The Pittsburgh Press (October 31, 1944)
Perkins: West Virginia miners stick to Roosevelt
Dewey’s only hope is in Southern section
By Fred W. Perkins, Pittsburgh Press staff writer
Grant Town, West Virginia –
A factor in the fight over whether coal miners are going to vote for Mr. Roosevelt or Mr. Dewey and possibly swing the electoral votes of the doubtful states of West Virginia and Pennsylvania is Joe Zieminski.
Joe lives in Grant Town, a good-looking community built around a big coal mine of the Koppers Coal Company.
President of local
He was in the midst of his family of a wife and six children and their clean faces contrasted with the soiled head of the family, who hadn’t had a chance to wash up.
Joe Zieminski, a big fellow, is president of Local 4047 of the United Mine Workers and has also been the chairman of the forces working within the miners’ union to bring about home rule for the union organization in which most of the district officers are named by President John L. Lewis.
Joe said 90 percent of the miners in his local are going to vote for President Roosevelt, just as they have three times previously.
Home rulers for Roosevelt
He paid tribute to Mr. Lewis as a union leader and a bargainer with the coal companies, but when it comes to politics – well, Mr. Lewis could vote for Mr. Dewey if he wanted to, but not Joe Zieminski or his friends. They were going down the line for FDR.
All the local unions involved in the home-rule fight have declared for Mr. Roosevelt, so it would seem the home-rule movement is hooked directly with the Roosevelt support, and against Mr. Lewis in his presidential preference. But Roosevelt supporters in the Fairmont district don’t want to put it on that basis. They say Mr. Lewis may be right in his policy of appointing officers for districts unable to select the right kind of officers for themselves.
Dewey hopes in South
Into this comes a strong hint that Communist influence is trying to get a foothold in the United Mine Workers, which Mr. Lewis, according to all published statements, would be against.
Roosevelt sentiment here in Northern West Virginia seems stronger among the miners than it did in the southern section of this state. If Mr. Dewey is to carry West Virginia, it is the southern end which must furnish the margin.
Republicans get some cheer from reports that McDowell County, far to the south and the largest coal-producing county in the country, is swinging their way.