Sent after seeing a feature article on the Co-Op mine struggle in the recently published January-February issue of the United Mine Workers Journal, this widow’s $25 donation is one of many. In the first two days of mail at the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) district office here after the Journal article reached union members and their families, $510 came in from eight contributors.

The miners at the Co-Op mine in Huntington, Utah, have been reaching out broadly for support from miners and other working people in the region in the lead-up to a March 12 rally at the UMWA hall in Price.

Under the headline “Co-Op Miners Stand Strong: Company intimidation, illegal firings fail to stop representation election,” the Journal highlights the union’s support for the battle being waged by the miners for better wages, safety, dignity, and UMWA representation.

“After more than a year of fighting for their jobs and their families, miners at the Co-Op mine near Huntington, Utah, were finally given the chance to make their voices heard in an NLRB [National Labor Relations Board] election at the mine on Dec. 17, 2004. But they had to overcome one last twist of the company’s anti-union knife to do so,” opens the Journal article.

“A week before the election, management of the C.W. Mining Co., Co-Op’s owner, called nearly 30 of the largely Latino workers into the company’s offices and fired them when they wouldn’t show additional proof of their eligibility to work in the United States.”

The article features an appeal to all members of the union to support the Co-Op miners in their struggle for genuine union representation. “The Co-Op miners’ determination to stand up and stick together in the face of the company’s outrageous intimidation tactics is a testament to their courage and their desire to have the UMWA’s voice on their side,” Secretary-Treasurer Dan Kane is quoted as saying. “I salute them, and I encourage every UMWA member to support them.”

The article also features an explanation of the latest NLRB ruling denying the votes of 108 Kingston family members who attempted to vote in the union representation election. The NLRB upheld an earlier ruling to not count those votes because of the interconnections of Kingston family members with the mine bosses. The votes of 27 miners fired by the company before the union elections, workers who were strong backers of the UMWA, were challenged by the company and are being held until the NLRB decides on the company’s challenge.

“Thanks to the support we’ve received, we’ve been able to hang tough,” Juan Salazar, a fired miner and leader of the Co-Op struggle, is quoted by the Journal as saying. “Without that support, I don’t know if we would have been able to do it. That support still continues. We have faith that we’ll be able to win this fight and improve our conditions, because it’s not just for us—it’s for all the other non-union miners around here, too. When they see we can do this, they’ll say, ‘we can too.’”  
 
Solidarity from Sunnyside workers
An example of this support was the warm reception from workers in Sunnyside, Utah, to a Co-Op miners support table in front of Miner’s Trading Post, the local grocery store in this small coal mining town February 26.

Bob Fivecoat, a member of UMWA Local 9958 in Sunnyside and East Carbon, was joined in staffing the table by two Co-Op miners and a miner from a nonunion mine in the area.

Over the course of the day, more than $400 was raised in raffle sales and contributions. One woman remarked, “I’m a coal miner’s daughter. I’ll buy one of those tickets.” One man asked, “What are you selling?” Fivecoat answered, “Dignity!”

A young miner went back into the store to get cash after hearing that the raffle was to benefit the miners fighting for safety and a union.

Another young man, who has no union experience yet, said, “I want to help them. I’m a miner too.” He works for a contractor and has labored at several of the mines in the area.

Joy Huitt stopped by and bought several tickets. Huitt started working in the mines in 1978 and eight years later became the first woman to hold a district union position in the UMWA.

A retired miner returned to the table several times, each time going home and digging up more photos to show around illustrating mining in the area 70 years ago. Another retired miner spent the day tending his ranch and came to talk every break he got. He cooked a hamburger lunch from his Black Angus herd for the volunteers staffing the table.

During a midday lull in traffic, Fivecoat recounted to the Co-Op miners stories of the past battles that took place in the hills surrounding them, culminating in the victory of the UMWA. Then he said, “My father was a union miner. He said, ‘Son, I’m giving you the union. Leave it better than you find it.’ In helping the Co-Op miners, I’m fulfilling that promise.”  
 
Winning support in Colorado
As part of their efforts to reach out for solidarity, three Co-Op miners, José Contreras, Domingo Olivas, and Bill Estrada, traveled to Craig, Colorado, February 26-27 to reknit ties with supporters of the miners’ fight there.

Co-Op miners have been invited to speak at the March 6 monthly membership meeting of UMWA Local 1385, which represents workers at the Seneca mine outside Craig.

Local 1385 was one of three UMWA locals that took part in a highly successful solidarity rally and dinner for the Co-Op miners in Craig in January 2004. One hundred seventy-five people, including many miners, attended the event. The workers came from UMWA locals 1385, 1984, and 1799, as well as Local 9 of the Brotherhood of Operating Engineers at the Trapper mine, and workers from Twentymile mine, which is nonunion.

The delegation of Co-Op miners visiting Craig this year especially urged the unionists and other workers they met to join them for the March 12 fund-raising benefit and rally in Price, Utah.

On February 26, the Co-Op miners were guests at a mass conducted in Spanish at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Craig. They were given the floor to speak.

Miners say especially important now is to show support financially while they fight the company firings and press the NLRB to rule on the legitimacy of the votes of pro-UMWA miners. The big majority of the nearly 30 miners fired has been unable to get any job so far.

“We urge all people to write letters to the NLRB to count our 27 votes,” said José Contreras, one of the miners fired. “People can tell the labor board not to prolong this anymore. The company has violated the law by firing us for union activity and we want our jobs back.”

Letters protesting the firing of UMWA supporters at the Co-Op mine and urging the labor board to count the votes of the pro-UMWA miners should be addressed to: B. Allan Benson, NLRB Region 27 Director, 600 17th St. 7th Floor—North Tower, Denver, CO 80202-5433. Tel: (303) 844-3551; Fax: (303) 844-6249.

Contributions, messages of support, and copies of letters to the NLRB should be sent to “Co-Op Miners Fund” c/o UMWA District 22, 525 East 100 South, Price, UT 84501.

Danielle London from Craig, Colorado, and Teri Moss from Price, Utah, contributed to this article.  
 
 
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