My grandfather was a union man

On August 19, 1959, Mine-Mill Workers went on strike against the Anaconda Company after failed negotiations. 

Miners from Butte, Anaconda, Great Falls, and Helena set up pickets around the company’s mining properties. After 181 days, the strike ended, and miners could return to work on February 16, 1960. The 1959 strike was the second-longest in the history of Butte.

My grandfather, Raymond Graham, served as president of the West Falls Local, and mentioned in a Dec. 11, 1959, story in the The Independent-Record from Helena on Page 9.

He was serving as secretary of the Local when it ended in Feb. 16, 1960, and was quoted by an Associated Press reporter.

1952 Labor Day parade in Great Falls, Montana