Three days earlier the bosses had suspended Panduro with intent to discharge. After two meetings with the company, production supervisor Shain Stoddard informed Panduro by phone that he was being terminated “for insubordination.”

“They think they can easily get rid of me but they are wrong,” said Panduro. “They are doing this to me because I support the UMWA. The bosses are now spreading rumors among workers that I didn’t want to work.”

Ten miners and a representative of the UMWA gathered at Panduro’s house October 7 to discuss the fight for his reinstatement.

They also discussed how to fight a lawsuit that the Kingstons, the company owners, filed September 24 in federal district court in Utah against the UMWA, 17 Co-Op miners, and many supporters of their fight and newspapers that have covered their struggle. The miners said that the UMWA official at the meeting informed them that the union’s lawyers are representing the Co-Op miners in this legal battle and will serve as their counsel in court if the case goes to trial.

Miners said that as of the date of their meeting they did not know of a single defendant who had been served with legal papers related to this lawsuit. They pointed to this—and the fact the bosses have less than slim chance of winning this case in court—as an indication that the Kingstons are using the lawsuit simply to harass UMWA backers and stretch out everything hoping they can fire more militants in the process and press the NLRB to delay setting a date for a union vote.

According to several attorneys, plaintiffs in civil suits like this have 120 days from the date of filing to serve the defendants with legal papers, which provides the Co-Op bosses with three months to try to delay things and wrap workers in red tape, miners said.

The more than 120 defendants cited in the suit, which include the Militant, are charged with “defamation.” The UMWA is also charged with “unlawful labor practices.”

The struggle to get Panduro’s job back, the miners said, includes filing unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the company. Before the NLRB can consider the complaint, however, they said that the workers have to exhaust a grievance procedure with the International Association of United Workers Union (IAUWU). The miners describe the IAUWU as a company union but the labor board recognizes it as legitimate. The IAUWU is a co-signer, along with the bosses, in the Kingston lawsuit against the UMWA and its backers.

On September 27, while working on a graveyard shift, Panduro was told by foreman Cyril Jackson to bolt a newly mined area of the coal seam, a job that involves securing the rock in the roof of a mine with 4-6 foot bolts. Panduro, who was operating a scoop cleaning loose coal from the section of the mine that was being worked, informed Jackson that the next shift coming in an hour and a half later could do it. The boss came back 20 minutes later and yelled at him to bolt or “I’ll take you out of the mine,” Panduro said.

Panduro told Jackson that he was sick and couldn’t bolt. When you bolt you get wet, and the water is cold, miners explained. The boss still drove him out of the mine.

The next day, three bosses called Panduro into a meeting and handed him a disciplinary note, a three-day suspension with intent to dismiss, which Panduro signed under protest. Panduro has maintained he never refused any orders from his boss. He had worked seven straight, 12-hour shifts and several bosses at the mine knew he had been sick with a cold and bronchitis.

Panduro has worked at Co-Op for six years performing different jobs. In the last two and a half years he has operated the roof bolter making $8 an hour. Panduro says he has always had a good work record and had never faced any disciplinary action against him before.

Panduro already had an informal meeting with the company on September 30 as part of the IAUWU grievance procedure, which favors the company, workers say. At first, Panduro was even denied an interpreter of his choice, as he only speaks Spanish. After the company decided to allow Panduro to be accompanied by Bill Estrada—another UMWA supporter at the mine—as his interpreter, the company also brought along its own translator.

Estrada said the meeting was just a show, where eight bosses, one after another, accused Panduro of insubordination. The IAUWU representative, Chris Grundvig, hardly spoke a word on Panduro’s defense, said Estrada. “We told them that the only reason why they are firing Celso is because of his UMWA activities,” Estrada continued. “This disciplinary action is extreme.”

The IAUWU then scheduled another meeting with the company on October 8, a formal proceeding, according to their “contract.” Grundvig of the IAUWU lined up a local businessman as a “neutral” interpreter, refusing to have Estrada translate for Panduro. When Panduro and Estrada showed up for that meeting, the “neutral” interpreter was greeting the bosses by their first names. When pressed, the “interpreter” said he has had a business relationship with the Co-Op bosses for 20 years. Panduro refused to go ahead with the meeting, insisting that Estrada was his translator. The company postponed the meeting, workers said.

The night before, the miners had met at Panduro’s house and discussed that his firing is aimed at all the UMWA backers. The miners reaffirmed their support for Panduro and vowed to fight the dismissal and not make it easy for the company.

The Kingstons locked out the 75 miners at Co-Op on Sept. 22, 2003, after the bosses had gotten wind of the UMWA organizing effort and the workers protested the firing of one UMWA backer and disciplinary actions against others aimed at stopping their unionizing efforts. The miners turned the lockout into a strike and picketed the mine for nine and a half months, effectively limiting production. During that time, they also won widespread support from the labor movement and other groups in the West, as well as the rest of the United States and other countries.

In May, the NLRB ruled the miners had been fired illegally, acting on a complaint the UMWA had filed on the miners’ behalf, and asked the company to give them their jobs back. The labor board also said that a union election must be held in the mine since a large majority of the miners had signed a petition asking for representation by the UMWA.

After an unconditional offer to return, a number of strikers were back at Co-Op on July 12. The NLRB then held a hearing 10 days later to determine which of the employees of C.W. Mining, also known as the Co-Op mine, will be able to vote in a union election. The IAUWU and the company claim that about 100 people, most of them Kingston family members or relatives, including managerial and office personnel, should be able to vote. The UMWA and the Co-Op miners have argued that these Kingston family members and relatives were brought in to stack up the cards against the UMWA and they are loyal to the bosses, so they should not have a right to vote. The labor board has yet to set a date for the union vote or a ruling on who will be eligible to take part.

The miners are asking that letters of protest be sent to the NLRB backing the UMWA’s position and demanding that the board set a date for the union election. Such letters should be sent to NLRB Region 27, attention B. Allan Benson, director, 600 17th Street, 7th floor—North Tower, Denver, CO 80202-5433. Tel: (303) 844-3551; Fax: (303) 844-6249.

Messages of support and financial donations for the Co-Op miners’ struggle can be sent to UMWA District 22 at 525 East 100 South, Price, UT 84501; Tel: (435) 637-2037; Fax: (435) 637-9456.  
 
 
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