The Western Federation of Miners, a regional, industrial union that claimed jurisdiction over mine, mill, and smelter workers in the hard rock mining industry, was founded in 1893 and affiliated with the AFL in July 1896. It paid no dues to the AFL after December 1896, however, and in 1898 it disaffiliated; it subsequently helped organize the Western Labor Union (renamed the American Labor Union in 1902). In 1905 it participated in the formation of the IWW, but it withdrew three years later and reaffiliated with the AFL in 1911. In 1916 it changed its name to the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers.

Read the Preamble to the WFM constitution