The strike by United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Local 1307 against the Pittsburg and Midway Coal Co. (P&M) is solid and gaining support with no new negotiations in sight. The 230 coal miners walked out May 28, joining their sister UMWA Local 1332 at P&M's McKinley mine in Tse Bonito, New Mexico. The 300 coal miners there struck two weeks earlier. Each local union has its own contract.

Pittsburg and Midway is a division of Chevron Corp. The Kemmerer mine produced nearly 4 million tons of coal last year. A majority of this supplies a power plant just a mile from the mine.

Community support for the strike is evident as one drives into the twin communities of Kemmerer and Diamondville, where many of the miners live. "We Support the UMWA" signs can be seen throughout the towns--at the Ace Hardware store, the Busy Bee Cafe, the Chevron gas station, and other small businesses. Homes in both communities sport UMWA support signs in their front windows. The two communities have a combined population of 4,000.

The union has opened a strike headquarters in the old Diamondville town hall. A tent has been set up at the picket line, equipped with phones so pickets can be in direct contact with strike headquarters.

"We need all the support we can get here," stated union president Elbert Harmon. Although it's early in the strike, he pointed out, the local union has received some initial support.

Walking the picket line, miners expressed their opposition to the company's demand for a 12-hour workday, seven days a week. Under the expired contract miners work three eight-hour shifts, Monday through Friday, with overtime paid for weekend work.

The company is offering no pay raise for working miners nor a pension increase for retirees. The bosses also want to eliminate the shift differential for miners on second and third shift, and are demanding that the workers pay a portion of their medical benefits. Under the old contract miners were covered for 100 percent of their health-care costs.

Pickets explained that not all the miners that work underground are in the union. But a number of them not in the union are walking the picket line. No one has crossed to date.

Matt Krall, an electrician at the mine for 27 years who was born and raised in Kemmerer, said he went on strike over the pension and 12-hour shift issue. He explained there is a $24 million pension fund the company controls and that they are allowed by the government to invest the interest gained from the fund for their own needs. "The company has a no-cost issue that they won't give up. They have an overfunded pension plan that they won't relinquish control of. It's our money!" he insisted.

Krall said, "I have one thing to say to P&M: 'I value you as much as you value me.'"

Negotiations for P&M are being carried out by David Smith, a notorious antiunion lawyer. A retired miner explained, "Company negotiators used to weigh 300 pounds and carry an ax handle. Now they wear $300 suits and carry a briefcase."  
 
 
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