Alabama Coal Workers Strike For Better Wages, Fair Treatment
Miners with Warrior Met Coal and their supporters rallied at Tannehill State Park.
Alabama has not been friendly territory for unions. Earlier this year, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer voted more than two to one against forming a union. Yet since April 1, more than 1,100 miners with Warrior Met Coal, which has mines near Brookwood, Alabama, have taken shifts on the picket line.
“We want our pay and we want fair treatment. We want good insurance. But more than anything, we want to spend more breaths of that God-given air with our family,” said Levi Allen, treasurer of the United Mine Workers.
According to the miners, they were only guaranteed time off for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Christmas Eve.
“[Pay] is mediocre now,” said Courtney Finklea.
Finkela said coal mining was a premier job when he started 11 years ago. The change happened in 2016. Sinking coal prices led the mines’ former owner to declare bankruptcy. Warrior Met Coal took over and workers agreed to cut their wages and benefits to keep the mines open. Employees said the company promised to restore some benefits after five years. Warrior’s latest offer is about a 10% pay increase, but that doesn’t cover what they lost.
“Oh it’s a slap in the face,” Finkela said. “All we wanted was a piece of the pie, and I guess the pie was never given to us.”
Bankruptcies at coal companies in the United States have spiked since 2015, caused by the shift to renewable energy, new environmental regulations pegged to climate change and cheap natural gas. Often miners accepted smaller paychecks hoping it would help the company and their jobs survive. But that hasn’t been a guarantee that mines could stay afloat.
“Sometimes those mines don’t even have a buyer like Warrior, and they just shut down and that’s that,” said Lee Adler. He teaches at Cornell University and used to legally represent miners.
While many coal mines continue to struggle, Warrior Met Coal has not. That’s because the coal it mines for is used to make steel, not energy. The company reported a net income of roughly half a billion dollars a year since 2017. It had a small loss last year because of the pandemic.
“I think right around the corner is a very, very nice payday for the company. Because they have very high-quality coal,” Adler said.
Miners said their sacrifice paid off for Warrior, so the company should get them back to where they were five years ago. Warrior declined an interview request, but in an emailed statement said it offers some of Alabama’s highest-paying jobs.
With the strike now past the two-month mark, miners are feeling the pressure. Miners and their supporters have set up a food bank to help those struggling without a regular paycheck.
Winning a labor fight is not easy in the anti-union South, but union members vow to endure “one day longer” than the company. Warrior Met Coal and the United Mine Workers are negotiating, but the union doesn’t see the strike ending anytime soon.
House panel releases report on sexual misconduct allegations against Matt Gaetz
The move is a reversal for the committee, which deadlocked on the issue last month.
9 movie scenes I couldn’t stop thinking about in 2024
From a heart-wrenching epiphany in the drama Tuesday to a meme-able moment in Challengers, these were the lines that critic Aisha Harris has remembered all year.
‘We are not California’: New Jersey dealers push back on electric truck rules
Vehicle dealers are pushing back on rules that would increase the number of electric trucks sold in New Jersey. It could be a preview of a brewing fight over state rules about cars.
For young adults, caregiving isn’t just hard. It can shape you for life
Caregiving responsibilities can cut young people off from peers and interrupt their emerging life story. And there's been little research or support directed at this group. That's starting to change.
The fun — and confusion — of celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah on the same date
Christmas and Hanukkah rarely fall on the same date, but this year they do. One mixed-faith family in Oakland, Calif., doubles down for double whammy holiday.
What the Israel-Hezbollah war did to Lebanon’s cultural heritage sites
Part of a Crusader castle crumbled. An 18th century minaret felled. Church mosaics burned. Archaeologists are assessing damage to UNESCO World Heritage Sites from Israeli strikes on Lebanon and Syria.
