According to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, production at the Co-Op mine in Huntington, Utah, which is owned by C.W. Mining, fell to 58,000 tons of coal in the first three months of 2005. This is a sharp decrease compared to the more than 200,000 tons of coal this mine produced on average every quarter before the union struggle erupted in September 2003.
That’s when workers said the company locked out 75 miners for protesting the dismissal of one of their coworkers and harassment of other supporters of the struggle to win representation by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). The miners were also fighting for safe working conditions, a livable wage, and dignity on the job.
The workers turned the lockout into a strike and set up picket lines outside the mine. During the walkout production declined to a low of 64,000 tons of coal in the first quarter of 2004.
The strike lasted nearly 10 months, during which the strikers won widespread support for their union-organizing fight in the labor movement in the West and beyond. The workers won their jobs back in July 2004, after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled these miners had been fired illegally and the company agreed to reinstate all the strikers. After months of harassment of UMWA backers on the job, and selective firings of union supporters, the company in early December again dismissed some 30 miners, most of them Mexican-born, a week before a NLRB-organized union certification election.
As a result of these firings, workers say, production is even lower now.
While many factors can result in falling output, the Co-Op owners have indicated that their main problem is the ongoing labor dispute. A May 4 press release by Aquila Inc., a Missouri-based distributor of electricity and natural gas, said C.W. Mining had notified Aquila it had terminated its contract to supply coal to the utility company “due to workforce issues at its coal mine.”
Co-Op miners who have participated in recent picket lines outside the mine to demand their jobs back and press their fight for UMWA representation report that there is no indication that any of the fired miners have returned to work, despite company attempts to persuade some of them to go back as contract employees. To keep the pressure on the company, miners are organizing other picket lines at the mine, said Bill Estrada, a Co-Op miner.
“We continue fighting to win the union. The company’s low production shows that this struggle is having an effect on them,” said Estrada. “That is more pressure on them to bring back the workers who were fired and abide by the results of the union election.”
The NLRB has yet to rule on the UMWA request that the miners be reinstated and that the votes of the union supporters who were fired last year be counted.
The Co-Op miners have continued to receive solidarity from around the world, and extend theirs too. After hearing a report on a recent strike by coal miners in New Zealand, Co-Op miners said they decided in mid-June to send the following message to the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturers Union, which organizes these workers in New Zealand: “Dear Brothers, we support you in your struggle for better conditions and higher wages. Early on in our almost two-year battle to win the United Mine Workers of America…you sent us a message of support. Getting this message from coal miners across the world meant a lot to us. Now we are sending this message to you from Utah. Keep fighting for justice! We are with you! In solidarity, Co-Op Miners, Future Members of the UMWA.”
Co-Op miners said that messages of support and contributions for their struggle can be sent to the Co-Op Miners Fund c/o UMWA District 22, 525 E. 100 S., Price, UT 84501. For more information call UMWA District 22 at (435) 637-2037.
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