In Coal Country, Young Miner Organizes for a Better Future

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/09/12/in-coal-country-young-miner-organizes-for-a-better-future/

by Tula Connell, Sep 12, 2009

Barb Kucera, editor of Workday Minnesota, took part in an International Labor Communications Association group reporting event to coal country near Pittsburgh, where the ILCA is holding its conference in the days prior to the AFL-CIO Convention.

Coal miner Travis Hartley can relate to the concerns expressed by other young workers in a recent survey. Many are losing ground financially—and they’re less optimistic about the future.

The third-generation member of the Mine Workers (UMWA) counts himself lucky to belong to an organization that improved the lives of his father and grandfather. So he’s organizing other young workers to challenge a giant coal company threatening to open two nonunion operations in southwestern Pennsylvania.

“I’m proud to be a union coal miner and I’m going to make sure I stay that way,” he declared.

Uncertain Future in Coal Country

The drive to the borough of Clarksville (population 240) winds along the scenic Monongahela River, past an abandoned coal mine and a shuttered union hall—once damaged by a bomb during an organizing drive.

On a hill not far from town is a large state prison. For Hartley and other young men and women, the available job options boil down to two choices—work in the mines or work in the prison. Since 2006, he’s worked at the Emerald Mine operated by Foundation Coal in nearby Waynesburg.


Travis Hartley


In July, Foundation merged with Alpha Natural Resources to become the third-largest coal producer in the United States. Now known as Alpha, it wants to open a new mine near Clarksville and another in the nearby community of Holbrook. And the company has made it clear to the UMWA that it would like those operations to be nonunion. Younger leaders like Hartley are stepping up to make sure that doesn’t happen.

In the short time he’s worked at Emerald, Hartley has gotten active in workplace issues, becoming a member of the Safety Committee and attending a weeklong training on the Mine Safety and Health Act. He’s a strong believer in the protections a union contract provides.

“With the union, you keep your guys safe,” he said. “You make the money, but you do it safe.”

FULL story at link.

[Fire1]

1. It's about time. n/t

[Libertas1776]

2. Keep up the good fight, brother!

n/t