfect fit guarantee or you get your money back. No waiting rooms, no overpriced bills. Just a better way to protect your teeth while you sleep. Try Remy risk free@shopremy.com Cole and use the code Cole to get up to 50% off your night guard at checkout. That's 50% off at shop R E M I with Code Cole. Thank you Remy for sponsoring this episode. Shopping is hard, right? But I found a better way. Stitch Fix online Personal styling makes it easy. I just give my stylist my size, style and budget preferences. I order boxes when I want and how I want. No subscription required. And he sends just for me pieces plus outfit recommendations and styling tips. I keep what works and send back the rest. It's so easy make style easy. Get started today@stitchfix.com Spotify. That's stitchfix.com Spotify. The stage was set for Jock Jablonski's revolution on an actual stage In Florida in 1964, five years before, Paul Gilley stood outside Jock's home with a gun. Union delegates had gathered near Miami for their big convention. As they did every four years, they discussed pressing issues at these conventions, passed new union rules, drank a lot. And at this particular convention, a spark would be lit. The first spark of Jock's revolution. The first moment he began to split with the union he'd loved and served for almost 30 years.
- [11:41]
Chip Jablonski
It was the detention. You could cut it, you could, you could see. Was like one pebble after another. And it started. I trace it back to the 1964 convention.
- [11:56]
Nicola Minoni
This is Jock's nephew, Stephen Jablonski. Jock stood in the ballroom of the Americana Hotel as his fellow union members gathered, buzzing. This year's convention would be on the evening news, the country watching Congress, watching the White House too. This was a day most people had never seen. It was a day that Jacques Jablonski felt like he'd been waiting for for half of his lifetime. After more than 40 years, the head of the United Mineworkers, the UMW, was finally retiring. And he'd chosen his replacement. It came to two possible heirs. Jock or Jock's rival, Tony Boyle. So this moment was a convention. But it was also a coronation. The crowning of a new king. And if king sounds like hyperbole, then you haven't met Jock's boss, John L. Lewis. You can't find a description of John L. Lewis that doesn't sound biblical.
- [13:08]
Chip Jablonski
His jaw is massive, his hair a lion's mane, and his eyes inventory the world from behind. Satanic brows.
- [13:16]
Nicola Minoni
That's right, Satanic brows. John L. Had the ear of the President. He could summon members of Congress at any time.
- [13:26]
Chip Jablonski
How?
- [13:27]
Nicola Minoni
Because this was a man who had the power to turn off the power to the entire United States with one strike. He ruled over the coal miners for decades. But he also reshaped American labor far beyond the mines. If you've heard of the AFL cio, he created the CIO presiding over an America where one third of workers were in a union. He was a force behind minimum wage laws, the eight hour workday employer healthcare. John L. Won so many battles for coal miners they near worshiped him. Here's a former miner, Bill Tattersall. When I grew up in the coal fields, every house had three pictures on the wall.
- [14:13]
Chip Jablonski
One was of Jesus and one was of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and one was.
- [14:20]
Nicola Minoni
Of John L. Lewis.
- [14:21]
Chip Jablonski
In inverse order, John L. Lewis was their God.
- [14:26]
Nicola Minoni
So whomever John L. Was about to appoint as his heir at the convention would be stepping into the shoes of not exactly Jesus, but not, not Jesus. Jock watched anxiously from the convention floor as one by one people lauded his boss's remarkable career.
- [14:45]
Chip Jablonski
He is God's instrument on this earth. Stands with Abraham Lincoln as the emancipator of the working people, forever and ever enshrined as king in our hearts.
- [14:55]
Nicola Minoni
Jacques Jablonski worshiped John L. Lewis, perhaps even more deeply than most. After all, John L. Had plucked him from relative obscurity to be his right hand man. Jock started running coal as a teenager, then began to help local mines to unionize when he was in his early 20s. Very quickly he climbed the UMW ranks. He was elected unanimously to chair his local office, then to run the largest district in the union. The miners loved him, which is not to say Jock was a saint.
