Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 4, 1993 TAG: 9309040236
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID REED ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: OAKWOOD LENGTH: Medium
"I wish I could tell you we are closing in on a settlement on this strike, but that would be a lie," Richard Trumka told nearly 1,000 striking miners and their supporters rallying at a high school football field.
Trumka and Del. Jackie Stump, the UMW's international representative in Southwest Virginia, promised to keep the mines from producing coal during the strike.
"Right now, things are quiet, and we are quiet," Stump, D-Buchanan County, said at the rally a few miles from three CONSOL Inc. mines being struck. "But we can rise to the occasion and stop anybody from coming in here and taking our jobs."
Trumka said, "There won't be any coal coming out of those mines until we have a contract and the job security we've earned."
In a news conference before the rally, the first of several scheduled in four states during the Labor Day weekend, Trumka said civil disobedience would be more likely to return to picket lines if mines are reopened with replacement workers.
Trumka said the tactic was used at its last major coal strike, against Pittston Co. in 1989, to relieve the tension caused by hiring of replacement workers and to provide a nonviolent outlet for their frustration.
The Pittston strike involved, for the first time in a coal strike, the widespread use of extensive sit-down demonstrations and the takeover of a processing plant to slow coal production.
The tactics led to more than 2,000 arrests and what's believed to be the largest civil contempt sanctions imposed by an American court. The UMW's appeal of about $52 million in fines levied during the strike is to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in October.
If the tactics are used again, Trumka said, the union faces the possibility of being fined "out of existence."
"As far as civil disobedience, if that is the only option we have left to prevent people from getting hurt, I will do that if I have to," Trumka said.
The strike against the Bituminous Coal Operators Association began May 10 and includes 17,000 mine workers in seven states in Appalachia and the Midwest. The UMW says job security is its chief concern, while the operators say they need more competitive work rules.
Negotiators have been meeting since Aug. 11.
Trumka left Oakwood to take the tour into West Virginia, where he said the union faces a tough battle against mine operators.
In Charleston, W.Va., a judge issued a preliminary injunction to keep striking UMW members from interfering with employees or picketing two mining operations in West Virginia.
U.S. District Judge Dennis R. Knapp issued the order to prevent the union from "coercing" the employees of Arch of West Virginia and Hobet Mining Inc. or any company doing business with the two.
The injunction bars the union from "engaging in mass picketing or physically blocking" entry and exit of employees.
The order banned the union from brandishing any weapons, including fused nails known as "jackrocks," within 1,500 feet of the union picket line.
In Pittsburgh, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against the UMW for strike-related activity in northern West Virginia, an official said.
The complaint involves actions at Eastern Associated Coal Co.'s Federal No. 2 Mine, near Blacksville in Monongalia County, and the Tygart River Mine, near Fairmont in Marion County.
The board said the UMW conducted mass picketing and impeded the entrance to the Federal No. 2 Mine. The complaint also alleges union members followed subcontractors into Pennsylvania and rammed their vehicle into a subcontractor's vehicle.
by CNB