At the May 6 Mountain Regional Immigrant Worker Strategy Session held in Denver, many of the 45 participants received information about the Militant Fighting Fund. Materials about the C.W. Mining lawsuit against the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), 16 individual Co-op miners, several newspapers, including the Militant, and other unions and organizations that have backed the Co-Op miners union-organizing struggle were displayed on an information table. Bill Estrada, one of three Co-Op miners who attended the gathering, spoke in the final session of the conference about the Co-Op miners’ fight to unionize and the attempt by C.W. Mining to use the courts as one of the company’s weapons to break the struggle for a union.

The Militant newspaper has regularly reported on the Co-op fight. Because of its accurate reporting of the miners’ side of the story the paper has become a special target of the mine owners. One-third of the lawsuit document filed by C.W. Mining in September 2004 consists of quotations from the Militant, all of which are purported to be defamations against the company. The Co-Op mine bosses claim statements by the miners about conditions that led the miners to fight for a real union were all lies. The mine owners allege that other persons, organizations, or newspapers that repeated what the workers had to say are guilty of defaming the company.

During the immigrant rights conference in Denver four people signed endorsement cards. They include Daniel Rivera of the New Mexico Federation of Labor and Gustavo Maldonado from the Mountain West Regional Council of Carpenters. Pilar Carrillo from the Rights for All Peoples organization and Collen Breslin from El centro humanitario para los trabajadores—two Colorado immigrant rights organizations—also endorsed. Many others took endorsement cards and copies of the Militant Fighting Fund brochure with them.

The same weekend, Militant supporters from Price, Utah, attended the annual Cinco de Mayo celebration in Grand Junction, Colorado. Thomas Acker, a professor at Mesa State College, endorsed. He said he will work on getting an invitation for someone to speak about the Co-Op miners struggle and the fight against the harassment lawsuit at a meeting of a local peace and justice organization and at a class he will be teaching in the fall.

A table set up about the C.W. Mining lawsuit generated many inquiries at another Cinco de Mayo celebration in Craig, Colorado. Two reporters from the local media stopped by to find out what the Militant Fighting Fund was all about. Both said they would try to convince their editors to run something about the case.

“There’s definitely a place for papers like the Militant, which are unabashedly on the side of the workers,” said one of the reporters. “This is a question of free speech.” The journalist for TV Channel 27, a local station, did an interview with supporters of the Militant Fighting Fund for the evening news.

At a Militant Labor Forum later that evening in Craig, supporters of the Co-Op miners’ fight, free speech, and freedom of the press gathered to discuss the stakes involved in the case. Carmen Sanjurjo, a teacher and union member from the Denver area, became an endorser of the Militant Fighting Fund and took literature to give to fellow union members. She said she hopes to get more endorsements for the campaign among her co-workers. Nearly $400 was contributed to the Militant Fighting Fund there.

In Salt Lake City, supporters of the Militant Fighting Fund were invited to give a presentation about the Co-Op miners struggle and the Militant Fighting Fund to the May meeting of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 8-578. “About a dozen union members from the Holly and Flying J oil refineries attended,” said Paul Mailhot, who gave a presentation at the meeting. “These refinery workers have helped the Co-Op miners over the past year and a half of their struggle, and many of them have read the regular coverage in the Militant. One union officer commented how he had read the Militant for years and it can be counted on in a struggle.”

“Several motions were made at the meeting, and all passed unanimously,” said Mailhot. “The local endorsed the Militant Fighting Fund campaign, donated $100 to the effort, and decided to post material about it on all the union bulletin boards in the plant. A hat was also passed at the meeting and people pitched in $221 more. In addition to the endorsement of the union local, three officers also endorsed individually.”

Another USW local at the Kennecott Copper Smelter near Salt Lake City heard a report about the C.W. Mining lawsuit on May 6, reported Teri Ross, who made the presentation. “About 15 copper miners were at that meeting, and many of the younger workers especially were nodding their heads at the outrageousness of C.W. Mining’s actions. After the meeting, three union members approached USW member John Langford, who works at the smelter and is a supporter of the Militant, to let him know they planned to become endorsers of the case.

Katherine Bennett from Price, Utah, and Teri Moss from Salt Lake City contributed to this article.  
 
 
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