Why Miners Strike

...On August 10, after four and a half weeks of lost wages (the men were sacrificing an average of $300 a week) and threats of union explusion from UMW President Arnold Miller, local 1759 voted 3-1 to return to work...

...one miner asked...

...I guess that's what you'd call integration...

...because mines are so hazardous and the men work in teams, they must rely on each other...

...We took the case through the proper procedures, but the system doesn't work for us . . . only for the companies...

...Say the miners are united...

...How long the unity among the men would last was anybody's guess...

...near Charleston, West Virginia, when local 1759 demanded that an important communications post be filled by a full-time union member...

...The union lawyers also argue that a protest against court interference was not an issue in the 1974 contract, and therefore cannot be subject to the grievance procedure...

...And coal companies have long been the principal benefactors of hospitals, universities, and local projects...

...The former argue that a strike against court interference is not illegal and point to the July 6 Supreme Court decision (Buffalo Forge v. United Steel Workers) that sympathy strikes are not a breach of contract...

...Charging unequal treatment in the courts, miners around the coalfields walked off their jobs in sympathy, and the strike became an all-out confrontation with the companies and the courts...

...Many privately backed the strike, although they were legally bound to urge the men to return to work...

...This is just a battle, not the war," one miner said...

...Now, though the miners have returned to work, union and company lawyers debate the legality of the recent strike...

...Had they voted to return to work...

...One mine inspector observed that "most companies break the contract 100 times a day and continue to do so if they can get away with it, in the interest of production...

...By the fourth week of the strike, $12.3 million had been lost...

...One frequently hears the management comment, "Their grandfathers used it, their fathers used it, so they think they must use it too...

...Though all ninety of these were surely not decided in favor of the miners, some undoubtedly were won...

...To hold that a union . . . surrendered the right to strike by virtue of traditional contract law, or anything else, is to me just fiction.'' Apparently it is for the miners, too...

...In West Virginia, there was a two-and-a-half-week strike by 44,000 miners to press for black-lung legislation, as well as more recent walkouts over proposed gasoline rationing and the banning of studded car tires...

...they demand the right to struggle for their interests with the one tool—the strike—that has served them ever since coal was mined...

...If the dispute isn't settled at this stage, the district may choose to drop it, since the next step, using the umpires, costs an average of $750 per case...

...Sometimes, they're invited to become foremen...

...To fight this, the miners are supposed to use the grievance procedure...

...As Justice Hugo Black observed when he dissented in the Boys Market case, "It took more than fifty years for unions to have written into general legislation the principle that they have a right to strike...

...The company filed civil and criminal suits and within two more days the court responded...

...But snags surface all along the way...

...Why are miners different...

...Second, because there are normally three committeemen in each mine who may all be on the day shift, there are often full shifts where no committeeman is available...

...So we had to strike," one miner explained...

...Also, for each day the mines are shut, the UMW loses millions of dollars in company payments to its Health and Welfare Fund—contributions based on each ton of coal mined...

...And both the companies and the miners know that the war isn't over...

...Even at this stage, miners insist, the system doesn't work...

...The coal miners' recent wildcat strikes were in defense of a principle they hold sacred Why Miners Strike BARBARA KOEPPEL Morgantown, West Virginia Applause ripped through the Morgantown junior high school auditorium and spilled out to the parking lot...

...Second, conditions at work create the feeling of collective responsibility...

...In southern West Virginia alone, more than 100 injunctions were granted in the last twelve months...

...Finally, since the late 1960s, the big companies have been owned by such oil conglomerates as Continental Oil and Occidental Petroleum, which hold large coal reserves in the West and threaten to shift production there if the union cannot guarantee labor peace...

...Though the contract is supposed to ensure that senior men can bid on these first, the company finds ways to reward the favorites...

...The local turned to the Federal court to get the company to comply, but Judge Dennis Knapp said^he "hadn't the time to hear the case...

...But according to Keith Dix, "While the grievance procedure probably resolved many differences along the way, miners feel it isn't adequate to protect them...

...Some also charge that district officials are too "chummy" with management...

