July - August - United Mine Workers of America

July–August 2010 • 121st Year, No. 4

United Mine Workers 

journal 

Convention Report...............................4 

More than 500 delegates to the UMWA’s 

54th Constitutional Convention in Las 

Vegas set a bold path for the union to 

follow over the next four years, including 

meeting significant challenges to our jobs, 

our pensions and our health care. The 

UMW Journal takes a comprehensive look 

at the issues we face and the solutions the 

delegates determined to take to meet those 

challenges. 

Remembering Senator Byrd..............18 

The passing of “the best friend coal miners 

ever had” means UMWA members and 

their families have lost a strong voice on 

our side in Washington. 

Departments 

Government in Action................... 12 

Actively Retired...............................14 

Around Our Union........................ 15 

Districts in Action.......................... 20 

Our Health and Safety................... 22 

Lorin E. Kerr Scholarship.............. 23 

Cover photo: (l-r) L.U. 3907 President 

Jerry Barnett, Connie Patsey and L.U. 

1713 President J.R. Patsey were part 

of the tremendous demonstration of 

solidarity delegates and guests to the 

UMWA Convention displayed after a 

march through the halls of the Mirage 

Hotel. Photo by Bill Burke/Page One. 

Say NO to Plan to end 

Saturday mail delivery 

Our brothers and 

sisters in the 

National Association of 

Letter Carriers (NALC) 

are fighting a scheme 

by the United States 

Postal Service (USPS) to 

end Saturday delivery of mail. The USPS claims this move needs to 

be taken to make up a budget shortfall, but the truth is that actions 

Congress is forcing the USPS to take with respect to prefunding of 

retiree health care benefits are really to blame. 

President Roberts was invited to speak at the NALC’s Biennial 

Convention in Anaheim, Calif., where he said, “Solidarity doesn’t 

flow one way like a river. Solidarity is like a huge ocean. In the Mine 

Workers we say that ‘an injury to one is an injury to all.’ That means 

shoulder to shoulder, back to back, your fight is our fight. We stand 

squarely on your side, and we will do whatever you ask us to do.” 

Roberts pointed out that many UMWA members and widows 

receive prescription drugs through the mail, and losing one day of 

taking those drugs can have a bad effect on their health. “Retirees 

and widows who get their prescriptions through the mail should be 

very concerned about this,” Roberts said. 

The NALC asks that you write a letter to the Postal Regulatory 

Commission to let them know you want to keep your Saturday mail 

delivery. Write to: 

Postal Regulatory Commission 

Attention: Office of Public Affairs & Government Relations 

901 New York Avenue, N.W., Suite 200 

Washington, D.C. 20268-0001 

Refer to Docket N2010-1 in your letter. 

Go to the NALC’s website at www.nalc.org for more information. 

Produced by the UMWA Communications Department: Phil Smith, Department Director, Editor; David Kameras, Communications Coordinator; 

Emily K. Smith, Communications Specialist; Thelma Blount, Department Secretary; GO! Creative, llc, Design 

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Pursuant to Section 6113 of the Internal Revenue Code, we are required to notify you that membership dues paid to the UMWA are not deductible as charitable contributions for 

federal income tax purposes. 

2 July/August 2010 • United Mine Workers Journal

letters 

Three generations of UMWA members...and counting 

Pictured here is L.U. 

2300 member Ryan 

Baker holding his new 

son, Colton Ryan Baker. 

With him are (on the 

left) Paul Baker, Colton’s 

great-grandfather, a 

member of L.U. 1058 

in District 31 who 

retired in 1989 from the 

Humphrey #7 mine; and 

(on the right) Donald Baker, Colton’s grandfather, who is a member of L.U. 1702 

working at the Blacksville #2 mine. Donald’s brother David Baker (not pictured) 

also works at the Cumberland mine and is a member of L.U. 2300. 

Colton’s great-great and great-great-great grandfathers were also coal miners 

who worked at the Loyal Hanna Coal and Coke Co. in Somerset County, Pa. 

Belinda Baker 

Carmichaels, Pa. 

Member anticipates November elections 

Another election is coming up in November and I think it’s important to 

remember that our President and Congress have passed some pretty impressive 

laws: health care reform, equal pay for women, S-CHIP health care coverage for 

children and financial reform, to name a few. And they’ve done it in the face of 

enormous pressure from the do-nothing Republicans, the talking heads of Fox 

News and the far-right talk radio show hosts. 

The Republicans like to call health care reform “Obama-care.” So, that 

must mean Social Security is “F.D.R.-care,” right? Franklin Roosevelt is also the 

guy who gave us the right to organize, instituted fair labor standards and dug 

us out of the depths of the last Republican-led economic disaster. 

And I guess we can call Medicare “Johnson-care,” after Lyndon Johnson, 

who fought for it and signed it into law in 1965. And let’s not forget the Black 

Lung benefits won for us by Sen. Robert C. Byrd. I guess those of us who collect 

those benefits should call them “Byrd-care.” 

Republicans fought each of those things tooth-and-nail. Does any UMWA 

member truly think we shouldn’t have them? 

When we go to the polls this November, let’s remember who has been on 

our side for generations and who hasn’t. Let’s keep a majority in the House and 

Senate that cares about workers and our families. 

God Bless America, and God Bless the UMWA. 

Danny R. Hoover 

L.U. 2286 

Racine, W.Va. 

Retiree appreciates 

UMWA, health care 

I worked in the coal mines for a 

long time until I hurt my back. 

I’ve had eight back operations, 

five heart bypasses and just had 

abdominal surgery. That surgery 

cost $100,000, not counting doctors 

fees. Without the union insurance, 

I could not have made it and 

would not be here today to write 

this letter. 

I say all this to show what a 

great union we have. We also have 

a great president in Brother Cecil 

Roberts. I hope our younger miners 

will appreciate the union and what 

it stands for. I still pay my dues each 

month and am so happy to be a 

UMWA member. 

Tommy Watson 

L.U. 2245 

Jasper, Ala. 

New Associate Member 

angered by UBB disaster 

As someone who wasted 45 years 

as a selfish GOP anti-union 

citizen, I want to thank you for 

my Associate UMWA membership, 

even if I never get to use any 

of the union benefits I may be 

entitled to. 

