"They haven't loaded one coal train," said Lawrence Oliver, president of Local 1332 of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), who was describing the situation at the McKinley mine near Gallup, New Mexico. "They have done no production since the strike began," UMWA staff member Dallas Wolf added, referring to Kemmerer in Wyoming.

There are 330 workers in the bargaining unit at McKinley and more that 230 are represented by the UMWA at Kemmerer. A couple of weeks ago three workers at McKinley and four at Kemmerer broke ranks and crossed the picket lines, but since that time no one else has scabbed. "It must be getting lonely in there," Wolf quipped.

Despite being completely shut down, P&M has not budged. "They refuse to come back to the bargaining table," said Wolf. "They haven't returned our phone calls."

Meanwhile, both locals have begun to reach out for solidarity. Sue Hunzie, whose husband is a miner at Kemmerer, spent from 5:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., July 10, picketing at a three-way stop sign near the mine gate. Forty other people joined Hunzie that day. "They were mainly miners' wives," she said. Hunzie is one of the leaders of a new group in Kemmerer. It is called Miners' Backbone. "One of the wives said we were the backbone of the miners so we came up with that name," explained Hunzie.

"We are organized into several committees--phone tree, public relations, strike activities, and food bank--and we meet every Wednesday night," she said. "We have organized a number of activities including two ladies' picket days and a march from Diamondville to Kemmerer," the two towns closest to the mine. "We are planning to have a booth and float in an upcoming community parade that used to be called Century Days.

"We have found that the four scabs have a hard time getting the courage to cross our picket line when we are there. Two of them are women," she said.

"One of the most important things we are doing is organizing a food bank," continued Hunzie. "We let the local raise the money from other unions and from retirees and other supporters; then we go out and buy the food. We stock the shelves every week and every week people come in and get what they need."

"They are a great bunch of ladies," said Hunzie, describing the other members of Miners' Backbone. "You couldn't ask for a better group of people."  
 
Leafleting Chevron refinery
In a similar fashion, Lawrence Oliver explained his local's plans to reach out to other unions for more solidarity. "Tomorrow a delegation including myself is going to fly to Los Angeles where we will leaflet workers at the Chevron refinery," which owns Pittsburg and Midway, said Oliver. "That evening we have been invited to speak at their union meeting." The workers at Chevron belong to the Paper, Allied-Industrial and Energy Workers International Union (PACE).

"Next Saturday we will be going to Las Cruces to speak in front of the New Mexico State AFL-CIO," he continued.

One of the most important questions facing the McKinley strikers is P&M's proposal to pay Native American miners a $100 bonus if they give up their health care and use Indian Health Services (IHS). McKinley is located on the Navajo reservation. Because of a hiring preference more than 90 percent of the miners are Native American. Under the present contract miners' health care is funded 100 percent.

"To me, they [P&M] shouldn't be trying to make a profit off the treaty rights of the Navajo people," said Oliver. "P&M's position is that their proposal is an option to employees, but really they are just trying to get their foot in the door. Once they get there they will try to make it a requirement that we have to use IHS.

"We are fighting not just for ourselves but for smaller tribes who do not have the resources that the Navajo have," concluded Oliver. "If one corporation can get away with dumping medical coverage others can use it as a precedent to force their Native Americans workers to use IHS."

Over this past week the United Mine Workers union upped benefits for strikers at both mines to $200 per week and support from other unions continues to grow. "We received letters backing our fight from Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa and from the ICEM [International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers], a worldwide union federation located in Europe," said Dallas Wolf. "Donations of food and money have come from locals in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah." Steelworkers in Rock Springs, nearby Kemmerer, "have been big supporters as always."  
 
 
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