- [15:29]
Chip Jablonski
You wouldn't want to screw with him.
- [15:31]
Nicola Minoni
Jock's son there, my friend Chip.
- [15:33]
Chip Jablonski
And I take it that over the years there probably were people that regretted having done so. But there just was a connection that he made with people.
- [15:45]
Nicola Minoni
Jock had a magnetic sort of charisma. He was tough enough to tumble with the miners, but he was unquestionably sincere. So naturally good at defusing fights and galvanizing supporters that John L. Lewis started to rely on Jock as this sort of Secretary of state, the diplomat of coal. Like he dispatched Jock to the coal fields after mining Accidents. Jock's nephew, Stephen.
- [16:09]
Chip Jablonski
Again, he would be there for days.
- [16:12]
Nicola Minoni
When something like that happened, like literally days.
- [16:15]
Chip Jablonski
Yes.
- [16:16]
Nicola Minoni
Joc's own father died in a mining accident and his mother was denied survivor benefits, which risked sending the family into desperate poverty. So perhaps Joc was trying to do on to others what no one had done for his grieving mother.
- [16:30]
Chip Jablonski
I represent the union, and I care. I care deeply.
- [16:35]
Nicola Minoni
On the other hand, there was Jock's rival, Tony Boyle. The two could not be. Go to a Jock Yablonsky speech and you'd see a man with a suit jacket off, sleeves rolled up, roaring out in that gravelly voice of his that.
- [16:54]
Chip Jablonski
There is only one institution that the coal miners can depend upon, and that institution is right here, the United Mine Workers of America.
- [17:09]
Nicola Minoni
Go to a Tony Boyle speech for a drier performance.
- [17:13]
Chip Jablonski
First, the Labor Department called the president of this union and asked if he would serve on a committee where Jock.
- [17:23]
Nicola Minoni
Was a bull of a guy, short, but with a linebacker's neck and presence. Tony was a physically small man, but also puffed up, his demeanor like a balloon, just one breath of air from popping, always on edge, his eyebrows forever creased downward in a V like the Grinch. But it's likely Tony Boyle felt similar feelings as Jock did, as he, too, sat watching the praise rain down on John L. Lewis, the outgoing president, because Tony had also been plucked from obscurity by John L. Lewis, but kind of for the opposite reason. Where John L. Looked to Jock as his secretary of state, he looked at Tony as his sort of secretary of defense, because Tony loved a good fight. Tony's family immigrated from Scotland to Montana, trying to catch the gold rush, but they just missed it. So they found coal mining and poverty instead. Tony was desperate to escape his family's fate and quickly climbed out of the mines and up the union ladder, making a name for himself by being the guy you could send in to fight a rival union. See, before John L. Took over the umw, there were several unions for coal miners. And these unions would compete for members like rival gangs. The way the UMW became the mine workers union was by aggressively eliminating the other unions, often through physical force. Tony was one of John L's favorite soldiers. Everywhere a rival union popped up, he would dispatch Tony to battle them. This is an ally of Tony's talking about the time Tony fought a rival union in Montana.
- [19:10]
Chip Jablonski
They kicked his ribs loose, they knocked his teeth out, fighting for the United Mine Workers of America. He won't tell you these things, but.
- [19:22]
Nicola Minoni
I know Tony would absolutely tell you These things he loved the fight. The man good at inflicting wounds for the union against the man good at healing them. This was the choice John L. Lewis had to make. Whether to hand off his immense power to Jock, his Secretary of State, or Tony, his Secretary of Defense. So it's no wonder the convention hall was buzzing that day. And these were always lively affairs. The one time in four years of these men ever saw each other. Days of food, booze, live music. As much a party as a convention.
- [20:01]
Chip Jablonski
Strikes be over, Celebrate, drink and drink and take and strike. Striking business.
