The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 69/No. 4           January 31, 2005  
 
 
‘Thank you for success of Militant Fighting Fund’
$50,000 raised helps fight harassment lawsuit by Co-Op mine owners
 
The following is a letter the Militant sent Jan. 14, 2005, to thank contributors to the Militant Fighting Fund.

Dear Contributor,

Thank you for your contribution to the Militant Fighting Fund. Hundreds of people around the world have so far donated nearly $50,000. That far exceeds our goal of $30,000 to cover initial legal fees and costs for organizing a public defense campaign against a harassment lawsuit that the owners of the Co-Op coal mine in Utah have filed against the Militant.

The Kingston-owned company, C.W. Mining, and the International Association of United Workers Union (IAUWU), which Co-Op miners have described as a company union, filed this civil lawsuit in September in a federal court in Utah. Defendants include the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), 17 Co-Op miners, a number of trade unions and other organizations that have backed the union-organizing struggle, as well as newspapers that have reported on the fight. The dozens of defendants were cited with “unfair labor practices” and “defamation” against C.W. Mining and the IAUWU.

As you may have already read in the Militant, the plaintiffs subsequently amended their legal complaint. News about this broke out around the time the company fired en masse most of the foreign-born miners at Co-Op—a week before the union representation election took place there December 17. The Co-Op owners dropped a number of original defendants, in an effort to split those supporting the miners. Those no longer cited include all entities related to the Catholic Church, the local newspapers in Utah’s Carbon and Emery counties, and a number of individuals who have backed the miners’ fight to win UMWA representation over the last 16 months.

The UMWA, the 17 Co-Op miners, a number of labor organizations, the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret Morning News—Utah’s two main dailies, and the Militant remain defendants.

The new complaint is a sharper attack against the UMWA and others who have backed the fight. The amended Kingston legal brief now claims that the UMWA, through one of its “agents,” misrepresented the actions of the Co-Op bosses when they fired miner Bill Estrada on Sept. 22, 2003. The complaint claims that after his firing Estrada “falsely told the waiting workers they had also been fired,” thereby causing the walkout.

As miners have told the Militant, through these false claims the Co-Op owners are attempting to rewrite history and obscure what the miners have been fighting for.

C.W. Mining lawyers also state their intention in the lawsuit to prove allegations of defamation against the UMWA and the Militant through “discovery.” No mention of using discovery is made in relation to the Salt Lake Tribune or Deseret Morning News, the other two newspapers still named in the suit. This process, which can be used if the court does not dismiss the case in its early stages, opens up defendants to massive legal expenses as company lawyers conduct a fishing expedition by demanding correspondence, records, and deposition from defendants. This process is often used not primarily to back up allegations but to tie up opponents in court and bleed them dry financially.

The UMWA has stated that its attorneys will represent the Co-Op miners and will try to get the case dismissed. The Militant has hired its own legal counsel and intends to do the same. At the same time, it’s prudent to be prepared for a protracted legal battle.

The Militant has a proud record of covering this struggle since it started in September 2003. It has never made any apologies for reporting accurately on the wages and working conditions facing workers at that mine, their efforts to reach out for solidarity, and how this battle fits into the broader struggle for unionization of the coalfields in the western United States. With your support the Militant will continue to do so.

Fraternally,
Sam Manuel, Fund Director
Argiris Malapanis, Editor
 
 
 
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