The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 70/No. 23           June 19, 2006  
 
 
Minnesota union officer:
‘I salute victory of Co-Op miners’
(front page)
 
BY NELSON GONZALEZ  
ST. PAUL, Minnesota—“I want to salute you on your victory,” said Bernie Hesse, legislative director of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 789. He was speaking at a May 27 Militant Labor Forum here celebrating the recent victory in a two-and-a-half-year battle against C.W. Mining Co., owner of the Co-Op mine in Huntington, Utah.

“We’re ready to get the word out about this important victory and what workers can accomplish when we don’t let the bosses divide us and when we stick together,” Hesse said.

The UFCW officer was referring to a recent settlement that ends the retaliatory lawsuit filed by C.W. Mining in 2004 against 16 former Co-Op miners, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), other supporters of the struggle to win UMWA representation at that mine, and newspapers that had reported on the struggle. In the settlement the company agreed to drop its defamation suit against all the remaining defendants—the UMWA, the Militant newspaper, and Utah Jobs with Justice. The agreement also released all defendants included by the company in two earlier complaints. Six of the miners involved in the union-organizing campaign were awarded back pay.

Local 789’s support for the Co-Op miners grew out of the local’s fight for a union at Dakota Premium Foods, a packing plant in South St. Paul, Hesse said.

“Many of you here in this room were involved in the fight by Dakota Premium workers for a union,” Hesse said. “Workers shut down the lines, and did other things to get a union. Though it took several years, during which the company also dragged us through the courts and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the workers finally won.

“They didn’t wear us down,” Hesse continued. “It was through this inspiring fight, where you could see workers taking ownership of their struggle, that relationships were built among each other that led right to taking on and supporting the Co-Op workers.

“So my question is, what is next?” he said. “We’ve got to keep this victory fresh, and use it to move forward.”

“The miners set back the coal bosses in the region and their attempts to go after workers who want to organize a union,” Bill Estrada, a leader of the union-organizing drive at Co-Op who was the featured speaker at the forum, said in his opening remarks.

“Safety was one of the main reasons Co-Op miners contacted the UMWA,” Estrada said. “Our experience showed mine inspectors did little more than give the company a slap on the wrist when we pointed out unsafe conditions. We learned we had to rely on ourselves and not on more laws or government agencies. This is exactly the same serious question before all miners and the union today.”

Estrada pointed to the deaths of seven coal miners in Kentucky and West Virginia the last week of May, saying, “This shows how big a question safety is for miners and all workers. There is only one way to stop the deaths in the mines—through union power. We need union safety committees that have the power to shut down an unsafe mine. No miner has to die.”

Estrada reviewed the key turning points in the campaign for UMWA representation at Co-Op, which began in September 2003.

After a hard-fought 10-month strike, during which the miners won widespread solidarity in the United States and other countries, the company was forced to offer reinstatement to UMWA supporters it had dismissed and schedule a union representation election.

The mine bosses and the company-allied International Association of United Workers Union (IAUWU) filed a defamation lawsuit against the individual miners, the UMWA, and many of their supporters in September 2004, Estrada explained. On the eve of the union representation election, the coal company fired 30 pro-union workers, claiming most didn’t have papers that allowed them to work legally in the United States. Many of these workers had worked at Co-Op for years with the same documents.

“This is an important question today when millions of immigrant workers are marching in the streets,” Estrada noted. “The labor movement must take the lead in the fight to demand legislation that grants legalization now, without pre-conditions, for all immigrant workers. This question poses the very future of unions in all industries.”

Unable to defeat the miners on the picket line or weaken most of their supporters during the strike, Estrada said, the bosses shifted the focus away from the mine and into the courts and prolonged NLRB proceedings. They were able to do so because broader labor action wasn’t strong enough at the time, he said.

“The fight led by the miners at Co-Op opened a window to more opportunities for union organizing in western coal that could have gone further with the support of a stronger, broader labor movement. This will come and is one of the lessons we need to draw from our fight,” Estrada said.

“Many workers see the settlement and the dropping of the lawsuit as their own victory,” Estrada added. “We can use it to push forward the fight for legalization. It will mark further fights for union organizing in Utah. And it puts us in a stronger position to support other struggles that will break out.”

Estrada invited those present to attend a victory celebration the former Co-Op miners are organizing at the UMWA District 22 hall in Price, Utah, on June 4.