- [20:06]
Nicola Minoni
But I imagine the convention hall quieted as the time came for the coronation. Jock and Tony fidgeting in their corners of the hotel ballroom. It would be a choice that mattered in that moment more than it might have even a decade before. New forms of fuel were encroaching on coal, making coal jobs more scarce. And the jobs that did exist were increasingly done by machines. Plus, new mining methods were injuring miners at much higher rates. Most troubling of all, a terrifying disease called black lung was killing thousands of miners across the coal fields. And so the lives of the miners hung in the balance as after 40 years at the helm, John L. Lewis gave up his throne to Mr. W.A. tony Boyle.
- [21:00]
Chip Jablonski
Therefore, be it resolved that this convention assembled pledge our unaltering allegiance to Mr. W.A. boyle as he wears an invisible crown.
- [21:18]
Nicola Minoni
Jock looked on with a sense of resigned bitterness as his rival took the stage. Bands playing raucous music as the miners gave Tony a 50 minute standing ovation. Conference staff handed out souvenir alarm clocks, Zippo lighters and transistor radios to the miners, all stamped with Tony's name and picture. As the applause died down, the floor was open to questions. A chance for people to ask questions to their leader. A chance to learn what kind of a king Tony would be.
- [21:52]
Chip Jablonski
There were microphones stationed around the room.
- [21:55]
Nicola Minoni
Jock's nephew Steven. Again, miners lined up and started asking questions.
- [22:01]
Chip Jablonski
We paid dues, cesspool, and support our union. However, we are not allowed to vote for or against any officers of our district.
- [22:11]
Nicola Minoni
This was one of the most contentious questions in the union democracy. Whether the minors should be allowed to elect the leaders of their districts. You can think of the union like the U.S. and districts like states. Technically, union democracy is a legal right under federal law. But outgoing president John L. Lewis had believed democracy was too messy, that the union needed just a single voice, his voice, in order to beat the powerful coal companies. So, using questionable legalese, John L. Took control of nearly all union districts. It would be like the US president taking over 40 states, handpicking the governors and taking over state budgets. Jock was pro democracy, had been elected president of his home district, District 5, one of the very few districts allowed to do this. So he probably nodded as this miner spoke at the mic.
- [23:13]
Chip Jablonski
But we West Virginia delegates want democracy. Let the rank and file have a little say. So instead of being controlled by Tony.
- [23:23]
Nicola Minoni
Boyle, however, was the one taking the reins, and he would not have liked this line of questioning. Tony agreed with John L. Especially now that he was the dictator. He actively campaigned against democracy.
- [23:37]
Chip Jablonski
We'd be derelict if we didn't tell the delegates here at this convention, our officers up front, that this is how our people feel.
- [23:52]
Nicola Minoni
As the miners continued their questioning, Jock could see a different group of people approach the microphone.
- [23:57]
Chip Jablonski
Around each microphone, there were two guys who wore white hard hats, miners hats, with a decal saying, loyal to Boyle.
- [24:09]
Nicola Minoni
Loyal to Boyle. It was like a collective intake of breath in the room. The man at the mic continued, and.
- [24:16]
Chip Jablonski
He started to question. We're not satisfied. And he was jerked away from the microphone and beaten with clubs.
- [24:26]
Nicola Minoni
Tony's men beat him with clubs, beat him for opposing the new leadership, beat him until he was so bloody they had to call a recess.
- [24:36]
Chip Jablonski
I mean, it was ugly.
- [24:38]
Nicola Minoni
It felt like a warning shot from the new king, as if to say, hey, Jock, you lost. I'm in charge now. Do not forget that Jock and Tony had worked together for decades alongside John L. Lewis. They didn't love each other, but they'd worked together just fine. It didn't look like that was going to continue. As if to underscore his point, Tony prepared a special musical number for the close of the convention.
- [25:10]
Chip Jablonski
I got a. Well, I got a request here from your president. He asked me for a song called Harlan County Boys. But I sing. Any Harlan county fellows there?
