The local struck Blue Mountain Energy's Deserado mine over health care for retirees and other issues in May and June of last year. Although the miners did not get everything they fought for during the strike, most feel that their local is now stronger because of the fight.

Chase was arrested by sheriff's deputies from Colorado's Rio Blanco county June 12 and charged with reckless driving. "If I was convicted I would have had my license suspended; I could have been put in jail for up to 10 days," he said.

The incident began when Chase brought a four-wheel-drive vehicle to the picket line that evening and began to drive it down a dirt road on Bureau of Land Management property near the strikers' shack. "I bought it from the company awhile back. Lisa [one of the Deserado miners] and her son, his girl friend, and I went for a ride," Chase said in an interview.

The guards the company hired as strikebreakers took off down the dirt road after Chase, recklessly pursuing him in their own four-wheelers. "I was driving about five miles an hour; you couldn't go any faster if you were driving safely, it was too rough," Chase explained. "A couple of times the guards ran themselves off the road, they were driving so fast."

The sheriff's department was called in and nine deputies showed up. The company guards accused Chase of driving a stolen vehicle, but they could not find any of Blue Mountain Energy's trucks missing. Eventually the sheriff's deputies came up with the charge of reckless driving.

"They called the District Attorney on the phone at home. By then it was 2:30 a.m. The DA [District Attorney] was the one who told them what to charge me with," Chase said.

As part of Local 1984's settlement, Blue Mountain Energy agreed to drop charges against the five other people who were arrested during the strike, but nothing was done about Chase. "I was on the picket line every day. I think that they had it in for me." Chase said. "The company could have easily seen that my charge was dropped since they arranged to have it done for everybody else."

The UMWA International union provided Chase with an attorney, and Chase decided to request a jury trial. "I was a little worried. The judge is married to one of the engineers who works at the mine," he said.

"Right up to the last minute the DA thought that I would plea bargain. He offered me probation for a year but that was no kind of deal at all. After all, I was not guilty," Chase said.

The first witness called by the district attorney was Dwayne Elliot, one of the company's security guards. Elliot bragged that he had been involved in seven more strikebreaking actions since Deserado and that he knew what he was talking about.

Elliot testified that Chase had been traveling at 30 to 40 miles per hour. "If I had been going that fast I would have been 15 to 20 miles away from where I was arrested," Chase said. "The more he spoke, the more he kept changing his story."

"Lisa, her son, and I testified for our side," Chase said. "Our lawyer pointed out that the sheriff's department never went out the next day to check the scene of the crime, that they never followed up on anything."

Several miners from Local 1984 attended the trial to show their support. It took the jury only one hour to come up with a not guilty verdict. At his union meeting the following weekend Chase was warmly received when he reported on his victory. Since the strike, Local 1984 has won all seven arbitration cases it has filed in addition to this court case.  
 
 
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