Hundreds of coal miners in Brookwood, Ala., reached a milestone Thursday: They've spent 20 months on strike.þþThat's well past the six-week average for strikes, according to Bloomberg Law. The miners believe it's the longest strike in Alabama's history.þþThey have continued demanding their employer, Warrior Met Coal, restore the pay and benefits that were cut in 2016 as a cost-saving measure to keep the mines from shutting down.þþOut of the 900 miners who started the strike a year and a half ago, 500 remain, according to United Mine Workers of America. And many of them say, despite missing their six-figure salaries, they're doing just fine. They stick with a classic union catchphrase — they'll last ÿone day longerÿ than the company.þþWarrior Met has also remained resolute. With negotiations stagnant, the mines have kept operating and earning the company millions in profit.þþHere's how the miners — and the company — have survived the strike.þþStrikers lean on a support system, an understanding of history and angerþIf there's one group of American workers used to labor battles, it's miners. Consider the literal gunfights in the West Virginia mountains a century ago, or the 50,000 coal miners striking across 11 states during the Pittston Coal Strike of 1989. Consider too that coal is a feast-or-famine industry, and miners know the importance of saving up.þþÿEvery old coal miner tells you that you prepare for the next day because you don't know what to expect for that next day,ÿ said Antwon McGhee, a striking Alabama coal miner.þþOf course, many miners' savings have dried up by now. That's where having a strike-seasoned union, like the United Mine Workers of America in this case, helps.þþThe union knows it has to take care of those most vulnerable, said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of Labor Education Research at Cornell University — like supporting a young miner with a mortgage and a new baby, or an older miner with health issues and higher medical bills.þþÿThey work as a community to do that,ÿ Bronfenbrenner said.þþEvery two weeks, the striking miners rally outside of a local union hall in Brookwood before shuffling inside to pick up $800 checks. Around the one-year mark, the United Mine Workers of America said it had given out $20 million to workers.þþUnion dues collected from miners across the country have been bolstered by donations from other unions and individuals. Together, they've built up a war chest that could enable the strikers to remain on the picket line for years, according to one local union leader.þþÿStrike checks is how I'm making it,ÿ said Brian Kelly, Local 245 UMWA president. ÿThere's no doubt about it.ÿþþCommunity stands behind the strikers, offering donations and jobsþLocals also are helping the miners out, whether by keeping the local food pantry stocked, providing backpacks for school or toys as Christmas approaches.þþBut perhaps the most helpful support has come in the form of side jobs. Thanks to the tight labor market, strikers have found work at nearby strip mines and a Mercedes plant. The money's usually nothing close to what they made before the strike, but combined with the strike checks, it's enough to cover at least some bills.þþMcGhee has taken on plumbing and home remodeling work for his friends and family. They could have hired professionals, he said, but wanted to make sure the check went to him. He said that matters more than the money.þþÿYou can go out and make the money,ÿ McGhee said. ÿBut without that morale and mental support you can't make it.ÿþþBeyond that, the miners are also fueled by old-fashioned anger — at the strikebreakers crossing the picket line and at Warrior Met's refusal to give them the pay and benefits they want.þþThe House has voted to avert a rail strike. Now the bill heads to the Senate.þþThe House has voted to avert a rail strike. Now the bill heads to the SenateþÿThey're holding out on us on purpose and not giving us the contract we deserve,ÿ McGhee said of the company. ÿI think it's evil. Purely evil.ÿþþWarrior Met declined to comment for this story.þþThe anger has backfired at times. The National Labor Relations Board fined the union $13.3 million for damages, in part for violence on the picket line. The union challenged that amount, and the NLRB agreed to drop it to $435,000. During a recent rally, union president Cecil Roberts called for nonviolent civil disobedience.
Source: npr.org