- [25:21]
Nicola Minoni
The boys of Harlan County, Kentucky, were no boys. They were the mafia of the coal mines. They'd killed dozens of police, coal operators and rival union gangs to ensure the supremacy of John L. Lewis union. It appeared Tony was turning them into his own private army. Now, a lot of the men in those loyal to Boyle hard hats were from Harlan County. And now they were getting a serenade commissioned by union president Tony Boyle.
- [25:52]
Chip Jablonski
Which side are you on? Which side are you on? Which side are you on? Which side are you on? My daddy was a minor I'm a miner's son I'll stick with the union till every battle's won which side are you on? Which side are you on?
- [26:27]
Nicola Minoni
It all seems so petty so unnecessary to Jock. He wasn't happy Tony got the job, but he had no intention of challenging him. After all, Jock was just a year from retirement. He had a stake in a local racetrack, loved opera, was close with his wife and kids. Plus he was deeply loyal, if not to boil, to the union. So for cohesion's sake, he'd planned to just tuck his tail between his legs and ride into the sunset on his pension. But then Tony beat the hell out of guys from Jock's district. And so he left the convention fuming. The first match lit the first step toward revolution.
- [27:10]
Chip Jablonski
So at that point, it became clear that there was a break.
- [27:14]
Nicola Minoni
He'd have to fight the union head on. To change things, he'd have to take on his new boss, the king, Tony Boyle. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.
- [27:38]
Chip Jablonski
Now, I was looking for fun ways.
- [27:40]
Nicola Minoni
To tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal, so there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for a three month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. New customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 GB of network's busy taxes and fees extra. Cmintmobile.com this episode is brought to you by Lifelock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID and contact details.
- [28:16]
Chip Jablonski
It's just one of the many places.
- [28:17]
Nicola Minoni
That has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed. Or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year@lifelock.com podcast terms apply. The Florida convention was over. Hotel staff were sweeping up confetti and flyers with Tony's face on them. On the beach, Jacque Blonsky was making peace with his defeat. He'd lost the union crown to Tony, okay, but he was still president of his local district. Maybe he'd let it go, let Tony be Tony. But flying back to Pennsylvania, he just couldn't. He kept looking into this mysterious disease that was popping up. People were calling it black lung like the plague. And what he found enraged him. Perhaps the story would have ended here with a disappointed Jock and a powerful Tony had it not been for black lung disease. Miners desperately needed Tony to help them. They kind of felt like only Tony could help them because there was something fairly unique about the coal industry at that time. Normally, if you worked for a coal company back then, you lived in a coal camp.
- [29:45]
Chip Jablonski
And I didn't know the difference, you know, until I got up in years.
- [29:49]
Nicola Minoni
That's a miner named Eddie Burke. And the difference is this. By coal camps, he means a town, but a town owned by, controlled by, even named after the coal company you worked for.
- [30:03]
Chip Jablonski
The company's name was carbon Fuel, and, you know, the coal camp was named Carbon. In West Virginia, it would be like.
- [30:11]
Nicola Minoni
Growing up in FedEx, West Virginia, where everything in the town is owned by FedEx. You go to FedEx Elementary School. Your kids play at FedEx Community park.
- [30:21]
Chip Jablonski
And you had a company store, a doctor's office, the swimming pool, a beauty shop.
- [30:28]
Nicola Minoni
And there were whole regions like this dotted with coal towns. So your kids regional soccer championship would be something like FedEx Junior High versus UPS Middle School. The company controlled everything. And this wasn't always great. For instance, sure, you could go to the company store down the street, but it was nothing compared to the nearest supermarket 50 miles outside of town.
- [30:54]
Chip Jablonski
You just had more of a variety. The prices were cheaper out in the.
- [30:59]
Nicola Minoni
Real world, but if you had a problem with that or anything else, well.
- [31:03]
Chip Jablonski
I mean, you didn't have a mayor. If you had any problems, you'd go to somebody in upper management.