I personally do not care if 

the surviving spouses and children 

of the Upper Big Branch mine 

disaster ever become wealthy as a 

result of any settlement they may 

get. In fact, that might be an insult 

to the memory of the lost 29. But 

they all must get justice for what 

happened to their bread-winners! 

August J. Lehe 

Talladega, Ala. 

United Mine Workers Journal • July/August 2010 3

The Fight of 

Our Lives 

Bill Burke, PAGE One 

Convention pledges to do whatever it takes for our jobs, 

our pensions, our health care 

DAVID KAMERAS 

It was a celebration of 120 years of leading 

the struggle for worker justice. It was a 

confirmation of the UMWA’s commitment 

to good, safe jobs. It was a call to action to 

preserve our pensions and our health care. 

Most of all, it was an incredible demonstration of unity and solidarity 

from the more than 500 delegates who converged in Las Vegas July 26-29 for 

the UMWA’s 54th Consecutive Constitutional Convention. 


DAVID KAMERAS 

“We are drawing on our legacy 

and the strength and unity of our 

membership to engage in the fight 

of our lives,” said President Roberts, 

echoing the theme of this year’s 

convention. “As we head into next 

year’s national contract negotiations 

and tackle a host of other collective 

bargaining agreements, we will need 

all the resources at our command 

to not just keep what we have, but 

improve on it.” 

Fighting for good 

jobs 

For UMWA members working in or 

around coal mines, the most direct 

threat to their jobs is the possibility 

that the coal industry will suffer 

large cuts in production and employment 

as a result of action by 

Congress or government agencies 

attempting to address the climate 

change issue. 

“There is this raging debate in 

Washington and elsewhere about 

what to do with respect to climate 

change,” Roberts said. “And what is 

finally done will have an impact on 

our coal members and their jobs. 

“Without coal jobs and the 

money our members spend in their 

communities, the coalfields would be 

little more than a series of boardedup 

ghost towns,” Roberts said. “But it 

doesn’t have to be that way. 



Committees 

laid the 

groundwork 

For the entire week prior 

to the 54 th Consecutive 

Constitutional Convention, 

delegates elected at a number of 

District conferences held around 

the country met in Las Vegas to 

consider proposed resolutions, 

discuss policy and chart the path 

for the union to take over the 

next four years. Their resulting 

reports were then taken up by the 

full convention and put to a vote. 

These committees included: 

• Credentials 

• Rules 

• Resolutions 

• Health and Safety 

• Organizing 

• Collective Bargaining 

• COMPAC/Legislative 

• Constitution 

• Health and Retirement 

• Veterans 

• Diversity 

New for 2010 were the Veterans 

Committee, formed to address 

the unique needs of the many 

members who served in the 

armed services, and the Diversity 

Committee, tasked with finding 

ways to open the doors of 

opportunity within the union to 

under-represented members. 

L.U. 762 member Patsy Ricciuti chaired 

the Health and Retirement Committee. 



“We believe there is a responsible 

way forward that will ensure 

a strong and robust coal industry 

for decades to come,” Roberts said. 

“But that will only happen if the 

politicians and bureaucrats step up 

and address the issue in a reasonable 

manner. So far that hasn’t happened, 

but we are still engaged in 

the discussions about this to ensure 

that our voice is part of the debate 

and part of the solution. 

“We want to make sure union 

coal jobs remain good jobs with good 

wages and strong benefits,” Roberts 

said. “Our members must be able to 

continue to support their families as 

well as make a healthy contribution 

to the economic well-being of the 

communities where they and their 

families have lived for generations.” 

To support this effort, the 

convention’s COMPAC Committee 

issued a report calling for continuing 

efforts to engage members of 

Congress and the Obama administration 

on this issue, reminding 

them of the need for action to support 

the commercial development 

and deployment of carbon capture 

and storage technology. 

“Despite what some of the more 

extreme voices may say, we’re not 

going to be able to just end the use 

of coal in 10 or 15 years and be able 

to replace it with something that will 

have the electrical generating capacity 

that coal has,” said Secretary- 

Treasurer Kane. “The technology for 

alternative energy sources that can be 

deployed effectively and affordably 

is many decades away. In the meantime, 

we intend to work with Congress 

and the industry to ensure that 

coal, of which we have an abundance, 

is mined and burned responsibly.” 

At the same time, with health 

care costs continuing to rise rapidly, 

the Employee Free Choice Act stalled 

and Republican use of Senate rules 

to block any and all progressive legislation, 

the need to keep a working 

union-friendly majority in Washington 

is more important now than 

ever. That is why the UMWA will be 

mobilizing its membership to fully 

participate in this fall’s elections. 

Safe jobs 

For most workers, “job protection” 

means staying employed. For coal 

miners, it can mean staying alive, too. 


Since the last convention in 

2006, the United States mining community 

has been rocked by a number 

of explosions and other safety incidents 

underground, most recently in 

April at Massey Energy’s Upper Big 

Branch mine in West Virginia. 

The problem, most glaring at 

Massey but common to nonunion 

workplaces throughout the coalfields, 

is the tolerance for safety lapses 

permitted—sometimes demanded— 

by management at all levels of a 

company. And workers in those 

nonunion mines know they are at 

risk. As evidence, President Roberts 

quoted to the delegates from a letter 

written by Upper Big Branch miner 

Josh Napper to his family. 

“‘If I die, I want you to know 

that I love you,’” Roberts read from 

Napper’s letter. “Now that’s the kind 

of letter people used to write before 

they went off to war. That is not the 

kind of letter you’re supposed to 

write before you pick up your dinner 

bucket and go to work.” 

In its report to the convention, 

the Health and Safety Committee 

said, “Enforcement [of laws] must be 

ramped up, particularly for employers 

who repeatedly violate the law.” 

One issue the committee focused 

on was the all-too-common occurrence 

of employers discouraging 

workers from reporting lost-time 

accidents. “Widespread problems 

of injury under-reporting must be 

addressed,” the committee’s report 

said. “Employer policies and practices 

that discourage the reporting of 

injuries through discipline or other 

means must be prohibited. 

“Our nation must renew its 

commitment to protect workers 

from injury, disease and death, making 

safety a top priority,” the Health 

and Safety Committee’s report concluded. 

“We demand that employers 

meet their responsibilities to 

protect workers and that they be held 

accountable if they put workers in 

danger. Only then can the promise of 

safe jobs for all workers be fulfilled.” 


