Tensions between the union and the company are at an all-time high. The battle unfolding today is one of the most important being waged by the union.

Murray is the largest independent individual coal operator in the country. Ohio Valley recently began loading coal at the Century Mine, a new nonunion mine constructed just one-half mile from Powhatan No. 6. in Belmont County, Ohio. Powhatan No. 6 is a UMWA-organized mine.

"They're mining the same block of coal and trying to cut union jobs," said Ron Marquardt, president of UMWA Local 1810 at Powhatan No. 6. Miners at the protest pointed out that the new mine is really not a new mine but a new portal for the old mine.

Many of the participants in the rally were UMWA members working at the Powhatan No. 6 mine and the Maple Creek mine in Bentleyville, Pennsylvania. The UMWA declared the day an official memorial day to allow miners to attend the action, effectively shutting down both mines.

This is the second memorial day called by the union this month at the two locals. UMWA contingents also came from UMWA mines in western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. There were also delegations of UMWA officials from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Utah. A special point was made that Murray is in the permit stage and is planning to begin coal production in Utah.

"If we don't put up a fight now, we'll face what they face at No. 6," said Tom, a UMWA member who works at Maple Creek. This young miner was referring to the fact that Murray has successfully opened a nonunion mine right next to a union mine. Like some miners at the rally, Tom was reluctant to give his full name citing recent firings by the company.

As the Powhatan Point rally got underway, UMWA international secretary-treasurer Carlo Tarley announced that another group of miners and their supporters were that same day marching to Ohio Valley's mine in Galatia, Illinois. Murray bought that mine in 1998. Cecil Roberts, the UMWA's international president, was arrested in a civil disobedience protest there as he appealed to miners at the Galatia mine to join the UMWA.

Tarley was the main speaker at the Ohio rally. The UMWA official gave a serious half-hour presentation on the stakes in this battle that now confronts miners in two states. Many miners learned for the first time about some of the issues and details of the fight at Powhatan No. 6. Last December members of UMWA Local 1248 at Maple Creek rejected, by a 335–10 vote, a contract proposed by the company that covered both Maple Creek and a new mine Murray plans to open in Pennsylvania.

This agreement was brought to the membership after discussions between the UMWA International and Murray. The rejected agreement provided for an increase of 30 cents an hour each year of the contract. Because of the wage concessions and wage freeze in place since Murray reopened Maple Creek in 1995, the pay received by workers at that mine lags $3–4 per hour behind the wage rates stipulated in the contract between the UMWA and the Bituminous Coal Operators Association. "With all the concessions, the union estimates that we've put $25 million into Murray's pocket," explained Randy, another Maple Creek miner.

The resounding defeat of the contract has helped unify the union workforce at Maple Creek. Miners point to this fact with a good deal of pride. Tarley took note of this during his speech when he told rally participants that the overwhelming vote against the contract strengthened the miners in their fight against Murray's union-busting. Earlier in July, in response to memorial days called by the union, hundreds of UMWA members at the two mines attended membership meetings called to initiate a campaign to publicize what the union is fighting for.

Ohio Valley has subsequently taken legal action against the UMWA, filing charges with the National Labor Relations Board. "The memorial day was called to punish Ohio Valley and Mr. Robert E. Murray for the UMWA's inability to organize a mine completely unrelated to Ohio Valley," John Fortelli, Ohio Valley's president and general manager, told the Times Leader, an eastern Ohio newspaper.

The company has also filed a $100 million lawsuit against UMWA international secretary-treasurer Tarley for "defamatory" and "false" statements about Murray and the Ohio Valley Coal Company. Tarley said the charges are "totally without merit" and a way to avoid the real issues.

The miners at the rally received the support of a group of fired health-care workers who are fighting for their jobs. Three women, members of the Service Employees International Union, were carrying union flags and wearing union T-shirts. Glenna Roe's T-shirt said on the back: "Return Our 24 Comrades." Roe's husband is a laid-off coal miner and has been passed over for hiring by officials at the Century Mine. She said that she was among the 24 members of the union negotiating team fired for going to the offices of their employer, Voca/Rescare, a large operator of health-care facilities, and asking to speak with the CEO of the company about providing employees with affordable health insurance.

UMWA officer Tarley told the rally that Ohio Valley owner Murray "told us that 'I need the people, but I can't hire off the panel,'" referring to a seniority roster of out-of-work union miners. Highlighting the antiunion assault by Ohio Valley, an article in the May 6 Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Murray "has a labor shortage at the No. 6 mine but said he can't afford to fill the positions with middle-aged workers laid off from other UMWA mines because they come with costly health and pension benefits."

Rally participants responded enthusiastically when Tarley insisted that the UMWA will defend laid-off miners and the union. "Murray says, 'I want to hire your sons and daughters, but dump the old guys.' We will not be a party to age discrimination. We must convince Bob Murray that we need to share the wealth, and educate him that this is your union, your jobs, which we intend to keep," stated Tarley.

Miners say that when Murray talks about the "dumping the old guys" he means "dumping" the union. This point was not lost on the young miners at the rally, of which there was a good layer, many with less than six months underground experience.

The memorial days and today's union rally are part of the "opening salvo" by the UMWA against Robert Murray's antiunion drive. The union is planning further protests.
 
 
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