Both McKinley and Kemmerer are owned by Pittsburg and Midway Coal Co. (P&M). Two years ago the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) waged successful, coordinated 12-week strikes at both these locations to defend the eight-hour day.

"These sales were part of our ongoing effort to keep in touch with UMWA members at Kemmerer and McKinley," Alyson Kennedy, a socialist miner from Western Colorado explained. "During their strikes the Militant earned a lot of respect by our coverage of their fight."

Braving subzero weather and intermittent snow showers, the sales team was warmly received in Wyoming. "You must be really dedicated," a Kemmerer miner said as she stopped to buy the paper.

Another woman miner pulled her truck over to talk. She had been a leader in the Coal Employment Project (CEP) in the 1980s and 1990s. The CEP had been set up to help women get hired in the mines and to fight to keep their jobs once they got there. This miner wanted to talk about conditions in the mines today.

"Be sure to call me next time before you come up," she said. "You just show up. If I have some advance notice we can spend more time together." The team gave her literature on the fight by Michael Italie in Miami. Italie was the Socialist Workers Party candidate for mayor in that city and was fired from his job at Goodwill Industries for the political views he expressed in a televised candidates debate.

Many of the 43 miners at McKinley already had money out of their pockets when they stopped to buy the Militant. This was the fifth sale that had been organized at the New Mexico mine since the end of the P&M strike. Between 35 to 50 papers have been sold at each effort.

The McKinley mine is on the Navajo reservation. Due to an affirmative action program enforced by the UMWA, more than 90 percent of the miners are Native Americans.

Sales team members shook hands and chatted with a number of the workers who bought the Militant, discussed working conditions at the mine, and were filled in on how the leaders of the strike are doing.

Following the sale, Lawrence Oliver, president of UMWA Local 1332 that organizes the McKinley miners, had a meeting with the team. Oliver gave the Socialist Workers a letter from the local endorsing the Italie case and signed an endorser card himself.

Oliver is also the president of the Nal-nishii, the Federation of Labor on the Navajo Nation. One of the projects the Nal-nishii is working on concerns a company threat to close the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada, Oliver said, noting the miners at Black Mesa and Kayenta would be directly affected by this since they supply all the coal that goes to Mohave.

The Black Mesa and Kayenta mines are located on the Navajo and Hopi Nations. Organized by the UMWA, more than 90 percent of its workforce is also comprised of Native Americans. Peabody, the owner of these mines, slurries coal 275 miles to Mohave using massive amounts of water. In June of 1999, the Navajo Nation sued Peabody for $600 million in damages, claiming they received royalties that were far below the market value for the high-BTU, low-sulfur coal that is mined at Black Mesa and Kayenta.

"We want to make sure that our government leaders are aware of the overall implications of current litigation and that the interests of the Black Mesa and Kayenta miners are protected," Oliver said.  
 
 
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