Winning a new 

contract 

With the serious issues that have 

arisen regarding the 1974 Pension 

Plan administered by the UMWA 

Health and Retirement Funds, the 

upcoming negotiations for a new 

National Bituminous Coal Wage 

Agreement are likely to be difficult. 

Add to that the continuing 

effects of the worst economic 

downturn in 80 years, and upcoming 

negotiations not just in coal but in 

public service, health care and manufacturing—the 

next few years look to 

be filled with a series of challenges at 

the bargaining table. 

“You know, they say that a rising 

tide lifts all boats, but they never talk 

about what happens when the tide 

goes out,” said former UMWA International 

Vice President Emeritus 

Jerry Jones in his address to the delegates. 

“When that happens, everything 

falls, because our economy is 

built on consumption. 

“When people don’t bring home 

a steady paycheck, they buy less 

products—products like Remington 

rifles, products that are made 

in plants powered by coal-based 

electricity, products made with steel 

forged in coal-fired smelters,” Jones 

said. “And then the tax base that 

 

Surrounded by the entire Diversity Committee, Chair Tanya James 

(L.U. 9909) addresses the delegates after giving the Committee’s report. 




supports the employment of corrections 

officers, court reporters, EMT 

technicians and other public workers 

shrinks too.” 

Though the specifics of the 

Collective Bargaining Committee’s 

recommendations were, as always, 

contained in a confidential report to 

the line officers to keep employers 

from discovering in advance of negotiations 

what the union’s priorities 

are, there is no doubt that winning 

fair contracts in every industry where 

the union represents workers will take 

what it has always taken: solidarity. 

And throughout the convention, 

that solidarity was evident. Speaker 

after speaker rose to declare their 

support for the leadership of President 

Roberts and Secretary-Treasurer 

Kane, as well as the International 

Executive Board. 

Roberts noted that winning 

the upcoming battles will take the 

solidarity and support of all UMWA 

members, whether they work in the 

coal industry or some other industry. 

“What happens with our coal 

contract will have an impact on 

every member of this union,” he said. 

“It’s our primary industry, and if 

we have to take action to win a new 

contract—up to and including going 

on strike—then that’s what we will 

do. If that happens, it’s going to take 

the resources and 

the strength of 

L.U. 5986 

member 

and former 

Dist. 20 

Secretary- 

Treasurer 

Earl Brown 

was the 

oldest 

delegate 

at the 

convention 

at 91. 

(From the top) AFL-CIO President 

and UMWA President Emeritus 

Richard L. Trumka; UMWA Vice 

President Emeritus Jerry Jones; 

Former UMWA Secretary-Treasurer 

Harry Patrick; UMWA Secretary- 

Treasurer Emeritus Carlo Tarley. 





every single member of this union 

to win. 

“Now I have a question for you,” 

Roberts said. “Are you with us?” 

The roar of approval in response 

was deafening. 

Good Pensions 

At this year’s convention, the agendas 

of the Constitution, Collective 

Bargaining and Health and Retirement 

committees were strongly 

linked. That’s because 100,000 

members rely on the 1974 Pension 

Plan, whose recession-driven 

wounds must be healed in part at 

the negotiating table. 

The 1974 Plan currently pays 

out over $600 million per year in 

benefits, and will provide future pensions 

to nearly 30,000 active miners 

and former miners who have not 

yet reached retirement age. In recent 

years, this plan has been significantly 

improved in a number of ways, 

including the enhanced deferred 

vested, the 20-and-out Special 

Permanent Layoff Pension and the 

30-and-out pension. 

Pension accruals have also 

increased. If a 30-year pensioner 

retires at age 62 and lives to about 

age 81, or about 19 years after retirement, 

he will receive nearly $450,000 

over his lifetime under the 2011 

pension rates. Under the 1996 rate, it 

would only have been $206,000. 

Yet while we have negotiated 

significant increases in the pension 

benefits in recent years, the market 

value of the pension plan’s assets 

have gone down due to stock market 

declines caused by Wall Street greed. 

Since reaching a high point of about 

$7 billion in 2000, there have been 

two substantial market declines. 

At the same time, the plan is 

hitting the period of its greatest pen- 


Navajo Nation 

President Joe Shirley 

with President Roberts 

the industry average loss was about 31 

percent, while many companies did 

much worse—Conoco Phillips was 

down about 35 percent, J.C. Penney 

about 45 percent, Exxon Mobil about 

47 percent and Delphi 

about 51 percent. 


L.U. 6417 member Joe “Moose” 

Martinez, a World War II veteran, 

led the Pledge of Alligiance on the 

first day. 


sion payouts. Liabilities have grown 

steadily, but although assets grew 

rapidly in the 1990s, the 2008 market 

meltdown created a substantial separation 

between assets and liabilities. 

Nearly every pension plan in the 

country had a similar experience in 

the last two years. Although the 1974 

Plan lost about 22 percent in 2008, 

Hundreds of Mirage Hotel 

employees, members of UNITE- 

HERE L.U. 226, lined the main 

hallway as delegates marched to 

hear President Roberts speak. 

Indeed, the 100 largest companies 

in the United States with 

defined-benefit pension plans collectively 

went from about 100 percent 

funded in early 2008 to about 

75 percent funded in early 2009. 

While the banks and other financial 

institutions that created the crisis 

have received hundreds of billions 

of dollars in government bailouts, 

the pension plans that were the 

victims of the crisis have been left to 

fend for themselves. 

“Wall Street did a drive-by 

shooting of Main Street in 2008 

and early 2009,” President Roberts 

said. “And the government’s 

response was to throw billions of 

dollars into the getaway car. 

The Wall Street executives and 

bankers who caused this disaster 

got bailed out. Now it’s our turn. 



If they think they can leave 

working families holding the 

bag for this, they’ve got another 

thing coming.” 


Funding 

improvement plan 

“The problems of the 1974 Pension 

Plan will be the major issue in the 

2011 negotiations,” Roberts said. 

“Failure to resolve this may lead 

employers to seek to withdraw from 

the 1974 Plan. We intend to prevent 

that from happening, but no one 

should underestimate the severity of 

this issue. 

