Research On The Black Lung Movement Of American(1968-1978)

Black lung disease, generally refers to coal workers`pneumoconiosis, is one of the most seriousoccupational disease in American industrial hygiene history and occupational disease history. It is theproduction of modern industrial civilization particularly mechanized operation way. This kind of diseasehad been with a limited severity and scope in the long handicraft times. With the rapid development of coalmining mechanization in the20th century, the imperfect protective facilities, and insufficient knowledge ofmedicine, plus the government’s neglect of miners’ health, make the coal worker’s pneumoconiosis diseasemore serious. Till the outbreak of West Virginia Farmington disaster in November1968, coupling with themedia reporting, black lung problems began to attract widespread attention. Coal miners realized theseverity of the black lung disease and the deficiency of black lung compensation legislation through blacklung association propaganda and their experiences. Then, in order to maintain their own rights and intereststhey choose to strike. The strike from some mining area to a national scale gradually, set off a vigorousblack lung movement.In the black lung movement, miners, aggressive doctors and progressive people organized together,and called for protecting miners’ health and safety, the democracy in United Mine Workers of America,reasonable compensation and publishing relevant laws and regulations, etc. Black lung movement containssocial, economic, political and ideological connotations. This movement also has various complicatedcontradictions, including not only contradiction between traditional miners and the management, thecontradiction between miners and the "company" doctor, but also contraction between miners andgovernment officials, etc. Scholars have different opinions of ways of dealing with these contradictions andmaintain the interests of the miners. Classic marxist scholars believe that violence is the basic way of theworking class struggle for their rights. Professor Johan Galtung in Norway in his work Peace by PeacefulMeans, Peace and Conflict, Development and Civilization proposed we can use peaceful means to resolveconflicts.This study consists of the following four parts: The first part elaborates the background of black lung movement. It mainly discusses the miners`workand living conditions and the miners cognitive of black lung disease before the1960s. The United MineWorkers of America have no action in dealing with the problem of black lung disease and the requirementsof the miners. Until various social movement emerged in the1960s, the miners began to aware of theirillness gradually, but employers couldn’t meet the requirements of the miners, which brought about theblack lung movement.The second part illuminates the process of black lung movement. Discussions mainly focus on theearly stages of the movement, the high periods of the movement, the late stage of the movement and theaftermath of the movement. and different characteristics in different stages. Black lung movement perfectedsocial security and occupational disease legislation. Of course, there are still many contradictions in the lawenforcement process, but superficially black lung movement can be said successful.By using the conflict theory in the third part to analyze the black lung movement from four parts, thatis the social function of the conflict, the type of conflict, conflict intervention and the transformation ofconflict, So I get a conclusion, the more complex of the conflict, the more probable of the success in thecomplicated conflict transformation.The last part is epilogue.