Among the crowd of 90 were family members of the Huntington miners, UMWA retirees, workers from union and nonunion mines in the area, and a few trade unionists from Western states.

At the August 21 event, UMWA representatives and miners updated participants on the new stage of the nearly two-year struggle for a union at the Co-Op mine, which is owned by C.W. Mining.

Welcoming everyone present, Co-Op miner Juan Salazar opened the program, held under a large open-air park pavilion. Over the course of the struggle, miners have spoken in several cities around the country to reach out for broader union support. Salazar acknowledged that it was good to see some of the same people who had hosted the miners during their solidarity trips. He especially thanked those who had come to the picnic from as far away as California and Washington State.

Salazar turned the program over to fellow Co-Op miner Bill Estrada, who chaired the event and translated between English and Spanish.

"We started this struggle two years ago and we have made great progress,” Mike Dalpiaz, UMWA District 22 international vice president, told the crowd. “But this project is not finished and the United Mine Workers don't start a project unless we can finish it.” He said the UMWA looked forward to swearing in soon the members of the new Local 9957.  
 
Solidarity with Northwest strikers
Dalpiaz encouraged the crowd to lend solidarity to the mechanics, cleaners, and custodial workers who are now walking the picket lines at Northwest Airlines around the country. "They have supported other unions during their struggles, now it is our turn to help them," he said.

The Co-Op miners were locked out of their jobs on Sept. 22, 2003. After a 10-month strike, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) forced a settlement on the company in July 2004 to give the miners their jobs back and allow for a union representation election. Just before the union vote last December, C.W. Mining fired more than 30 union supporters. The miners still cast their ballots, but the company challenged them. The fired workers have continued their struggle while they await a decision by the NLRB on the firings and challenged ballots.

Bob Butero, director of Region 4 of the UMWA, told the crowd that, although nothing is yet in writing, the NLRB has informed both C.W. Mining and the union that it is preparing to issue a ruling soon that the coal company illegally fired the miners last December. Butero said that as a result, “the miners’ ballots will be counted in the near future.” He pointed out the fight will continue to put the miners back to work under a UMWA contract.

“This battle will not be won through the NLRB, but on the ground with strength and unity,” Butero emphasized. He thanked everyone for their support to the miners’ struggle and encouraged them to continue their solidarity efforts and financial backing of the Co-Op miners’ fight.

Another speaker was Tain Curtis, head of the safety committee of UMWA Local 1769 at the Deer Creek mine, which is down the road from Co-Op. That local has been a mainstay in backing the Co-Op miners from the beginning of the fight.

"Having a union at the mine gives you the freedom to air your grievances without fear of victimization," Curtis emphasized.

Mark Downs and Pat O'Connor, members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in Seattle, read greetings from ILWU locals 8 and 19. Greetings from other King County, Washington, labor organizations were also read out.

Messages were presented from United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 members in Washington, D.C., United Steelworkers Local 12-578 in Salt Lake City, and a retired UMWA member from Ohio.  
 
‘If we won, so can you’
Rogelio Montes, an organizer for the Western Council of Industrial Workers, a division of the Carpenters union, spoke about a union struggle he was involved in at Snokist fruit packing company near Yakima, Washington. “We won a union election in 2002 by a vote of 236 to 5, but the company refused to recognize it and appealed everything to the NLRB. We had to strike for seven months, and now, we have our first contract. If we won, so can you. You cannot stop fighting.”

Co-Op miner Bill Estrada wrapped up the program saying, “We will keep doing what we are doing—picketing the mine and other activities, to let people know we are still fighting. A victory here is important not only for the Co-Op miners but for other miners who are working without a union and want one. We are fighting for the future of this union.”

Estrada said the potential to build the UMWA in the West is growing and that the Co-Op miners’ fight is being closely followed by workers in nonunion mines and by coal truck drivers who also face tough conditions and a lack of dignity on the job.

Estrada also spoke about the sweeping federal lawsuit C.W. Mining has filed against the UMWA, 16 individual Co-Op miners, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Deseret Morning News, the Militant, and numerous other individuals, unions, and organizations that have supported the miners’ fight.

“This is a retaliatory lawsuit. It is designed to shut up the miners and to silence any paper that covers our struggle,” Estrada said. "They think they can take vengeance on us, but we’re not scared.

The Salt Lake papers and the Militant have just filed new briefs with the court that answer the company's allegations and deal blows to C.W. Mining. If the newspapers win this round in the lawsuit at a hearing in early fall, it will be a big boost for the miners and the union,” he said.

Other speakers at the event included José Sandoval of Teamsters Local 665 in San Jose, California; Luis Sánchez of Carpenters Local 22 in San Francisco; and, also from the Bay Area, Cecilio Santillana, a veteran of the struggle by former farm workers to reclaim unpaid wages owed to them decades ago by the U.S. government’s Bracero Program.

A solidarity message on behalf of the Co-Op miners and signed by others at the picnic was sent to members of the United Steelworkers union on strike at the Asarco copper mines in Arizona.

Half of the 150 “UMWA Local 9957—Here We Come” T-shirts printed for the event were sold. The longshore workers and others took back small bundles of the T-shirts for distribution to their union sisters and brothers.

Retired miners and their wives from UMWA Local 9958 were instrumental in making the picnic a success. More than $1,000 was raised for the miners through T-shirt sales, donations, and a raffle. Retired miners and their families in the East Carbon area donated most of the raffle prizes. All of the food was donated by the Miners Trading Post, the grocery store in nearby Sunnyside.
 
 
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