Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 12, 1993 TAG: 9312120049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MADISON, W.VA. LENGTH: Medium
"I think it went well," UMW Vice President Cecil Roberts said.
The officials are to carry those details back to their local members in time for them to vote on the accord Tuesday.
The burden of that duty and the rigors of a seven-month strike were apparent on the faces of usually jovial UMW officials at the Madison Civic Center, who appeared grimly determined to keep contract details within their ranks. Reporters were barred not only from the meeting but also from a lobby where the discussions might have been overheard.
The concerns also were evident in what was overheard.
"Do you know how many mining jobs there are in West Virginia? About 25,000, both union and nonunion," District 17 President Bob Phalen told the group.
Just a few years ago, he said, there were 25,000 working miners just in District 17, which includes part of the southern West Virginia coal fields. There are four UMW districts in West Virginia.
"There just aren't as many jobs," Phalen said.
Approval by UMW members would end a strike against selected members of the Bituminous Coal Operators Association that began May 10. The union says about 17,500 miners are on strike in seven states in Appalachia and the Midwest, with about 5,500 in West Virginia.
An estimated 60,000 working and laid-off UMW members are eligible to vote on the agreement.
Officials have said nothing publicly about the proposed agreement.
However, the union's top three officers said in a letter sent last week to UMW families that both laid-off and working members would have a "guaranteed, enforceable right" to claim a job at any new mine owned by their employer, its parent company or affiliates.
The proposed contract would give operators the right to begin producing coal seven days a week while doing away with most mandatory overtime, the letter said. The previous contract, which expired Feb. 1, prohibited Sunday mining.
Operators also would have the right to implement a managed-care health plan in a bid to curb rising health costs, the letter said.
Earlier, sources said the proposed contract would entitle UMW members to 60 percent of the new jobs at their employer's existing, new or newly acquired coal mines.
by CNB