Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 15, 1993 TAG: 9309150051
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RIPPLEMEAD LENGTH: Short
The agreement, signed by Plant Manager Ron Bonnema and two UMW officials, is the result of nearly a year of negotiations that followed last fall's vote in favor of the union, said Don Cumbee, general accounting manager for APG Lime.
The contract took effect Tuesday and will expire Sept. 13, 1995. A UMW official with the District 29 office in Welch, W.Va., referred questions to other union officials who could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The signing had been scheduled prior to last Thursday's accident that killed two miners. A team of federal investigators worked inside the mine Tuesday, again trying to determine what caused a 150- to 175-ton chunk of rock to fall and crush the two men and their twin-boom jumbo drill in a mining chamber nearly a quarter-mile underground.
APG Lime's 26 miners remained idle Tuesday because the company has decided to keep the mine closed until the investigation is complete. The miners are not being paid during the shutdown, Cumbee said.
Federal and state agencies lifted closure orders over the weekend. The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration also has issued a citation against APG Lime Corp. for not having a roof support system in place in the chamber where the rock fell.
APG Lime, which has operated the 45-year-old Giles County mine since 1988, is a subsidiary of AP Green, based in Missouri.
by CNB