Miners for Democracy Encourage Unions
What today’s union reformers can learn from Miners for Democracy.
Coal Mining
Striking Alabama Miners Call Out NYC Hedge Funds for Bringing in Scabs
You take a six-dollar pay cut and what do you get? Five years older and no respect for the sacrifices you made to get your employer out of bankruptcy, say the striking Alabama coal miners who protested outside the Manhattan offices of three hedge funds on June 22. “They told us, since we bailed them …
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On the Picket Line With Striking Miners
Last Thursday, around 1,100 coal miners at Warrior Met Coal in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, went on strike. According to the union, the United Mine Workers of America, a tentative bargaining agreement has now been reached with the company, but workers must still vote on whether or not to ratify it. In order to cover this important strike and spread …
Service + Solidarity Spotlight: UMWA Goes on Strike at Alabama’s Warrior Met Coal
Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. Unless the parties can reach a last-minute agreement, the Mine Workers (UMWA) union is launching …
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The Miners Who Fought for Workplace Safety Have a Thing or Two to Teach OSHA Right Now
In October 1993, Charles Patrick Hayes, or Pat, was working at a grain bin in Defuniak Springs, a small town in southern Alabama near Fairhope, where Pat was raised. Pat was knocking down corn from the walls of the silo when the crop caved off the sides and crushed him. Pat, just 19, suffocated to …
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Even in Bankruptcy, Coal Companies Can’t Stop Selling Out Workers
After key environmental protections were rolled back by the executive order of President Donald Trump in March 2017—including the Obama-era Clean Power Plan—coal magnate Robert E. Murray cheered the news. “I think it’s wonderful, not just for the United States coal industry, our miners and their families, but it’s wonderful for America,” said Murray, then-CEO of …
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Trump administration to weaken protections for endangered species in favor of fossil fuels
The Trump administration’s Interior Department announced on Monday its official proposal to significantly weaken the nation’s Endangered Species Act. The move would make it easier for new mining, oil, and gas development to take place in areas critical to protected species. The widely popular conservation law, passed in 1973, has been heralded worldwide for its …
As the coal industry collapses, miners face losing their pensions
June, the Trump administration unveiled one of its largest environmental rollbacks to date: replacing the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan rule, which regulated carbon pollution from power plants. The rule had been a favorite target of President Donald Trump as he stumped on the campaign trail and held presidential rallies. “We’ve ended the war on beautiful, clean …
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The Just Transition for Coal Workers Can Start Now. Colorado Is Showing How.
This past May, Colorado’s Democratic governor Jared Polis signed a series of new environmental bills into law, with the enthusiastic backing of the state’s labor movement. Legislation ranged from expanding community solar gardens to establishing a “Just Transition” office for coal-dependent communities. Organized labor in Colorado hasn’t always been an ally in the fight against climate …
The Just Transition for Coal Workers Can Start Now. Colorado Is Showing How. Read More »
Fiscal collapse of coal towns all but certain, new research shows
New research shows that communities in coal country are at an increased risk of fiscal collapse. The data is the latest blow to President Donald Trump’s ongoing but faltering efforts to rescue the industry and its workers. Local governments dependent on coal are failing to account for the financial implications of the industry’s demise, according to …
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