This is what a thank you letter from Ann and Bob Fivecoat, the caretakers of the miners’ solidarity fund, said to this PACE union local in Rahway, New Jersey, in response to a contribution to the union-organizing struggle of coal miners at the Co-Op Mine near Huntingon, Utah, operated by C.W. Mining. “The miners are standing firm and determined to fight the fight!” the Fivecoats added. In the last two weeks of April miners reported receiving checks totaling $1,000 from union locals and individuals in Utah and other states.

“Enclosed please find our check for $200 in which our membership voted to help in your fight for jobs and rights,” said the letter from PACE Local 2-575 in Rahway.

Two other PACE locals have contributed to the miners’ fund—one from Taft, California, and another from Woods Cross, Utah—for a total of $740. A United Food and Commercial Workers local from Landover, Maryland, also sent in a check for $100. Other individuals from Draper, Utah, and Pepper Pike, Ohio, also mailed small contributions of $10 and $25 each.

The Co-Op miners have been fighting to win representation by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) since September 2003. The miners say they will continue to organize informational picket lines near the Rail Co. coal loadout near Price that belongs to the same bosses who own the Co-Op Mine. Workers say a Co-Op boss has posed as a mine contractor hiring replacements for the union militants fired by C.W. Mining and is organizing mine safety classes at the loadout.

Over the last 19 months the Co-Op miners have been fired twice by C.W. Mining for fighting to win UMWA representation. On December 17, a union representation election was held at the bathhouse of the mine. The ballots of 27 pro-UMWA miners, however, remain impounded by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Denver to this day. These miners were fired by the company one week before the union vote, on the allegation that they lacked proper work documents. The miners point out that they worked for C.W. Mining for years with the same documentation, which only became an issue as the date neared for the union election.

The NLRB is still investigating charges filed by the UMWA on behalf of the miners demanding these firings be declared illegal, the votes of the miners counted, and the workers be reinstated to their jobs. Some 75 miners were fired by the company for the first time on Sept. 22, 2003, for protesting the dismissal of one of the union backers and demanding safe working conditions and decent wages.

Most of the 75 miners that were fired in 2003 remain in the area of Huntington. A majority have found jobs at other coal mines, while some work other jobs. Nine Co-Op miners remain unemployed; they receive a weekly stipend from the solidarity contributions sent to the Co-Op Miners Fund in Price.

Two Co-Op miners will attend a conference organized by the National Immigration Law Center in Denver on May 6 that will include topics such as “Immigrants’ Protections Under Labor and Employment Laws” and “Key Issues for Immigrant Workers and Labor Unions in the Region.” Representatives of the Service Employees International Union, UNITE HERE, Communications Workers of America, and other unions and university and community organizations will participate. Bob Butero, the UMWA’s director of organizing in the West and based in Denver, will represent the miners union.

Letters of support and contributions for the Co-Op miners’ union organizing struggle can be sent to UMWA District 22, 525 East, 100 South, Price, UT 84501. For more information call (435) 637-2037.  
 
 
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