BY JOHN STUDER AND ALYSON KENNEDY
FARMERSVILLE, Illinois - The 350 coal miners on strike at
Freeman United's three mines in Southern Illinois are stepping
up efforts to get the word out about their strike and win
solidarity.
Freeman United forced the members of the United Mineworkers of America (UMWA) out on strike when it demanded the miners take cuts in health care for retirees. The mining company, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, dropped out of the Bituminous Coal Operators Association (BCOA) and their negotiations with the UMWA in June 1997 and is demanding to negotiate a separate, "more competitive," contract with the miners union. The old contract expired August 1. The UMWA miners agreed to continue working and negotiated for weeks until it became clear the company was not going to budge on its take-back demands. The strike began September 11, and covers UMWA Local 1969 at the Crown 2 mine in Virden, Local 12 at the Crown 3 mine in Farmersville, and Local 2488 at the Industry strip mine near Macomb, Illinois.
Striker David Yard, representing UMWA Local 1969, spoke before the Madison County Central Labor Federation September 25, explaining the key importance of health and safety for miners and asking member locals for support.
On September 30, several strikers attended a meeting of the Blue Shirts in East Peoria, Illinois. The Blue Shirts, a group formed during the Caterpillar strike by members of United Auto Workers Local 974, invited the strikers after visiting UMWA picket lines and strike headquarters.
Three vans with 22 miners from the Illinois locals who are on strike drove to Nelsonville, Ohio, September 28 to attend a rally sponsored by Democratic Party politician Jesse Jackson, Sr., who has been touring the Appalachian region testing the waters for another presidential bid. At the event, strikers spread the word about their strike and a support rally on October 11.
Striking miners are planning a big participation in the October 11 action that will commemorate the "Battle for Virden" 100 years earlier. On Oct. 12, 1898, guards herding strikebreakers to Virden in an effort to break the newly formed miners union at the Chicago-Virden Coal Company, opened fire on strikers and their supporters. The miners returned fire. In the firefight 12 people were killed, most of them union supporters. The majority were miners from surrounding communities who joined the fight to defend the union.
The commemoration will begin at 1:00 p.m. in downtown Virden. UMWA international president Cecil Roberts will be the featured speaker, along with others. It is sponsored by the Illinois Labor History Society, UMWA District 12, the Mother Jones Foundation, Operating Engineers Local 148, Service Employees International Union Local 73, Laborers Union- Southwestern District Council, Springfield Trades and Labor Assembly, and the Madison County Federation of Labor.
Eleanor Miller, a member of the Mother Jones Jubilee Committee in Mount Olive, Illinois, told the Militant that the cemeteries in Mount Olive refused to allow four of the miners killed in the Virden massacre to be buried there. Workers founded their own cemetery to bury the four miners. The cemetery was expanded by the Progressive Miners Union in the 1930s. The gate outside reads, "Union Miners," and all those buried inside - except one - are miners. The one exception is Mother Jones, a well-known fighter for miners and other workers. She had asked to be buried by "her boys," the ones who fought and died at Virden.
The Freeman strikers are inviting everyone at the Virden commemoration to come over to a hog roast outside their strike headquarters in Farmersville.
Support for the strike is growing. Standing with the unionists at the picket shanty outside the Crown 3 mine, virtually all the cars or farm vehicles blow their horns in support. The Shell station, one of the two gas stations in Farmersville, has a big illuminated sign reading, "We support the UMWA." Restaurants and bars in town have hung support signs in their windows.
The strike headquarters has started serving meals to strikers. Much of the food is donated by area unionists, supporters, and small businesses. Supporters from this rural area have brought in harvests of homegrown peppers, crock pots of hot food, and canned goods.
Negotiations between the company and the union were set for September 29-30.
Claiming the strike might "turn violent," the company has brought in a security force from Asset Protection Team, a Vance International security subsidiary. They have erected spotlights to shine on pickets when it is dark and begun videotaping and photographing strikers and others who stop at the picket line to express support.
Coal Outlook, an industry journal, reports that Freeman United's biggest customers - Archer Daniels Midland and Central Illinois Light - are scurrying to find coal from other mines.
To help in reaching out, the UMWA strikers have written a leaflet explaining the strike. "The need to prepare for a long strike appears inevitable. As so many of you who walked the picket lines during the Staley and Caterpillar strikes already know, having a Relief Fund and Food Pantry helps maintain solidarity needed to last one day longer than the company," the leaflet says.
For information about the strike, the October 11 events, to request a speaker from the striking miners, or to offer support, contact the UMWA Strike Headquarters, P.O. Box 107, Farmersville, Illinois 62533, or call: (217) 227-3233.
John Studer is a member of United Steelworkers of America Local 1011. Alyson Kennedy is a member of Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Local 7-507.