BY JEANNE FITZMAURICE
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Coal miners at the Shoal Creek mine honored a picket line set up by Pilots Agree, an organization of tow boat pilots. Members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) refused to mine coal on May 1 and May 4 at the Drummond Co. underground mine in west Jefferson County, Alabama.

About 700 members of Pilots Agree walked out April 3 demanding better working conditions and pay.

After UMWA members refused to cross the picket line for a second day, the Drummond Co. forced the barge workers to take down their pickets by getting an injunction through the National Labor Relations Board and the federal district court in Atlanta. Miners then returned to work.

Opened in 1994 the Shoal Creek mine has 650 union miners. Coal from the mine is shipped on barges - as many as 16 a day - on the Black Warrior River.

Jeanne FitzMaurice is a member of United Steelworkers of America Local 1013 in Fairfield, Alabama.  
 
 
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