Cuts in medical care, paltry pensions, lengthening of the workday and workweek--these are issues workers in the mills, garment shops, meatpacking plants, and other workplaces understand all too well. The stance and determination captured in one sign on the UMWA picket line in Kemmerer, Wyoming--"You take on one of us, you take on all of us"--is crucial for working people everywhere. Solidarity with the striking miners is needed from workers and their allies--farmers, students, and others--throughout the country.

There are high stakes for the labor movement in these fights. In Wyoming, the largest coal-producing state, Kemmerer is the only coal mine organized by the UMWA. The multibillion dollar coal companies have bent over backwards to keep coal production nonunion in the state.

At the McKinley mine, located on the Navajo reservation, the P&M bosses have taken a racist approach in demanding a contract in which workers can "voluntarily" give up the company-paid full medical coverage and instead use the health care provided on the reservation and receive $100 per month in exchange.

Native Americans have fought for political and cultural autonomy, respect of treaty rights, and restoration of lands stolen from them. When workers joined the UMWA at McKinley some 40 years ago, they won quality lifetime medical coverage. This gain strengthens the ability of Navajo Indians to fight against the second-class status they face under the capitalist system.

The company wants a free hand to move to 12-hour shifts and mandatory work on weekends without overtime premium pay. This issue goes to the heart of the attacks on job conditions and safety that workers face in every industry as the bosses drive to increase their profits in the face of stiffening competition.

These strikes overlap with a developing social movement in coal communities across the country. They follow the 8,000-strong rally in Washington, D.C., in defense of cradle-to-grave health-care benefits for coal miners and their dependents.

A UMWA victory in the West will add momentum to the union's efforts to defend lifetime health care, and bolster efforts to organize nonunion miners.

The P&M strikers are far from alone in their fight for dignity. Actions by meatpacking workers at Dakota Premium Foods for union recognition and the Machinists strike against Maytag in Illinois are just two of the most recent struggles that can strengthen the confidence and resolve of mine workers.

Unionists, farmers fighting to keep their land, and youth involved in social struggles need to get the word out about the miners' battle. Send messages of solidarity, stop by the picket lines, help initiate plant-gate collections, and do what is possible to strengthen our side. Solidarity!  
 
 
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