- [31:11]
Nicola Minoni
They controlled everything, including medical care.
- [31:15]
Chip Jablonski
If you had a cold or you had the flu or whatever you had, you go to the company doctor.
- [31:22]
Nicola Minoni
Eddie and his family didn't have much cause to call the company doctor until he was about 15. That's when Eddie started to notice a change in his otherwise vibrant dad, who worked in the local coal mine.
- [31:34]
Chip Jablonski
Couldn't hunt like he used to. He'd walk up a flight of steps, have to stop, catch his breath, like, taking the deep breaths, you know, and, you know, sort of fighting to get some air in there, you know, it's really bad.
- [31:48]
Nicola Minoni
Eddie's dad's lungs were drawing in air, but weren't getting any. Like, he was drowning a little bit every day. But on land, lungs look tough, but the way they get oxygen to us is through these really fragile little conveyors. Each is like a millionth of an inch wide, and coal dust scars them a little each time you inhale it. Until one day, your lungs are as porous as fishing nets, and the air goes right through them. And as tens of thousands of coal miners like Eddie's dad found themselves gasping for air, they went to the company Doctor the company doctors were telling them it's a coincidence happenstance that a large swath of men who can't breathe just happened to be coal miners. They'd be told it's probably just asthma. Or the company doctors suggested that the miners perhaps smoke a little less. Just, you know, relax. Miners, here's a coal executive.
- [32:49]
Chip Jablonski
We have frankly been surprised at the great amount of tension about this disease.
- [32:58]
Nicola Minoni
A disease that became known as black lung. But since this disease didn't exist when people like Eddie's dad died of it, the company would refuse to pay survivor benefits because, you know, it wasn't the company's fault.
- [33:15]
Chip Jablonski
So he gets nothing. There's nobody. His survivor widow gets nothing. Nothing. And that just says, that's just wrong. Something wrong there.
- [33:25]
Nicola Minoni
So miners like Eddie stonewalled by the coal companies and their doctors, of course, began to petition the union for help in pressuring the companies to address this problem.
- [33:34]
Chip Jablonski
You know, the company's only going to give out what the union makes them do. So I like me and four or five other guys, hell, let's go down to the union office in Charleston, find out what was going on.
- [33:48]
Nicola Minoni
Outside a convention in the real world. This is the moment a union is made for. Jock and Tony's union was here to protect workers from harm when no one else would. And look, coal companies were huge at the time. The power grid, it relied on coal. And almost no one realized how dirty it was to burn. And these workers need their union perhaps more than any other union in America, because these workers are completely captive to the companies that own their towns, their schools, their doctors. And so the miners like Eddie started to gather in protest all across the coal fields, but not the kind of protest you might expect.
- [34:29]
Chip Jablonski
At first glance, it almost looked like a union meeting. Locals of the United Mine Workers from all over the state were there, but in defiance of the union, to the miners, the union has been dragging its feet on black lung just as much as the coal operators.
- [34:42]
Nicola Minoni
No one said that these protests were not organized by the union. They were in defiance of the union. As men like Eddie went to their local union offices and asked for help.
- [34:53]
Chip Jablonski
They said, well, you're not getting them. You know, just basically told us to.
- [34:56]
Nicola Minoni
Get the hell out, get the hell out and shut the hell up. Just like at the convention when Jock's supporters asked for more local democracy. One miner told an NBC reporter about pleading with the union for help.
- [35:08]
Chip Jablonski
We asked them, try to get them to help us, and they just turn us down. Tell them they're not going to Stick their neck out for us, but their hands are tied.
- [35:16]
Nicola Minoni
We can't help you because the union said our hands are tied.
- [35:21]
Chip Jablonski
Well, who's tied their hands? Did they tell you? No, they wouldn't tell us.