“At the same time, there are 

other forms of compensation such 

as health care and wages that will 

remain a high priority for the membership,” 

Roberts said. “Although 

we have in the past been able to 

negotiate contracts without the need 

for strikes, we must be united and 

prepared to fight for the benefits we 

have earned.” 

The UMWA is strongly supporting 

legislation to shift the excess 

monies already appropriated for 

retiree health care to shore up the 

1974 Plan until the current economic 

crisis is over (see page 13). “Congress 

bailed out the banks that caused this 

problem and 

I think it 

is only fair 

Nathaniel 

Church, son 

of former 

UMWA 

President 

Sam Church 

Emily Smith 

that Congress provide some help to 

retirees who are the victims of Wall 

Street’s greed,” Roberts said. 

Pension issues notwithstanding, 

the overall financial health of the 

union is excellent. “In 1995, our General 

Fund stood at around 9.5 million 

dollars,” said International Secretary- 

Treasurer Emeritus Carlo Tarley in his 

address to the convention. 

“Today, thanks to the line officers’ 

policies, the continued strong 

leadership of Danny Kane and the 

united support of the membership, 

it stands at 47 million dollars,” 

Tarley said. “During that time, the 

Selective Strike Fund went from 

52 million dollars to 126 million 

dollars. That’s the kind of strength 

we’re going to need if we get into a 

fight to save our pensions.” 

Health care 

The same ill winds blowing in from 

Wall Street that knocked the stuffing 

out of pension plans throughout the 

country also threaten to undercut 

health care as well. Although the 

plans for many of our active and 

retired members were secured by the 

1992 Coal Act and further preserved 

by amendments in 2006, a new 

Congress made up of right-wing tea 

party supporters could turn right 

around and wipe it all away. 

“To paraphrase the Good Book, 

Congress can giveth, and Congress 

can taketh away,” said President 

Roberts. “We have struggled far too 

long and too hard for our members’ 

benefits, and we’re not about to back 

down now. 

“That’s why the upcoming election 

is so important,” Roberts said. 

“We’ve got to make sure we elect 

people who will stand up for us and 

work to protect not just our health 

care, but also benefits like Social 

Security and Medicare.” 

A living constitution 

The Convention’s Constitution and 

Grievances Committee considered 

well over 100 resolutions submitted 

by local unions and other committees, 

as well as a number of amendments 

proposed by the International 

Executive Board. While many were 

housekeeping in nature, several major 

issues were addressed. 

Candidates running for 

International Union office who 

form a slate for all 14 International 

positions must now include at least 


one person of color and at least 

one woman, although one member 

may satisfy both requirements. 

This change reflects a resolution 

passed during the 2006 Convention 

pledging the UMWA’s support for 

policies diversifying its elected 

leadership. It further reflects the 

union’s long and proud tradition of 

inclusion, dating from our founding 

convention in 1890. 

Delegates voted unanimously 

in favor of creating two new committees: 

a Diversity Committee 

and a Veterans Committee. Both 



met as special committees prior to 

this convention; they will meet as 

required constitutional committees 

from now on. 

Delegates approved a provision 

requiring each local to elect a 

Veterans’ Committee of at least three 

members for the purpose of keeping 

all members informed of veterans’ 

issues and concerns, while helping 

to recognize the special contributions 

our veterans have made to our 

respective nations and our union. 

The reduced dues rate for newly 

organized bargaining units was 

eliminated, with exceptions subject 

to the discretion of the International 

President on an as-needed basis. In 

addition, the dues for retired and 

disabled members were increased by 

$2 per month, except for deferred 

vested and anthracite retirees in 

reflection of their more modest 

retirement benefit. 

Finally, in recognition that 

upcoming negotiations with coal 

industry employers will require a 

united and strong union, delegates 

approved a proposal to dedicate for 

two years a larger amount of the selective 

strike assessment to the general 

treasury, earmarked for collective 

bargaining. This represents a reallocation 

among the International’s 

accounts, and will in no way result in 

an increase in active members’ dues or 

assessments. 

“With these changes, our union 

stands ready to face the enormous 

challenges of the next few years,” said 

President Roberts. “As long as we stay 

unified and committed to each other as 

brothers and sisters, we will continue 

to have the wind at our backs.” 



Government 

in action 

Mine health and safety 

legislation advances 

After hearing testimony from President Roberts and several workers at 

Massey Energy mines, including the Upper Big Branch mine, new legislation 

to toughen mine safety and health laws introduced by Rep. George 

Miller (D-Calif.) was approved by the House Committee on Education and 

Labor on a party-line vote in July. 

“The UMWA is pleased that the House 

Education and Labor Committee passed this 

legislation,” Roberts said. “We believe that any 

steps forward in improving worker safety are 

positive steps. We believe there is more that 

can be done to make all mines safer, but this 

legislation is still a very big step forward, and 

we support it.” 

“When workers are getting killed in 

explosions, suffocated, burned, maimed 

and disabled for life, our government has a 

responsibility to take swift action.” 

Republican opposition to the legislation 

in the House centered around the notion that 

improving mine safety and preventing more 

injuries and deaths would somehow cost mining 

jobs. “It is disappointing to see many of 

those who oppose this important legislation 

using the jobs issue as a reason to oppose it,” 

Roberts said. “When workers are getting killed 

in explosions, suffocated, burned, maimed and 

disabled for life, our government has a responsibility 

to take swift action. 

“Americans want and need jobs,” Roberts 

said. “But not jobs at any cost. The opponents 

of this legislation who say it will cost jobs are 

essentially telling American workers to ‘work 

at your own risk, because we’re going to let 

the companies do whatever they want to you.’ 

That’s wrong, and demonstrates yet again the 

huge disconnect between the political allies of 

corporate America in Washington and ordinary 

working people.” 

The legislation now moves on to the 

House floor, where passage is considered to 

be very likely. After the House committee 

vote, similar legislation was introduced in 

the Senate by Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D- 

W.Va.) and Carte Goodwin (D-W.Va.), 

who was appointed to replace the fallen 

Sen. Robert C. Byrd. 

UBB investigation continues, 

Massey starts PR campaign to 

deflect blame 

On July 8, President Roberts went underground 

at the Upper Big Branch mine at the invitation 

of the Mine Safety and Health Administration 

(MSHA) so that he could see first hand the 

condition of the mine and understand what 

investigators, including several experts from the 

UMWA, are encountering as they work to find 

the cause of explosion. The UMWA is participating 

in the investigation as a designated 

miners’ representative. 

