Klein Local No. 915 was established in the late 1800s or early 1900s as a branch of the United Mine Workers of America. In 1912, the Klein Local and Republic of Coal Company reached an agreement concerning the conditions of mining work, including setting a minimum to the number of cars per pair of men and giving preference to more experienced workers for the highly paid position of coal digger. In July 1917, Klein Local No. 915 went on strike, as those conditions were not being met. Approximately forty men went on strike and about five hundred lost their jobs. On August 5, the Republic Coal Company declared that any worker who participated in the strike was considered to have quit their employment. Both the president of Local 915 and group representatives wrote to Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin, asking for immediate action and assistance. The strike lasted seven weeks and ended September 1917, wherein a new local was organized and charted.