(The AFL-CIO’s Voice@Work issued the following news release on December 23.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In Huntington, Utah, 40 miners urgently need your help. When these workers decided to form a union to improve job safety standards and provide a livable wage and input into their working conditions. C.W. Mining Co. fired all but five one week before their union election.
Despite being fired, these brave workers returned to the coal mine last week and voted in an NLRB-conducted election. While these miners, fired unjustly right before the holidays, wait for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to vindicate their rights, they face incredible economic constraints.
This holiday season, you can make the difference. A donation from you – of any amount – will allow these brave miners to continue to fight for respect on the job. Please make a donation now by clicking on the link below:
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/I1qfqv11RqwX/helptheminers
Already, these miners have endured almost insurmountable obstacles in their efforts to form a union with the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). Beginning in September 2003, they spent more than eight months on the picket line after being locked out because they protested inadequate training and safety conditions. Although they were eventually reinstated, without the help of their brothers and sisters at the UMWA and their friends in the union movement, these workers might have been forced to give up their fight.
Once again, with the recent firings, the company is trying to frustrate the will of the workers and break their union, by leaving them without an income for the second time in two years. These miners live paycheck to paycheck, many only paid between $5.50 and $8 an hour (the average U.S. miner makes $18 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) and receive no health benefits while performing one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. Having a union would allow them to negotiate for safer working conditions, a livable wage and affordable health care. Make the difference for these miners by helping them continue to fight. Make a donation now by clicking on the link below:
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/I1qfqv11RqwX/helptheminers
Your donation will help provide basic necessities to the miners and their families, allowing them to earn enough money to continue their struggle for fairness.
Click on the link below now to learn more about the Huntington miner’s struggle and help support these courageous miners.
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/I1qfqv11RqwX/helptheminers
Together we will win!
In Solidarity,
Andy Levin
Voice@Work Campaign
AFL-CIO