Predictably, Massey, whose Performance 

Coal subsidiary operates the mine, protested 

the presence of union safety experts, arguing 

that the presence of “outsiders” would somehow 

jeopardize the investigation. 


Government 

in action 

in House 

“Americans want 

and need jobs. 

But not jobs at 

any cost.” 

DAVID KAMERAS 

am concerned about the motives of 

Performance in this case. 

“Instead of focusing on the 

issue at hand and submitting legal 

authorities that entitle it to an expedited 

hearing, it uses this venue to 

attack the investigative techniques of 

MSHA, which are really not 

at issue here,” Miller said. 

“Performance’s documents 

exaggerate and misrepresent 

the facts, and make 

little attempt to address the 

legal issues that are being 

raised,” Miller said in her ruling. 

“Instead, Performance treats this 

court as a forum for grandstanding 

and, in doing so, attempts to interfere 

with the ongoing investigation.” 

“Clearly, what’s going on here 

isn’t an attempt by the company 

to find out what really happened 

at Upper Big Branch,” Secretary- 

Treasurer Kane said. “Massey has 

hired a big Washington PR firm 

and is doing whatever it can 

to deflect, deny, misdirect and 

misrepresent everything it 

possibly can with respect to 

this investigation. 

“Massey isn’t interested in 

finding out the truth about what 

happened here if it means the 

company’s management is found 

to be responsible,” Kane said. “It’s a 

lot more interested in doing whatever 

it can to fix blame somewhere else, 

even if it means blaming God. 

Why would they want us to believe 

God would go out of His way to 

kill 29 miners? Because the families 

can’t sue God, that’s why.” 

And just as predictably, Massey 

tried to shift the blame for the disaster; 

this time to a higher authority. 

“The politicians will tell you 

we’re going to do something so 

this never happens again,” said 

Massey CEO Don Blankenship. “You 

won’t hear me say that. Because I 

believe that the physics of natural 

law and God trump whatever man 

tries to do.” 

But an internal MSHA memorandum 

alleges that Massey is 

trying to “deflect the blame” and 

protect itself from “multimillion 

judgments” in anticipated lawsuits. 

And, in a strong July ruling against 

the company’s petition to modify 

the MSHA’s 103(k) control order at 

the Upper Big Branch mine so that 

the company can conduct its own 

investigation, Administrative Law 

Judge Margaret A. Miller said, “I 

Pension legislation passed 

by House committee 

Legislation introduced by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) to allow the UMWA 

Health and Retirement Funds to apply unused portions of money already 

appropriated for retiree health care under the Coal Act to the UMWA 1974 

Pension Fund was approved by a unanimous voice vote in the House Natural 

Resources Committee in late July. 

The legislation will help significantly in closing the shortfall in the 1974 

Plan’s funding, caused by the severe 2008-09 recession. “This legislation 

is needed because the Wall Street greed that brought down our economy in 

2008 is still echoing throughout pension plans across the country,” President 

Roberts said. “This is only one step toward fixing the issues our pension plan 

faces, but it’s a big step. Passage of this legislation will be a tremendous 

boost for the pension plan.” 

Companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate by West Virginia 

Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D) and Carte Goodwin (D). 


actively 

retired 

Bob Long 

For L.U. 7688 member Bob Long, 

union service isn’t just an activity. 

It’s a way of life. “I’ve always supported 

organized labor, and will to the 

end,” the 52-year member said. “I’ve 

always been a union man. I belonged 

to the IBEW before I joined the 

UMWA. In the Mine Workers, we care 

about one another, we try to take care 

of each other, and that’s one big reason 

I support my union 100 percent.” 

That support has taken many 

forms over a long career. A member 

since February 1958, he was an 

electrician at Associated Electric 

Cooperative’s (formerly Peabody’s) 

Bee Veer mine south of Bevier, Mo. 

He served as President of L.U. 7688 

until 1971. 

“Nowadays, when there is more for the upper class and 

less for the middle class, I can’t understand why anyone who 

packs a lunch each morning wouldn’t want to join a union.” 

Long was appointed as an 

international organizer in 1971 and 

was assigned out west to Gillette and 

Sheridan, Wyo. He became a member 

of the International Executive Board 

in 1973 and served until 1988, when 

he returned to work in the mine. The 

mine shut down in 1993. 

With a membership experience 

so varied, Long could have hung up 

his activist hat after retirement, but 

he chose otherwise. “I stay active. I go 

to all the Local 7688 meetings, and I 

try to attend the District 12 meetings 

as well,” he said. 

“Bob’s years of service and 

experience have enabled him to be a 

real asset to this union,” said International 

District 12 Vice President 

and Region III Director Steve Earle. 

“He has been a loyal servant to the 

UMWA for many years, and no one 

in the union has worked any harder 

for its members than Bob Long. 

That was true when he was on the 

International Executive Board, and it 

is still true today.” 

In addition to his union work, 

the Jacksonville, Mo., resident supports 

his community as an elected 

director on the local rural electric 

cooperative board, and he is a member 

of the local Democratic Club. 

Yet the issues that directly affect 

coal miners and all working people 

are the ones that remain closest to 

Long’s heart. And no issue is more 

important than organizing. 

“Big business doesn’t like 

unions,” he said. “Employers are 

trying to get rid of them wherever 

they can. They want to limit the size 

of the middle class, while feeding 

workers a lot of anti-union lies. That 

means that a lot of our problems 

have to do with how people feel 

about unions. They’re not supporting 

unions the way they used to. 

“I know it’s tough to organize, 

especially when the companies can 

appeal and appeal, then delay even 

more,” Long said. “That’s why the 

Employee Free Choice Act would be 

great, if we could only get it.” 

But Bob Long knows that the 

labor movement in general, and 

the UMWA in particular, is the 

front-line fighting force for making 

the laws work for working people. 

“Nowadays, when there is more 

for the upper class and less for the 

middle class, I can’t understand 

why anyone who packs a lunch 

each morning wouldn’t want to 

join a union,” he said. “My dad was 

a coal miner and a member of the 

UMWA. Since I joined, it has had 

a big impact on my life. We always 

worked to bring all the miners 

closer to each other. I am constantly 

proud of my union, and I’ll tell that 

to anyone who wants to listen.” 