...We also have a grievance procedure that is working fine," Brennan, the official spokesman for the BCOA, said...

...However, the "outsiders"—miners from another county—protested, and after a brief but angry exchange they were allowed to stay, though not to vote...

...They looked strong, satisfied, determined...

...Though it has not been an infallible weapon in their battles, it has served them well when all else failed...

...The number of instances in which work resumed under court orders soared, from one or two in 1970 to 111 in 1974...

...On the other hand, if you play ball, you get the better jobs when they open up...

...And what had the strike been about...

...In the same period, the number of strikes jumped from 493 a year to 983...

...Well, if we're slaves,we're slaves together...

...Cedar Coal went to Judge Knapp for an injunction to force the strikers back to work, and within two days it was granted...

...And why do miners feel it must be preserved despite the heavy costs and certain reprisals...

...Judge Dennis Knapp, who imposed the original fines on local 1759, offered to lift them if the men returned to work...

...After 1970, when the miners walked off their jobs, the companies quickly turned to the courts...

...If this fails, the case is sent to an "impartial" umpire, whose services are paid for by both the company and the union...

...Now, the companies use the courts...

...To coal companies, the strike was but one more example of the miners' intransigence, irrationality, unwillingness to live up to the contract which provides a grievance procedure to settle disputes, defiance of the law, disregard for the public welfare, and the UMW leaders' lack of control over the rank and file...

...Thus, while the grievance procedure scores few points with miners, the local strike is more effective...

...And while about 30 per cent of the man-hours lost because of local strikes are over economic issues (wages, hours, and fringe benefits), most are over disputes that could be settled by the grievance procedure—work and safety conditions (ventilation, dust levels, lighting, dangerous areas, or unsafe equipment) or job security (seniority and work assignments or supervisory non-union personnel doing production work...

...But as the lawyers slug it out in court, the miners have made their point with the strike...

...First, generations of families have followed each other into the mines—it is the best-paying and, in some cases, the only work available—so the tradition is, as the operators say, passed from father to son...

...While this reform was needed, it is distant from the day-to-day problems confronting the miner at the work place...

...If a case isn't resolved in the early steps, it goes to the UMW district office, which follows up with meetings with the company...

...Using the step-by-step procedure, a miner with a complaint must first see his foreman, and may be accompanied by a union representative (called the mine committeeman...

...According to most of the miners I interviewed, the grievance process is crippled with flaws and stacked against them...

...A troublemaker may be moved from his normal job to the dirtiest one in the mine, passed over for promotion and overtime work with its time and a half pay," one mine committeeman told me...

...in the same year, five legislators who were lawyers had coal companies as clients, and three more had direct ties to the industry...

...Others still took the UMW line, however...

...And though most companies insist they will not discuss differences during a strike, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate this claim is more myth than reality...

...Callen, who chaired the meeting, later told me that "not much happened...

...He may be right, but what is clearly management's discomfiture is the miners' strength...

...On the other hand, there were only 159 instances in which miners returned to work without a settlement...

...Most important, about 70 per cent of the cases settled at this stage are decided in favor of the companies...

...Many miners also claim that those who complain, regardless of the issue, are branded as "troublemakers...

...It also symbolized the contradictory and perhaps impossible position in which the UMW (like other unions) is caught...

...In ninety other strikes, the companies agreed to a procedure to discuss the issues if the men would return to work...

...For miners, the local strike is a way of life...

...As I waited on the lot—the miners had shouted "no press" when Basil Callen, one of the local presidents, asked whether I could be allowed in—I wondered about the outcome...

...Even as they entered the hall to the call of "Brothers, please take your seats," divisiveness surfaced as the men were asked to sign their names and identify their locals—"to keep the outsiders out," the name-taker informed me...

...The dispute went back to the umpire, who this time produced a vague ruling which implied the company could name whomever it liked and did not have to post the job for bidding...

...But it may be exactly that "tradition" that has protected the miners' interests in their continuing struggle with management...

...There are conflicts, too, among local union leaders...

...In 1970, the local strike came under attack from operators who hoped to make it a relic of the past...

