"Meet the Caterpillar 797--the world's largest truck," exclaims the Casper Star-Tribune in an article published December 22, 1999. The 400-ton, 580-cubic-yard haul truck purchased by Peabody Coal's North Antelope-Rochelle mine is part of the ongoing effort to squeeze higher production with the same number of employees out of the massive surface mines in the basin. The new truck is 40 tons bigger than the largest truck presently in use here.

Bigger haul trucks aren't the only thing the coal bosses are spending their money on. Several of the area's mines sport massive new drag lines with 135-cubic-yard buckets, new shovels which sell for over $10 million apiece, or new silos to load trains at an even more rapid rate. Conveyor systems and rail transport are also being upgraded.

Stagnating profit rates drive these measures by the bosses. Prices for Powder River basin coal have remained relatively stable at less than $5 a ton over the past 20 years. The companies aim to increase their profits by investing in new equipment and massively increasing production, while holding down miners' wages and benefits.

As the mines expand production, they continue to increase the amount of explosives they use. The Black Thunder mine used 8 million tons of explosives in one recent blast. Two hundred people attended a recent forum in Gillette, Wyoming, to discuss cast blasting and its effects. Participants voiced concern about the clouds of nitrous oxide that drift off the mines after each blast. Suzanne Wurthele, a toxicology expert from the EPA, explained, "If one of those orange clouds was going to drift across Denver, I'd have to say I don't care if there is 250,000 people, we've got to evacuate."

Utility companies favor Wyoming coal because of its low sulfur content. Burning it, especially when it is mixed with Eastern coal, which has a higher BTU (British Thermal Unit) rating, makes it easier to comply with provisions of Phase Two of the Clean Air Act--a federal law which went into effect January 1, 2000.  
 

Boom in Powder River Basin coal

Last year, the basin produced 316.9 million tons of coal, up from 293.4 million tons in 1998, making it the second year in a row of record-breaking numbers. The North Antelope-Rochelle mine shipped 68.9 million tons, more than 5 percent of U.S. production. The area's 14 working mines produced over 26 percent of the country's coal output.

The dominance of Powder River basin coal is a recent phenomenon. Shovels broke ground for the area's first major mine, Belle Ayr, in 1972. Within five years it was this country's biggest producer. By 1982, Black Thunder, another local operation, had won that title, and last year North Antelope-Rochelle took the lead.

This coal lies close to the surface in seams that run 50 to 100 feet, making it about one-third as expensive to mine as underground operations.

Although wages and benefits for permanent miners are high--comparable to or even better than those in union mines--hours are long and safety issues tend to go unresolved. Almost every miner works 12 hours per day on rotating shifts. In the seven-day work schedule, overtime costs for Saturday and Sunday are eliminated.

Companies that provide temporary employees are big players in the Powder River Basin. Experienced equipment operators come here from all over the country, often from union mines that have been closed down. They sign up with a temporary agency, get sent to a mine, and work alongside permanent employees for less money and benefits-- in many cases for years. The more fortunate ones are eventually put on full time.

In the Coal Creek mine Morrison and Knudsen (M-K), one of the nation's biggest construction companies, contracts the entire work force. Workers receive $5 to $7 per hour less than at many other mines. "We are union-free," states the M-K handbook.

Along with the introduction of larger-scale technology and production, the bosses' strategy to boost their profits hinges on keeping the area nonunion. In an article that appeared in the July 1, 1981, Washington Post, the employee relations manager of Carter Mining Co. in Gillette wrote that "we don't have strikes and other work disruptions." Flexible work rules, allowing the company to shift workers around, and greater management control over production are among the benefits of being union free, he wrote.

None of the Powder River Basin mines are organized by the UMWA. At Belle Ayr, the first mine that opened, the UMWA won a representation election defeating the Progressive Miners of America, but in 1975 the coal bosses broke the union after a bitter, several-months-long strike, using company goons and strike breakers.

The last serious UMWA organizing effort was defeated at the Black Thunder Mine in the early 1990s.  
 

UMWA struggles in Wyoming

One hundred and twenty miles away to the east the UMWA has had more success. In the late 1980s and early 1990s miners from locals 1972 and 2055 in Sheridan, Wyoming, waged a four-year-long strike at the Decker and Big Horn mines in Montana. The company used scabs, hired three private security firms to harass the strikers, and offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals for "strike-related" acts. Despite their campaign, Decker and Big Horn were unable to defeat the UMWA. In the spring of 1999, 115 miners at the Deserado mine just outside Rangely, Colorado, struck for three months over health care for retirees and other issues. In describing their settlement UMWA members at Deserado say that although they did not accomplish everything they set out to do, their union emerged stronger from their fight.

A fight to organize is also posed for rail workers in the Powder River Basin. The rail bosses who own the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and the Union Pacific (UP) are among the biggest beneficiaries of the boom in basin coal. An average of 100 coal trains--110 to 135 cars long--leave the region each day. Rail transportation constitutes 80 percent ofthe total delivered cost of basin coal.

Rail workers organized into several unions including the United Transportation Union, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and Building and Maintenance of Way Employees are now confronted by nonunion companies like Rail Link and Midwest Rail.

The Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern (DM & E) Railroad, which currently owns track that goes completely across the state of South Dakota from Rapid City to Minneapolis, is seeking a federal permit to come into the basin. The DM & E has raised $1.4 billion to build 250 miles of new railroad and rebuild about 650 miles of existing track to modern standards. Ultimately they plan to run over 30 coal trains per day. Only the conductors at the DM & E are organized.

Long hours, disregard for safety, the use of contract labor, the environmental impact of cast blasting, and union busting are part of the profit drive of the capitalists here. Despite the increase in capital expenditures the profit margin per ton of coal for the mining corporations remains razor thin. These conditions will continue to fuel fightbacks and union-organizing efforts of Powder River basin workers.  
 
 
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