Actively Retired is a regular feature highlighting UMWA retirees still working on 

behalf of the union. If you’d like to recommend a retiree to appear in Actively 

Retired, write to the UMW Journal, UMWA, 18354 Quantico Gateway Drive, 

Suite 200, Triangle, VA 22172, Attn: Actively Retired. Please include your name, 

local union, a telephone number and a brief explanation of why you’re nominating 

the individual. 


around 

our Union 

Dorris, Spece win scholarships 

Audrey Dorris of 

Henderson, Ky., has been 

awarded a $2,500 UMWA– 

Lorin E. Kerr Scholarship to 

pursue a college education. 

She has also won a $1,000 

Union Plus Scholarship 

sponsored by Union Privilege, 

an AFL-CIO affiliate. 

Dorris, whose father 

James is a third-generation 

Audrey Dorris 

UMWA miner who belongs to 

L.U. 1793, and whose cousin is a fourth-generation miner, 

has “grown up seeing how unions give their members fair 

wages and benefits.” 

Dorris, who graduated first in her class, hopes to 

study mathematics or electrical engineering, although she 

is considering studying law as 

well. “When a person has been 

wronged, they deserve to have 

someone fight for them, and 

I want to be that someone,” 

she said. 

Also receiving a $2,500 

UMWA–Kerr Scholarship is 

Hannah Spece of Pottsville, Hannah Spece 

Pa. The daughter of L.U. 4004 

member James Spece, Hannah plans to study engineering 

at Penn State–University Park. 

“Although I do not plan on being a coal miner, growing 

up in the Schuylkill County coal region has certainly 

influenced my career choice,” Spece said. Armed with her 

degree, she plans to return to the region and concentrate 

on clean coal technology. 

Clarence Minor 

U. 1569 member Clarence Minor 

of Middlesboro, Ky., passed L. 

away May 13, 2010. He was 78. 

“Brother 

Minor was 

the only 

Financial 

Secretary 

we ever had, 

dating back 

to 1968 when 

our local was 

chartered,” 

said former 

At-Large International Vice President 

Freddie Wright. “He always took 

good care of our money, and when 

he died, there was over $100,000 

in our treasury. I saw him at every 

International Convention I attended, 

and that goes back to 1976. He was a 

good solid union man.” 

Stanton Eugene Cockrum (center) visits with International Vice 

President Emeritus Jerry Jones and L.U. 1345 Recording Secretary 

Ron Roberson. A 70-year UMWA member, Cockrum spent 44 years 

mining in Old Ben No. 9, No. 22 and No. 24, served as L.U. 1345 

President for 20 years and attended nine International Conventions. 


around 

our Union 

AFL-CIO 

National Boycotts 

TRANSPORTATION & TRAVEL 

PACIFIC BEACH HOTEL (HTH) 

Luxury Hotel, Waikiki, Hawaii 

➤ International Longshore & 

Warehouse Union (ILWU) 

ENTERTAINMENT & 

RECREATION 

ECHOSTAR DISHNETWORK 

Satellite Television Service 

➤ Communications Workers of 

America 

BLUEMAN PRODUCTIONS 

➤ International Alliance of Theatrical 

Stage Employes (IATSE) 

OTHERS 

VINCENT BACH DIVISION 

CONN SELMER, INC. 

Elkhart, Indiana Musical 

Instruments: Trumpets, 

Trombones, Saxophones 

➤ United Automobile Workers 

(UAW) 

R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO. 

Cigarettes: BestValue, Camel, 

Century, Doral, Eclipse, Magna, 

Monarch, More, Now, Salem, 

Sterling, Vantage, and Winston; plus 

all Moonlight Tobacco products 

➤ Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco 

Workers & Grain Millers 

Phil Smith 

Strike at Coal Mountain 

Nearly 170 members of L.U. 7292 employed by Teck Coal, Ltd., at the company’s 

Coal Mountain mine in British Columbia were forced to strike by 

the company on Aug. 7. “We’ve been in negotiations for eight months with this 

company and have gotten nowhere,” said International Auditor/Teller (Canada) 

Bob Burchell, who is leading the negotiations. “They left us no other option but 

to strike.” 

The striking miners are looking for improvements in pay, benefits and job 

security provisions in a new contract. As of presstime, the company has refused 

to meet with the union to engage in negotiations to settle the strike. 

“The International Union and every UMWA member stands in solidarity 

with the members of L.U. 7292,” President Roberts said. “Their fight is our 

fight, and we will provide them with whatever assistance they need.” 

The annual Davis Day program was held June 11 in Sydney Mines, 

N.S. After an ecumenical church service held in Trinity Anglican 

Church, wreaths were laid at Miners Memorial Park. 

Speakers included International 

District 2 Vice President Ed Yankovich, 

Davis Day International Auditor/Teller Bob Burchell, 

Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly Member 

Cecil Clark and Cape Breton Regional 

Mayor John Morgan. Music was provided by the Men of the Deeps and 

the Royal Canadian Legion Band. 

Davis Day is a UMWA holiday in Canada that marks the anniversary of 

the 1925 murder of William Davis, who led a community protest against 

the local coal operator in New Waterford after the company shut down 

the town’s drinking water and electricity in an attempt to break a strike. 


around 

our Union 

UMWA takes on Rand Paul in Ky. 

After Kentucky U.S. Senate candidate 

Dr. Rand Paul (R) said 

that he and other legislators who 

aren’t mining experts should not 

have the “power to make [mining] 

rules” in Washington, several UMWA 

members held a press conference in 

Kentucky to express their concern 

about those and other statements 

Paul has made regarding mining and 

mine safety. 

“We depend on federal legislation 

to keep us safe in the mines,” said 

Bernie Alvey, a L.U. 1793 member. 

Paul’s comments were made in 

an article published by Details Magazine 

in its August issue, quoting a 

speech the candidate made in Harlan 

County, Ky. In the speech, Paul also 

said, “You live here, and you have to 

work in the mines. You’d try to make 

good rules to protect your people 

here. If you don’t, I’m thinking that 

no one will apply for those jobs.” 