- [35:26]
Nicola Minoni
They could not get a straight answer from the union, which is to say, from Tony Boyle. These protests went on for years, with Jock becoming more and more outspoken. Yet as time went on, Tony Boyle kept to his routine. Almost every day, Tony woke up and looked at a picture of himself. He hung pictures of himself in the bedroom, pictures of Tony in the bathroom, pictures of Tony in the living room. And all these portraits of Tony would watch him as he got dressed in colorful shirts and wide mod ties. Tony would reapply his light brown hair dye around a mostly bald head and he might kiss his daughter, also named Tony, goodbye. Then Tony Boyle would be driven to the downtown D.C. headquarters in his black Cadillac and walk up a marble staircase to his office, closed off to visitors by a brass gate. On his way, he tried making dirty jokes to secretaries, but he'd forget the punchlines. He'd refer to himself in the third person, muttering, they're all out to get Tony Boyle. Tony Boyle would spend most of the day alone in his office. He was prone to insecurity that festered as people compared him to the labor God, John L. Lewis.
- [36:51]
Chip Jablonski
After he was elected, he negotiated a horrible contract.
- [36:56]
Nicola Minoni
Chip Yablonsky, Chuck's son again.
- [36:58]
Chip Jablonski
And he resented the miners who thought he hadn't done a good job.
- [37:04]
Nicola Minoni
As Tony started getting beat up in the press about these contracts, he began responding ever erratically, trying his hand at, I don't know, slam poetry.
- [37:15]
Chip Jablonski
Boyle's doing nothing for the widows. Boyle doing nothing for the pensioners. I'll give you this, I'll give you that. I'll give you pie if I can reach high enough. In the sky, in the sweet by and by.
- [37:39]
Nicola Minoni
As Tony kept himself isolated, his insecurities spiraling, Jock was spending more and more time with the miners across the coal fields almost doubling down on his secretary of State role after he'd lost the presidency. And as he traveled, increasingly he watched men like Eddie Burke's father struggle to breathe and be ignored by the man who'd sworn to protect them. More and more, it troubled him.
- [38:02]
Chip Jablonski
He couldn't get past the fact that he had devoted his life to that union and he really cared about these men. And it tore him apart.
- [38:14]
Nicola Minoni
So on the doorstep of his retirement, instead of peacefully gliding into the sunset, Jock chose to dive into the fight, to break publicly with the union he'd been loyal to for decades. Jock started speaking out in favor of the black lung laws Tony was resisting.
- [38:30]
Chip Jablonski
In every coal mining state in America to get proper compensation for people who are suffering from co workers pneumoconiosis. Now I know that the operators are going to fight these things.
- [38:42]
Nicola Minoni
Working alongside miners, Jock became a leader in the campaign to pass black lung laws, lending what power he still had to the rank and file.
- [38:51]
Chip Jablonski
Against Tony Boyle's direct orders, Jock managed to get black lung legislation passed in the Pennsylvania legislature and had the governor sign it. But a committee of doctors is convinced enough about the danger of coal dust to take action. For weeks, having voted in the affirmative, I declare the bill will take effect.
- [39:18]
Nicola Minoni
For as long as there have been coal mines, men have been dying of black lung. Now, for the first time, this was being officially acknowledged because of Jock and in spite of Tony. And so Tony does an about face and goes on the offensive. He starts publicly telling anyone who would listen, hey, I've been fighting for black lung laws all along.
- [39:40]
Chip Jablonski
The union has been trying desperately to get these things passed session after session.
- [39:47]
Nicola Minoni
But the miners knew the truth. They knew that it was Jock who had supported them in their time of need. Jock had always been popular with them. He was a man of the people. And so privately, Tony's natural insecurities started to spin into a sort of paranoia and anger at Jock. Tony started having Jock tracked. He sent men on his payroll to joc's district. And in the shadows, they begin to monitor him, his movement, his finances. Tony, exiled Jock's brother, who was a union leader in nearby Ohio, sent him to a post in Colorado. He scrambled to reassure the union brass. I have Jock under my control. He even started asking Jock to introduce him at public appearances in these really groveling ways. And remember, at this point, Jock is still a loyal union man in need of a pension. So even though he's privately clashing with Tony on black lung, publicly he's in line.
