To: Detroit/Seattle
Workers' Voice mailing list
September 5, 2022
The southern-area Region 10 of the National Labor Relations Board on August 3rd ordered the union of the striking Warrior Met coal miners in Alabama, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), to pay the capitalist mine-owners $13.3 million in compensation for the losses the 16-month strike has caused to the owners.
The amount is so large because the union is being ordered to pay not only for some damages due to clashes during the strike, but mainly for the coal that was not mined due to the strike. The final amount is about 33 times as much as the damages claimed originally.
This destroys the very purpose of a strike, which is to deprive the employer of production and hurt his finances.
Nobody will compensate the miners for their lost pay due to striking. So the workers are simply being ripped off for millions in pay that they would have made had they not been striking.
The United Mine Workers leadership explain the situation as follows:
“The union entered into a settlement agreement in June with NLRB Region 10 regarding charges the company had made about picket line activity in order to save striking members and families from days of hostile questioning by company lawyers. On July 22, the NLRB sent the union a detailed list of damages totaling $13.3 million dollars, more than 33 times the estimated amount NLRB lawyers had initially indicated would be assessed.” (1)
Now the bureaucrats find that their kind gesture to their management friends has bitten them on the ass.
“More than $12.8 million of the amount, according to the letter, are costs to the company, such as increased security, increased labor, barriers, security cameras, and ‘lost revenues for unmined coal.” Other items include “vehicle damage.’ ” (2)
The UMWA leadership is apoplectic about this, but they opened the door to let the wolf come in and now it bit them. But it's mainly biting the miners.
The national NLRB has taken some decisions that have helped workers organize at Amazon and Starbucks and elsewhere. But it rarely rules in favor of worker militancy, and the Region 10 decision shows, as we have said before, that workers can't rely on the NLRB, which is appointed by the major capitalist parties. So even when the NLRB is pursuing a mildly liberal course under Democrats like Biden, it can do horrible things to the workers.
The UMWA leadership vows to fight this outrage. But what will they do? No doubt scream and holler and then spend thousands on lawyers like always.
The case will now go to an NLRB Administrative Law Judge as the union appeals.
Workers around the country, in every industry, need to pay attention to this development.
1) UMWA, “NLRB demand for UMWA to pay Warrior Met Coal strike costs ‘outrageous,’ threatens American workers’ right to strike,” August 3, 2022.
2) AL.com, “Striking Alabama coal miners refuse to pay $13.3 million in ordered damages,” August 3, 2022. <>
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