...The district office, the men say, is remote from the problems at the mine and often refuses to handle a grievance...

...At present, there is such a huge backlog of cases in one district that several umpires have refused to accept any new ones...

...After it happens once, they are less likely to use the procedure again...

...Usually, local walkouts have lasted one or two days and have been mounted without UMW sanction...

...But the more frequently management turned to the courts, the more frequently the miners used the strike...

...But at the end as the men streamed out the door, it seemed that their earlier misgivings had vanished, replaced by resolve...

...So we've got to stick together," one miner volunteered...

...The only substantive change in the procedure [with the 1974 contract]," Dix adds, "was the establishment of an arbitration review board, to reconcile differences among decisions handed down by umpires...

...For its part, management, up through the 1930s, responded with wholesale firings, blacklistings, and evictions from company homes...

...We're suppressed by all sides—the companies, the courts, and even the union...

...It began over a dispute at the Cedar Coal Co...

...Not only had the local presidents failed to get the back-to-work vote they wanted, but the miners had even refused to consider voting until their demands were met...

...And in this summer's strike, the companies were armed with stockpiles of coal, with tax write-offs for each day of lost production, and with the new structure of ownership—besides their vast reserves, the conglomerates own the strip mines which now produce more than 50 per cent of the coal mined, and which are mostly non-union...

...In past strikes, early enthusiasm withered as local walkouts stretched into weeks and bank balances dwindled...

...Although it was supposed to be streamlined, Dix says, "the grievance procedure that exists today is basically the same as the one begun in Illinois in 1906, and it reflects that traditional attitude of the operators...

...Confidence was in the air—the place was filled with it—but when the meeting had begun an hour and a half earlier, tensions were high and the men were clearly divided...

...Though some companies are attempting to improve their labor relations by such means as offering human relations courses to their foremen, the 'enlightened' approach to industrial relations given lip service at the top level hasn't trickled down to the mine...

...Reasons varied, but basically, the men were hurting: Their bank balances were running down and patience was running thin...

...Thus, if a strike is called (except in the case of "imminent danger"), it is automatically illegal...

...Support for the walkout was dramatic—80,000 miners out by the second week, 100,000 by the third, and 120,000 by the fourth...

...We have a contract that is the best ever signed...

...Labor's code is stronger in the minefields than in most other industries...

...First, most foremen lack the authority to resolve disputes, so a case is often passed from one boss to another, until it reaches the mine superintendent...

...Do you want to write something...

...The door flew open and the men filed out...

...A black miner came up and said, "Don't they know that slavery ended 100 years ago...

...They were aided by the Supreme Court's decision, in Boys Market v. Retail Clerks Association, that a union contract which includes a grievance procedure with binding arbitration in effect bars any strike during the life of the contract...

...It can be enjoined, and miners refusing to return to work can be held in contempt of court—with the threat of jail and stiff fines for individuals and union locals...

...And this strike is the irresponsible action of a small number of people . . . bringing about industrial anarchy...

...The coal industry is polarized," Brennan observes...

...The doors were shut and the debate began...

...To prove that local strikes are "irrational," Brennan cites those staged over issues that seem unrelated to mining and over which the companies appear to have little control...

...Several said before the meeting that they were ready to go back to work...

...They'll do anything to keep that profit margin...

...Why is the local strike so important...

...Were these valid strike issues...

...While it is true that many honor a picket line out of fear of reprisals from other miners, more heed it out of respect...

...The cards were on the operators' side...

...Perhaps not, but in each case the miners won...

...While they can't be fired, more subtle methods of discipline are found...

...In steel, workers don't like management any better, but they don't have this warfare...

...four months generally pass before a case is decided...

...So they strike when the procedure breaks down...

...Early in this century, the UMW tried to stifle strikes by fining individuals—a concession to management in return for recognition and, later, for wage and fringe benefits...

...Was it, in fact, "senseless," as Joseph Brennan, president of the Bituminous Coal Operators Association (BCOA), claimed...

...Say they aren't going to vote to go back until they [the companies and the courts] do something about those injunctions...

