This doesn't sound political at all to me. Just a bunch of mine owners knocking a few heads to keep their employees living in poverty (especially the Eastern European immigtants)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_Country_strike_of_1913–1914
FWIW, one of the reasons I quit a job was to avoid joining AFTRA (before they merged with SAG). I felt they were a toothless union at the time.