“Every mine safety law ever 

passed in this country has been written 

in the blood of dead coal miners,” 

International District 12 Vice 

President Steve Earle said. “Every 

miner knows that federal rules and 

regulations are much stricter than 

most state rules, and are usually better 

enforced. For Rand Paul to call 

for rolling back the federal role in 

mine safety insults the memory of all 

those who died so miners today can 

have safer mines.” 

“Let’s just think for a minute 

about the effects of federal laws and 

regulations,” President Roberts said. 

“In the 40 years before the passage of 

the federal Mine Safety and Health 

Act in 1969, 32,000 miners were 

killed in America’s coal mines. In the 

40 year since that law was passed, 

3,200 miners have been killed. 

“That’s a 90 percent reduction 

in the rate of fatalities,” Roberts 

said. “So anyone who says that we 

Street Beat winner 

shouldn’t be passing federal laws 

and regulations to keep workers safe 

either doesn’t get it or doesn’t care if 

workers live or die. Either way, someone 

like that does not deserve to be 

in Congress.” 

U. 5396 won the third annual Fourth of July 2010 Street 

L. Beat Challenge in Ripley, W.Va., with the most members 

participating in the event. 

Members from as far away as Beckley came and joined the 

parade, which was led by Larry K. Matheney, Secretary-Treasurer 

of the West Virginia AFL-CIO. They will be awarded a plaque at the 

West Virginia AFL-CIO Special Convention on Aug. 16. 

The Street Beat Challenge is sponsored by the Mason, Jackson, 

Roane Central Labor Council. Every year, the council challenges 

local unions from across West Virginia to participate in Ripley’s 

Fourth of July parade to proudly participate in this large event. This 

year’s Independence Day celebration was held on July 3 because 

July 4 was a Sunday. 

Ron Gaskins, CWA, W.Va. Fine Photography, LLC 


In MemoRIam 

Sen. Robert C. Byrd 

R 

obert C. 

Byrd, the 

legendary 

senator 

from West Virginia 

and the longestserving 

member 

of Congress in 

the history of the 

United States, died 

June 27 at the age 

of 92. 

“UMWA members and all working 

families have lost a true friend,” President 

Roberts said. “No one did more for coal 

miners and their families than Sen. Byrd 

did. No one.” 

A son of West Virginia who married 

into a coal-mining family, Sen. Byrd dedicated 

his entire life to making things better 

for coal miners everywhere. He would 

remind audiences that he “lived under a 

coal miner’s roof, ate from a coal miner’s 

table, slept in a coal miner’s bed, and 

helped to carry coal miners to their final 

rest in the green hillsides of West Virginia.” 

He was the lead sponsor of the 1969 

Coal Miner Health and Safety Act, and con- 

“The best 

friend 

coal 

miners 

ever had” 

dies 

at 92 

vinced President 

Nixon not to veto 

the bill. “I have 

never let you coal 

miners down,” 

Byrd often said 

when addressing 

miners and their 

families. 

“Since that 

time, Sen. Byrd 

consistently 

fought for additional protections for 

miners,” Roberts said. “He led the charge 

to secure the 1977 revisions to the 1969 

Act. He fought in 1992 to continue health 

care benefits for mining families, and did 

tremendous work many times since then 

to secure funding, so that today, 100,000 

UMWA members and their spouses or 

widows are still getting benefits.” 

Despite failing health, Sen. Byrd fought 

to the very end to improve miners’ lives. 

He relentlessly pushed for answers in the 

Aracoma and Sago disasters to prevent 

tragedies like them from occurring again. 

And in his last public appearance in 

June 2010, he grilled Massey CEO Don 


Blankenship during a Senate hearing into the Upper 

Big Branch mine disaster, listing the number of serious 

safety violations and record of fatalities at the company’s 

mines, then saying “Shame!” 

to Blankenship. 

Byrd fought for 

enhanced black lung 

benefits his entire 

life. Last spring, his 

amendments to the 

health care bill restored 

the process of miners 

getting—and their widows 

West Virginia labor leaders gather on the front steps of 

the UMWA’s District 17 office in Charleston, W.Va., with a 

banner thanking Sen. Byrd for his years of service to West 

Virginia working families. UMWA International District 17 

Vice President Joe Carter is second from right. 

keeping—black lung benefits for those miners who 

have been totally disabled by this terrible disease. 

“We can never forget all that Sen. Byrd did for our 

families, our communities and our nation,” Roberts 

said. “His lasting legacy will be the millions of lives he 

touched and improved because of his determination to 

stand for—and stand with—coal miners. He will be in 

our hearts forever more.” 

Doug Gibson 


DISTRICts 

in action 

District 2 

The Pensioner Leadership Committee 

in District 2 is holding its annual 

picnic on Saturday, September 18 at 

Ten Mile Creek Park near Clarksville, 

Pa., in Washington County. The 

festivities will start at 10 am. 

Expected speakers include 

President Roberts, Secretary- 

Treasurer Kane, as well as other 

UMWA officers and local politicians. 

All active and retired dues-paying 

members and widows and their 

families are invited. 

District 12 

On May 18, 

L.U. 1740 

members 

Danny 

Thompson (left) 

and Kenneth 

Russelburg 

(right) delivered 

225 pounds of non-perishable food donated by their local union to 

Uniontown Postmaster Paula Berry in support of the National Stamp Out 

Hunger program sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers. 

District 12 

Southern Illinois retirees met on 

June 2 in Pinckneyville and the 

Central Illinois retirees met on July 

12 in Taylorville. 

L.U. 14 hosted its annual Miner’s 

Reunion Dinner on August 21 in 

Mulberry, Kan. 

L.U. 2414 will hold its annual 

fish fry on September 19 at noon at 

the city park in McLeansboro, Ill. 

All dues-paying members and their 

families are invited. 

District 17 

L.U. 1857 will have a picnic on 

September 11 at the Rutland 

Fireman’s Park in Rutland, Ohio 

from 12:00-5:00 pm. For more 

information, you may contact 

Rodney Butcher at (740) 742-2525 

or Jack Stollings at (740) 742-4317. 

District 20 

The UMWA District 20 Corps of 

Chaplains’ Annual “Praise & Worship 

Service” took place on August 7, at 

the L.U. 2397 hall in Brookwood, Ala. 

All District 20 families and 

friends are cordially invited and 

encouraged to attend the upcoming 

Labor Day Rally, Mon. September 

6 from 10:00 am-4:00 pm in 

Tannehill State Park (Farley Field 

Trade-day area). 

