The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has mandated a union representation election be held at Co-Op later this summer, and had just held a hearing in nearby Price, Utah, to determine who will be eligible to vote (see front-page article).

Meanwhile, miners say they have decided to act collectively to enforce safety at the mine and defend themselves against any victimization by the company. Despite the long working hours, many miners met one day after work recently and organized a safety committee of representatives from the underground and surface crews, workers said.

The members of the safety committee attended a safety training class two days later at the UMWA hall in Price. Bob Butero, organizing director of UMWA Region IV, organized the class. Butero based the class on the 1969 Mine Act and “A Guide to Miners’ Rights and Responsibilities under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977,” copies of which were available in English and Spanish.

Under this 1977 law, coal miners in the United States at both union and nonunion mines have the right to elect their own representatives to accompany federal inspectors during visits at a mine to inspect safety. Miners also have the right to be informed and participate in enforcement and legal proceedings under the act, and to request and get a federal inspection of a mine where they have evidence there is an imminent danger.

“This is necessary for us,” said Ricardo Chávez, a miner at Co-Op. “A safety committee made up of miners is for our own benefit and for our own defense. We are becoming more aware of our rights.”

Butero reportedly described to the six Co-Op miners who attended the class an explosion at an underground coal mine in Farmington, West Virginia, in 1968 that killed over 100 miners. Soon after that disastrous blast, and following protests by the miners union, the U.S. government passed the 1969 Mine Act, Butero said. That mine disaster was covered by national TV and was one of the things that led to a three-week strike by 40,000 coal miners and a march of 3,000 to the state capitol building in Charleston, West Virginia. The Coal Act was a more comprehensive and stringent measure than any previous legislation regarding the enforcement of safety in coal mines.

On March 9, 1976, one day after a federal inspector cited the Scotia Coal Company for three explosion-related safety violations, a blast killed 15 miners at the Scotia Coal mine in Kentucky. Two days later, eight more miners and three federal inspectors investigating the mine disaster were killed in another explosion.

Butero said that the 1977 Federal Mine Safety and Health amendment to the Coal Act was passed following this disaster. It strengthened and expanded the rights of miners and increased protection from retaliation by coal bosses for exercising the rights workers have under federal law to enforce safety. The 1977 law mandated federal inspectors to carry out four inspections per year of underground and surface mines. These “Triple A” inspections must be carried out through the entire mine. The act also set mandatory penalties for coal companies who violate safety laws.

Butero told the miners that they not only have a right to have one of their own representatives accompany a federal inspector during a safety investigation, but they can do it without that particular miner losing any pay if the inspection is done during working hours. The miners said that all their safety training by the Co-Op mine never instructed them on their rights under the 1977 act, which is required of all training courses.

The miners present at the class said they also learned that if a miner is ordered withdrawn from a mine for insufficient safety and health training, “The miner cannot be fired or otherwise discriminated against and must not suffer a loss of pay because of the withdrawal order,” according to the 1977 act. One of the Co-Op miners who was part of the nine-and-a-half-month strike is facing company discrimination for this very reason, workers said. The miners asked the UMWA to file a complaint with the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) demanding the reinstatement of this miner with full pay for the days he didn’t work and payment of his training.

At the same time, the Co-Op bosses have continued their offensive against UMWA backers with more written warnings on safety. One boss recently issued five written notices to his crew, Co-Op miners reported. Two warnings were reportedly given to two UMWA supporters and the other three to relatives of the mine owners, the Kingstons. Miners said the latter was done only to paint a façade that the bosses don’t discriminate.

“For so many years the bosses never talked about or cared so much about safety,” said one of the miners who supports the UMWA and attended the class with Butero. “Why now?”

The miners said they will submit a list of names to MSHA and the company with their safety representatives and start taking charge of safety on the job in a more collective way.

About 20 Co-Op miners, many of whom were part of the strike, recently met with Alfonso Brito, a representative of the Mexican Consulate in Salt Lake City, Utah. He told the miners that the Mexican Consulate had been following the strike and noticed that the miners had remained united and strong.
 
 
Related articles:
NLRB holds hearing on union vote at Utah mine  
 
 
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