This was what Ben Miller, an organizer and field agent for the Lakes and Plains Regional Council of the Carpenters and Joiners union, told the audience of 55 unionists and supporters at a February 6 meeting here to back coal miners on strike at the Co-Op mine in Huntington, Utah. The event was hosted by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 789 at its union hall.

Miller visited the miners at the end of January to get a firsthand feel for their four-and-a-half-month union-organizing struggle and to deliver $500 that had been collected in Minnesota.

Originally from the coalfields in southwest Virginia, Miller worked for three years in the 1960s at a coal mine owned by the Pittston coal company. Miller’s father was a member of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) for 55 years and worked 33 years in an underground coal mine.

“One thing I learned is that we had to face common problems together,” Miller said of his experience in the mines, “When miners come out of the mine, they all have the same color. Whatever you look like or your country of birth, you should have the same protections as any other miner.”

The 75 striking miners at the Co-Op mine, most of them Mexican immigrants, were fired September 22 for protesting unsafe practices by the bosses on the job, defending a co-worker the company victimized for demanding safe working conditions, and for trying to win union recognition for the UMWA at the mine. With the union’s help, they have since organized an unfair labor practices strike and have been picketing the mine every day.

Miller told the meeting about the determination he discovered in the miners. “They have the glow in their eyes,” he said. “They don’t act like victims. They don’t seem tired after staffing the picket line for four months.” He said that he was impressed by the UMWA being committed to fight this to the end. He explained some of the conditions the miners face—no bathrooms for women miners, poor training, and hazardous conditions in the mine.

Miller then showed a video he had made in Utah of interviews with the strikers.

After the video presentation, UFCW Local 789 organizer Bernie Hesse read a message from the Co-Op miners to the meeting.

“Please give your brothers and sisters warm greetings from the Co-Op miners in Huntington, Utah,” the message read. “We wish you good luck with your meeting tonight. We will want to get a report on what happened so we can report this to the solidarity rally we are having in Huntington, Utah, tomorrow.

“We are grateful for the support that you have provided to us. Brother Ben Miller delivered the funds you collected when he visited here.

“We know that you also have had some fights and that inspires us to continue on. ¡Sí, se puede! Together we are going to win this strike and savor the victory with all of you.”

The St. Paul meeting also sent greetings to the miners, which read in part:

“We know that ‘An injury to one is an injury to all’ is more than a slogan. We know that when one employer abuses workers and forces them into dangerous conditions, other employers will do the same, whether it is at another coal mine in Utah or a food processing plant in Minnesota. The bosses hope to divide us and isolate us. However, for us solidarity is a necessity…. We are with you until victory. Yes, together we can do it. ¡Sí, se puede!”

Hesse ended the meeting by urging everyone to come back to the local hall Monday afternoon for a meeting to begin organizing ongoing support for the Co-Op miners.

Among those in attendance were members of the UFCW, United Auto Workers, International Association of Machinists, and United Transportation Union, two state AFL-CIO officials, students from the University of Minnesota, farm workers, and women organizing the April 25 National March for Choice. A collection at the meeting raised $600 to send to the strikers. Several people said they would go back to their union locals to get resolutions of support and financial contributions.
 
 
Related article:
Day of Solidarity boosts striking Utah miners
Navajo coal miners walk out in New Mexico  
 
 
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