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Source: The Valley Labor Report

The Warrior Met Coal strike has been one of the biggest labor stories in Alabama since the miners first walked out on April 1, 2021. The strike came to a fitful end in mid-February, but negotiations between the company and the workers, who are represented by the United Mine Workers of America, have continued. The miners remain determined to win the fair contract they deserve, but this week, the company threw yet another wrench into the works. According to the National Labor Relations Board’s website, a decertification petition has been filed. Essentially, Warrior Met was not satisfied by busting up the strike; now, they’re trying to break the union.

“We were made aware of this filing late yesterday afternoon; but we believe that at the end of the day, this petition will be dismissed,” Erin Bates, the UMWA’s director of communications, said via email… “It’s unfortunate that this is happening at the very moment our members are going back to work and all parties are trying to move forward and the fact is that the company’s consistent refusal to bargain in good faith from the outset of this process has created an atmosphere where this kind of union-busting could exist. We certainly hope that no management personnel is encouraging or participating in this effort, which would be a blatantly illegal act.”

It’s already been a long and bitter fight between the Brookwood-based, Wall Street-backed coal executives and the unionized workers whose labor generates the company’s considerable profits, and the miners’ union has poured millions of dollars into the campaign (over $38 million as of March 1). The forces of capital constantly conspire to rob the working class of their ability to defend and advocate for themselves, but Warrior Met has truly gone above and beyond. Throughout the course of the strike, the company has used every possible means to break the strike, from acquiring court injunctions that severely limited workers’ ability to picket to smearing them in the local press to turning a blind eye when their own employees committed vehicular assaults on strikers and their spouses. The union has fought back and held the line, but skyrocketing coal prices hurt their ability to inflict meaningful economic damage on the company. As the months dragged on, the union was forced to change tactics.

In February, UMWA International president Cecil Roberts sent an unconditional return-to-work offer to Warrior Met’s CEO, essentially offering to send the miners back to work while contract negotiations continue. The company accepted the offer but added a number of conditions (including a mandatory physical, a drug test, and a refusal to rehire 41 of the strikers) that have slowed down the return process. As one UMWA staffer told me, the company has only been scheduling a handful of physicals per week. The decertification petition lists 795 workers, but as of now, only 273 UMWA members have returned to work, joining the hundreds of replacement workers and scabs whose efforts have allowed the mines to continue pumping out coal throughout the strike.

The company’s slow-walking return has undoubtedly contributed to the miners’ frustration. One  UMWA staffer believes that Warrior Met is intentionally trying to stir up discontent and animosity towards the union. This decertification petition was filed by an employee, almost certainly a scab; the same UMWA staffer told me that supervisors allegedly escorted said employee over to the filing office.

In order for the decertification effort to be successful, “the employee will have to show that 30% of employees want to hold an election to decertify the union,” the person behind @UnionElections, a Twitter account that tracks NLRB filings, said on Friday. “Then, if that showing of interest is met, the union will need a 50%+1 vote to remain the exclusive representative.”

It might not even get to that point; the union plans to appeal and hopefully block the election altogether. This is a developing story, and while the circumstances do seem to lean in the union’s favor (the sheer number of scabs alone raises questions about voter eligibility), this latest twist of the knife means that Warrior Met is still playing hardball and that these workers’ ordeal will continue until further notice.

Written By: Kim Kelly

Kim Kelly is an independent labor journalist, author, and labor activist.

She has been a regular labor columnist for Teen Vogue since 2018, and her writing on labor, class, politics, and culture has appeared in The New Republic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Baffler, The Nation, the Columbia Journalism Review, and Esquire, among many others.

Kelly has also worked as a video correspondent for More Perfect Union, The Real News Network, and Means TV. Her first book, FIGHT LIKE HELL: the Untold History of American Labor, is out now on One Signal/Simon & Schuster.

Source: WTRF

February 7, 2023

HARRISON COUNTY, Ohio (WTRF) – From the coal mine to Korea.

Jay Kolenc was 20-years-old when a letter from President Truman told him to report to the draft board in Steubenville 1951. He spent two years in the Army and five more more in the reserves, all with a young family back home.  For nine-months, Jay Kolenc was in combat in Korea, helping its people fight for their freedom.  Before that he was taken away from his job in the coal mines to join the Army.  He said most people in the area who were drafted went to Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia or somewhere on the East Coast. Kolenc was sent to Camp Roberts in California.

“I trained with the 7^th Armored Division, with the 33^rd Armored Engineers on the Mojave Desert.” – JAY KOLENC, VETERAN

That was across the country and too far away for Kolenc to come home on leave before he went overseas.

“They gave me $14 to travel with, but I had 6,00 miles to travel, so the $14 did do it. I didn’t get a furlough. So, I went directly to Camp Stoneman, which I had to get there early. Middle of the night I was wakened up and put on an airplane and flew to Japan.” – JAY KOLENC, VETERAN

Kolenc was then abruptly taken to Korea and became part of a replacement battalion.

“In a ship and made an amphibious landing in Incheon. So, that’s where I stepped foot in the Republic of South Korea was in Incheon.” – JAY KOLENC, VETERAN

Since he had prior experience with high explosives in the coal mines, that became Kolenc’s job.  He said a lot of what happened to him he left in Korea and doesn’t talk about to this day.

“War is not a pleasant situation.” – JAY KOLENC, VETERAN

Those who have followed Veterans Voices for years will remember the name Fred B. McGee. It turns out that McGee and Kolenc were good friends growing up. When McGee was wounded during the Korean War, Kolenc said he was only a few hills away, but he didn’t know that until he returned home. While he was in Korea serving, his life changed back at home.

“We were married and had a wife and a little daughter and my wife was three-months pregnant when they drafted me. So, my son was born when I was in Korea.” – JAY KOLENC, VETERAN

Kolenc sayid communicating with his family was difficult, especially because his son had some health issues as a young child.

“You’d gotten mail, but the biggest part of that was blanked out. There was only so much you could say about your positions.” – JAY KOLENC, VETERAN

When his time in Korea was over, Kolenc came home and went right back to work. He said he did his job for his country, and he’s proud of it.

“When you take that obligation you hold that right hand up to protect that constitution of the United States of America, that just don’t end when you’re out of the service. That stays with you till you take your last breath and to defend that flag and protect that flag.” – JAY KOLENC, VETERAN

Kolenc kept his mining job for a while, but also went to police officer training. Throughout his life he worked closely with local judges, the late Sheriff Fred Abdalla and the BCI.  He is a member of several veteran organizations and remains involved with the UMWA. Kolenc and his wife were married for 46-years and had four children.

Written by: Kathryn Ghion