The audience of 40 included meat packers, rail workers, immigrant rights activists, and students. Pablo Tapia, a leader of the immigrant rights organization ISIAH, and Dave Riehle, an officer of the United Transportation Union, took part. Those present responded to a fund pitch by donating more than $600 to the Militant Fighting Fund. The fund was established to raise money for the Militant’s legal defense and for publicizing the stakes for all labor in beating back a lawsuit that was trying to shut up unionists and newspapers that report on and champion their cause.
 

*****

‘We won every round of Co-Op fight’
 
BY MICHAEL ITALIE  
NEW YORK—The Militant Labor Forum here May 26 featured Alyson Kennedy speaking on “Celebrate Utah miners’ victory in dropping of Co-Op Mine lawsuit!” One of the leaders of the fight to win UMWA representation at Co-Op, Kennedy reviewed the struggle from its start through the campaign that forced the bosses to withdraw their harassment lawsuit.

Militant editor Argiris Malapanis chaired the program. He had returned the day before from a reporting trip to Harlan County, Kentucky, where five miners were killed May 20 (see front-page article). “Our ability to widely sell this issue of the Militant and win hundreds of new subscribers among coal miners and other working people will have an impact on the struggle for unionization,” he said. He urged the 75 people present to join Militant sales teams in coal mining areas.

“We won every round of the Co-Op fight,” said Kennedy. She explained how the Co-Op miners and their allies had stood off the company and gained ground at each turning point in the union-organizing drive. On Sept. 22, 2003, the company locked out 75 miners. The workers turned the lockout into a strike that gained solidarity in the West and beyond.

“We had won the strike, and the company could not defeat us on the picket line,” said Kennedy. So C.W. Mining filed its harassment suit charging the unionists, their supporters, and newspapers such as the Salt Lake City Tribune, Deseret Morning News, and the Militant with defamation. “The suit had a dampening effect on coverage of our fight for a union in much of the media,” she said, but the Militant continued its coverage.

In December 2004, right before the union election, C.W. Mining increased the pressure by amending its suit to add charges of fraud and racketeering. The company filed seven charges against the union and its backers.

The miners, the UMWA, and the Militant newspaper did not back down, they continued to fight this case, said Kennedy. The Militant Fighting Fund won more than 1,000 endorsers, including 26 trade union locals, officers of 10 international unions, and nearly 230 officers of union locals. This kind of resistance contributed to a May 1 ruling by the judge that threw out all charges against the individual miners and dismissed all but the defamation charges against the remaining defendants.

“This decision was very damaging to the mine owners ,” said Kennedy. “Their strategy to defeat the miners using the courts was in shambles. They were left with a weak slander case against the Militant, the UMWA, and Utah Jobs with Justice, and a strongly worded decision favoring the miners. It showed we had stood off the company once again. The Co-Op owners decided to settle to try to get their business operations going again.”

After Kennedy’s presentation, Militant supporter Manuel Sánchez urged all present to give generously to the Militant Fund. “This fund helps pay the rent, travel, and other costs for publishing the paper every week,” said Sánchez, a building maintenance worker and member of Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ. “The Militant is an educational paper for workers, and an organizer. It urges workers to join unions and to fight for socialism.” Those present contributed nearly $2,500.

Kennedy referred to a letter by Bob Butero, director of organizing of UMWA region 4, inviting unions and others to attend the June 4 celebration. “The UMWA cordially invites you to a victory celebration at 1:00 p.m., Sunday, June 4,” the letter said. “After a hard fought battle of nearly three years, with backing from the UMWA, many unions, and other organizations throughout the West, the miners want to celebrate their victory and what was accomplished in this struggle…. The miners will present a Mexican meal of grilled steak, beans, salsas, desserts, and beverages. Hope to see you there!”

Kennedy also spoke May 28 at a forum in Pittsburgh, where $700 was raised for the Militant Fund, and another in Toronto the next day, held at a United Steelworkers union hall there. Those present in Toronto donated $947 to the Militant fund drive and $500 to the Militant Fighting Fund.

Paul Mailhot, an organizer of the Militant Fighting Fund, spoke May 27 at a similar forum in Houston. Members of the Prisoners Rights Support Network sent a message to the event, which said, “The Co-Op miners victory is significant to the struggle for all people who believe in peace, respect, dignity on the job, and the right to unionize.”

Steve Warshell from Houston and Robert Simms from Toronto contributed to this article.  
 
 
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