Benson instructed lawyers for C.W. Mining and their boss-run “union” to refile a redrafted suit by July 14. He called their 70-page brief, rewritten once already last December, “amorphous” and “scatter-gun.” As currently written, the judge said, it did not sustain defamation charges against the Militant and the other two papers.

The company’s charges are based largely on quotes by Co-Op miners in news articles, as well as opinion columns and editorials. The judge ruled that the new brief must explain who is being sued, for what libel claims, and by whom.

The judge also suggested to attorneys for the three newspapers that they may want to submit motions for summary judgment at the next hearing. That suggestion points to the mounting possibility the court will consider dismissing the suit without going to a trial. If the case against the newspapers is decided in their favor, and settled first, the odds improve that the coal bosses’ suit against the Co-Op miners, the UMWA, and the other union defendants will also rapidly fall. All defendants in this case have a big stake in seeing the company’s sweeping defamation charges quickly dismissed.

The outcome of this hearing makes it easier to broaden support for the miners’ fight and defend all those in the company’s sights. This labor defense effort grows out of the most important union battle in the United States today. The Co-Op miners’ struggle to be represented by a real union and to win their jobs back takes place amid growing opportunities for the UMWA to organize coal miners and coal haulers in the West. While mounting an effective defense against C.W. Mining’s legal attacks, the miners have not been sidetracked by the bosses’ attempt to divert their fight to the courtroom. The unionists continue to rely on their own actions, organizing picketing and reaching out to fellow miners, retirees, and other working people for support.

This is an important moment to step up the campaign to win prominent endorsers for the Militant Fighting Fund. Financial contributions are also urgently needed to pay legal expenses for the Militant, one of the prominent defendants in the bosses’ lawsuit. Costs are rapidly mounting—from preparing for the June 14 hearing to responding to the company’s soon-to-be rewritten legal brief. The money is needed now.

Supporters of the Militant Fighting Fund are also urged to rapidly set up meetings with union bodies and prominent individuals in the labor movement, defenders of Black rights, and other supporters of freedom of speech and the press.

A broadening labor defense campaign will help beat back the coal bosses’ suit. It will also expand the publicity and backing for the miners, giving a boost to their fight for union representation.

Meanwhile, the Militant will not let up in its nearly two years of reporting the truth about the miners’ fight and championing their cause—which is the cause of all labor.
 
 
Related articles:
Utah court hearing is blow to coal mine bosses’ libel suit
Judge orders plaintiffs to rewrite ‘amorphous’ complaint;
Co-Op miners and UMWA gain from judge’s decision
As Utah miners press union fight, Co-Op mine output drops  
 
 
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