...How come the companies get all the injunctions they want in a flash and the judges won't even hear us...

...And this hard line attitude is the result of the industry's fundamental emphasis on production...

...The meeting in late July, attended by about 600 coal miners from the area, was called by seven local union presidents of the United Mine Workers to get the men to vote to end the wildcat strike (at the time of this meeting, well into its third week) that had idled some 120,000 miners and shut down mines in eight states across the coalfields...

...second, that there be no reprisals by the companies, such as firing or blacklisting any miner involved in the strike, and last, that the companies bargain in good faith and stop using the courts to settle disputes...

...They want the courts out of their disputes with the companies...

...Though he ruled in favor of the union, Cedar Coal refused to "post" the job, which is normal practice for full-time positions, claiming it was only a part-time job...

...Federal judges just as quickly responded with injunctions...

...The next day, thousands of miners who had struck in sympathy followed suit...

...Again the miners tried to see the judge and again were told he "didn't have the time...

...To rank-and-file miners, however, the strike was crucial...

...For the miners, the record at the umpire level is equally grim...

...The companies contend the strike is a clear violation of contract...

...So the miner must face his employers alone, and dealing with management alone, miners say, is intimidating...

...In 1970, for example, agreements were reached (all issues settled) in 142 local strikes before the men returned to work...

...Also, UMW President Arnold Miller, while ordering the men back to the mines, promised to push for a "limited right to strike" at the next contract negotiations in 1977...

...These were, first, that all previous fines and injunctions on UMW locals be lifted...

...Black lung laws providing benefits to those with the disease were passed for the first time, and the governor and legislature backed down on both the gasoline and tire proposals...

...The distinction that Brennan draws between the government and the industry does not seem all that clear to the miners, and a few facts suggest why: In 1972, ten companies owned 31 per cent of the land in West Virginia...

...While its leaders understand the miners' struggles, they must police the contract and follow the law, which, since 1970, forbids local strikes on penalty of huge fines that sap UMW coffers...

...If we've been beaten, we'll go back, but we'll organize to come back again...

...Mine operators claim the walkouts are "irrational" because management will not discuss grievances during a strike...

...Once again, production was rolling...

...They insist the miners strike only because of "tradition...

...The local was fined $50,000 for the walkout and $25,000 for each day the strike continued, and eighteen men were jailed for one day...

...After 1947, when the contract prohibited such penalties, fines were levied on locals...

...And while Brennan insists the right-to-strike issue "hadn't surfaced as the key issue" in the battle, to most miners the issue could not be clearer...

...Keith Dix, an economist and labor historian at the West Virginia University Institute for Labor Studies, observes, "If strikes or lockouts occur over issues normally considered to be grievable, it would seem to point up weaknesses in the grievance procedure, particularly when the contract provides for arbitration as an alternative to work stoppages...

...The local presidents' strategy to isolate the strike leaders pitted the union hierarchy against the rank and file...

...After this, the miners walked off their jobs...

...this job places a man at the mine surface near a telephone to receive calls for assistance from underground miners in case of emergency...

...Some even said the strike was not their problem, but concerned only those miners in the southern part of the state, where it began...

...Retaliation for strikes comes from both the union and the companies...

...Though the 1974 contract promised to speed up the process, the time lag is still enormous...

...We look upon ourselves as natural adversaries...

...Besides the outright victories gained through strikes, miners feel the walkouts pressure companies to move the grievance procedure along more rapidly...

...Even if they had tried to improve it, there is a basic lack of effort to try honestly to solve problems at the mine...

...Miners argued that they traveled long distances to reach the mines, that rationing would keep them from their jobs, and that studded tires were needed for winter mobility...

...The company refused, so the miners took the case through the grievance procedure and it was eventually heard by an umpire...

...Also, miners and their families often live in close communities (though this is changing), reinforcing the solidarity built at the work place...

...And delays of this sort feed frustration and ill will...

...A third man joined the group: "Say the companies squeeze the men and get the laws in this country to Barbara Koeppel is a free-lance writer associated with the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D. C. work for them...