- [40:48]
Chip Jablonski
Tony Boyle has moved the Mine Workers of America forward to a greater degree than any other president of any labor organization anywhere in the world.
- [41:06]
Nicola Minoni
But none of this seemed to hurt the growing bond between Jock Yablonski and the miners. Grateful for his black lung support. In fact, it only continued to grow. So In June of 1966, Tony called Jock and asked them to come in. From District 5 in Pennsylvania to the UMW headquarters in Washington D.C. if there.
- [41:27]
Chip Jablonski
Was a Rubicon, that probably was as close to it as any other event.
- [41:34]
Nicola Minoni
Joc's son, Chip.
- [41:35]
Chip Jablonski
Again, he asked me to go to Washington with him. He said, this is going to be a showdown with Boyle. And he was worried, physically concerned. That's the reason he had asked me to go to D.C. with him. And I waited in the park outside of the Mineworkers headquarters.
- [42:00]
Nicola Minoni
Chip watched his father walk into the headquarters of the Union he'd given his life to. And inside, Tony gave Jock an ultimatum. He said, I've been looking into the finances of District 5. And I've noticed some, let's say, irregularities. These were almost definitely trumped up. Tony said, I need you to resign your position as president of District 5. If you do that, I'll let those irregularities let them slide. And then the twist of the knife. Tony said, if you won't resign, I'll have no choice but to remove District 5's autonomy. The thing Jock had fought so hard to keep for his men. Their freedom, their own little democracy in their little corner of this monarchy. It seemed like an hour passed until Jock walked out of the headquarters and back to his son, Chip.
- [43:00]
Chip Jablonski
And my dad said, well, he made me sign the letter. I had to give up the District presidency.
- [43:10]
Nicola Minoni
And as they walked away from the park, the Union Castle looming in the distance, Jock turned to his son and.
- [43:16]
Chip Jablonski
Said, that son of a bitch will rue the day that this happened.
- [43:24]
Nicola Minoni
The fight over Black Lung was just the first battleground in a war between Jock and Tony. A war that would be fought in the DC Halls of power and in the depths of mountains. It was a war that would threaten to destroy these men and everyone close to them. That's coming up next on this season of Shadow Kingdom.
- [43:47]
Chip Jablonski
The FBI tonight is engaged in its most intensive murder investigation since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. It's disturbing and evil beyond words to describe. We ask why and who. They swore us to secrecy. They said, do not tell anybody. I mean, you had a Union that basically was under dictatorship for eons. Now you got all this new democracy flowing through the field.
- [44:14]
Nicola Minoni
I did anything I had to because.
- [44:17]
Chip Jablonski
There'S no turning back at this point. Peely was out there hollering, it jammed. It jammed. It wouldn't shoot. It wouldn't fart. It was just bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. And I'm saying, hang on, you son of a bitch. I hereby solemnly swear to Almighty God I will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We're here today to tell everybody that we intend to stay here.
- [44:49]
Nicola Minoni
Shadow Kingdom is a production of Crooked Media and Campside Media. It's hosted and reported by me, Nicolomini the show is written by Joe Hawthorne, Karen Duffin and me. Joe Hawthorne is our managing producer. Karen Duffin is our story editor. The associate producers are Rachel Yang and Julie Denishe. Sound design, mix and mastering by Erica Huang. Our theme song and original score are composed by me and Mark McAdam. Cello performed by Linnea Weiss with additional sound design Support from Mark McAdam. Studio Engineering by Rachel Yang and Ewan Lai Tramuin. Fact checking by Amanda Feynman. Our executive producers are me, Nicolo Magnoni, along with Sarah Geismer, Katie Long, Mary Knopf and Allison Falsetta. From Crooked Media. Josh Dean, Adam Hoff, Matt Sher and Vanessa Gregoriadis are the executive producers of Campsite Media.