The MSHA investigator showed the miners a list of those he wanted to interview. The strikers on the list had been named in citations that the federal safety agency issued to the owners of Co-Op mine and the company’s trainer, José Ortega, regarding the lack of training received by the miners.

The investigation started in October 2003 after many Co-Op miners approached the MSHA office in the nearby city of Price to report unsafe conditions, improper training, and injuries on the job. Three miners gave testimony on March 31 to the local MSHA office in Castle Dale.

Under federal law, inexperienced underground miners are required to take a 32-hour classroom course and an eight-hour orientation at the mine site. Each following year, all miners are required to take an eight-hour refresher course provided by the company.

At the Co-Op mine, for many years the company employee giving these classes has been Ortega. Miners report, however, that he has given only about six hours of training on the 32-hour class and as little as two hours on the refresher course at his house, and that for new miner training he charges as much as $350, in cash only.

Ricardo Chávez, a miner at Co-Op for one year, reported, “Ortega gave me the annual refresher at his house and charged me $100. He showed me videos, mostly in English, that I didn’t understand. He told me not to worry and, if a MSHA inspector ever asked me, to tell him I received all the required training.”

Chávez added, “For nearly an hour I told the MSHA investigator everything. Almost every miner at Co-Op has been trained by Ortega and everyone has a similar story.” According to Chávez, the investigator said the investigation could result in criminal charges against the company and Ortega.

More workers are scheduled to meet with MSHA on what the strikers say are training violations by Co-Op and its trainer.

The next day, Thomas Elmo Williams, an artist and former underground coal miner, visited the picket line. Williams was a member of UMWA Local 6363 at the Hiawatha Mine in Utah for 14 years, where he was a roof bolter. The mine closed in 1995.

“I challenge all residents of Carbon and Emery counties to reach out, be compassionate, and help support these striking miners,” said Williams. “I spent many years at the picket lines myself. It moves my heart to see such unity the miners really believe in.”

Following the closing of the Hiawatha mine in 1995 Williams became a professional artist. He presented a letter to the strikers that explained that he came “to take pictures of you on the picket line. I will then do a painting representing you and your endeavors.”

Williams told the strikers, “Don’t give up. I come from a long heritage of union miners in West Virginia. My family stood on picket lines in Matewan. If you believe in what you are doing the union will be the best thing for you. Your working conditions will drastically change. I will do everything to represent you well and acquire the largest amount for the painting, and 100 percent will come back to you.”

The artist, who has painted more than 400 oil paintings of scenes from the coalfields and of miners, has a gallery in Helper, Utah, where he lives. Williams contacted the Sun Advocate in Price, Utah, to ask that a reporter accompany him that day to the picket line to cover the story. “I’ll make sure they do a good story on your strike,” he said.

Juan Salazar, one of the leaders of the Co-Op strike, told Sun Advocate reporter Rick Shaw, “I firmly believe in what we’re doing. We will win dignity and respect. We are not going to give up. We are going to win this. We are not taking steps backward, but are going forward. This can be an example to other workers who may have to stand up to their bosses. It has been hard, but together we’re moving forward.”

Mark Reynolds, a Co-Op boss, drove down to the picket line, got out of his truck, and began demonstratively videotaping Williams and reporter Shaw talking to the strikers. The strikers said this was a common boss practice. They reported that Reynolds taped them the day before, when the MSHA investigator was talking to the miners, .

On March 27, some 50 supporters of the Co-Op strike picketed the East Side Market, a small grocery store in Salt Lake City, Utah, owned by the Kingston family, the notorious labor-hating businessmen who also own the mine. The spirited picket line was joined by members of the energy workers union PACE, the United Steelworkers of America, and Jobs with Justice, as well as students from the University of Utah, Co-Op strikers, and many others. Strikers were interviewed by the Channel 2, a local Salt Lake television station.

Send financial donations and letters of support to: Co-Op Miners, c/o UMWA District 22, 525 East 100 South, Price, UT 84501. Earmark Checks to the Co-Op Miners’ Fund.  
 
 
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