District 20 families and friends 

are also invited to the Ninth Annual 

Miners’ Memorial Service, Thurs., 

District 12 

(l-r) L.U. 5179 member Kenny 

Payne, L.U. 5179 President Larry 

Robling, former International 

District 12 Vice President 

Roger Myers, International 

Representative Tim Miller, L.U. 

2161 Financial Secretary Ronnie 

Huff, International Representative 

Tony O’Neal and L.U. 2161 

member Carl Smith participated 

in the Save American Jobs rally in 

Mt. Vernon, Ill., held June 28. 


DISTRICts 

in action 

District 31 

District 31 held its annual Mike 

Ayers Memorial Golf Tournament 

on May 23. The tournament was 

established shortly after the passing 

of International Executive Board 

member Michael Ayers. There were 

116 participants as well as numerous 

UMWA staff and volunteers. 

The tournament is chaired 

by retiree Bill Keechel, L.U. 1702 

Financial Secretary. Proceeds from 

the tournament benefit area schools 

through the District 31 Partners in 

Education program. 

September 23, at the Miners’ Memorial 

Monument at West Brookwood 

Church. Pre-service music will start 

at 4:00 pm with the service beginning 

at 5:00 pm. 

District 22 

UMWA General Counsel Grant 

Crandall and F. Darrell Munsell, 

author of From Redstone to Ludlow, 

were the guest speakers at the 

UMWA’s 96th annual Ludlow 

Memorial Service on June 27. The 

service took place at the Ludlow 

Massacre site in Colorado. 

The service commemorates the 

19 strikers and family members who 

were killed by the Colorado National 

Guard and company gunmen on 

April 20, 1914. Among the dead were 

13 women and children who suffocated 

when the tent they were hiding 

under was set ablaze. 

The site of the Ludlow tent 

colony was designated a National 

Historic Landmark in 2009. 

District 31 

Willard West, a District 31 retiree 

from the Robinson Run mine and a 

Honoring Our Pensioners 

member of Local 1501, was honored 

as the 2010 Governor’s Service Award 

recipient. He has served as Local 

President and Chairman of both the 

Mine and Safety committees and has 

also served on the District 31 Election 

committee. 

Willard is also an avid volunteer 

with his community. He works with 

the city public library and the memorial 

museum. 

UMWA District officials recently honored the following retirees for their years of 

service as members of the UMWA. 

40 Year Pins DISTRICT 2 L.U. 0488 Joe Pacconi, Jr. 

L.U. 0600 Thomas L. Brewer, Robert Frailey, David Slovinsky 

L.U. 1248 Donald C. Angelo, Luke Burke, Jr. L.U. 1980 Charles H. Miller 

L.U. 2300 J.R. Gump, Jr., Robert Vance L.U. 4963 Robert J. Matter, 

George L. Miller, Jr. L.U. 7925 Leonard Spory DISTRICT 12 L.U. 1189 Dave 

Tribbie L.U. 1410 Freddie G. Kincade L.U. 1423 Jerry Bedwell L.U. 1545 John 

Harvey, William Kerley, James Wright L.U. 1605 Walter Anderson, Raymond Ashby, 

Larry Draper, Bennie Dukes, Hugh Sears, William H. Whittinghill L.U. 1740 David Brewer, Richard Mann 

L.U. 1791 Sammy Beadles, Marvin E. Livermore L.U. 5179 Jerald R. Allen L.U. 9800 Lilburn Schroader 

L.U. 9819 Roy Shearer DISTRICT 17 L.U. 1330 William Rutledge L.U. 1340 Robert Marlow, Burrell Pettet 

L.U. 1503 Tony Harvey L.U. 1511 Orville Hurley L.U. 2322 Dewey Woolwine L.U. 5997 Cleo England, Phillip 

Lucion L.U. 6025 Ralph Childress L.U. 7635 Robert Wade DISTRICT 31 L.U. 1058 Charles Devor, Albert 

Wise L.U. 1570 Jesse L. Jones, Jr. L.U. 1638 Donald Hill, David McCray, James Pyles, Kenneth Sisler 

50 Year Pins DISTRICT 2 L.U. 0488 Joe Pacconi, Sr. DISTRICT 12 L.U. 1092 Dallas Gilbert 

L.U. 9819 Kenneth D. Bandy DISTRICT 17 L.U. 5997 Theodore Hagerman L.U. 7950 Roy Riddle 

60 Year Pins DISTRICT 12 L.U. 1092 Wilbur Fortner L.U. 9653 Charles Moore 

L.U. 9819 Joseph A. Kovack, Andrew Marcolini, Charles R. Pinnell DISTRICT 17 L.U. 1741 James Butler 

L.U. 5997 William Hagerman, Ervin Rorrer DISTRICT 22 L.U. 1799 William Nieto L.U. 6417 Jose F. 

Gonzales 

70 Year Pins DISTRICT 2 L.U. 4004 Paul Skodacek DISTRICT 12 L.U. 7110 Frank Mikulich 

Unfortunately, due to the numbers of members receiving pins, the UMW Journal cannot run photos of pin 

recipients. In order to receive a membership pin, you must submit an application to the District office. Pins 

are not automatically issued. Your district representative will send the names to the UMW Journal. 


our 

health&safety 

Mine Safety Bill 

The UMWA is supporting 

legislation approved by the 

House Education and Labor 

Committee to improve safety in 

America’s underground mines. 

“This legislation, introduced 

by our good friend Committee 

Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.), 

takes a comprehensive approach 

to improving underground mine 

safety by making it far more 

difficult for rogue operators 

to evade the law and their 

responsibility to provide a safe 

workplace for their employees,” 

said President Roberts. 

Among its many provisions, 

the Robert C. Byrd Miner 

Safety and Health Act would 

greatly enhance whistleblower 

protection for underground 

miners and expand the right to 

miners’ pay for safety-related 

closures. In addition, the bill 

would improve the pattern of 

violations (POV) mechanism. 

Further, the legislation would 

give MSHA broader authority 

to investigate mine disasters, 

including subpoena power, and 

would require an independent 

investigation if there are three or 

more fatalities. 

The bill would also promote 

worker health and safety in 

other workplaces, including 

those unrelated to coal, by 

strengthening provisions under 

the Occupational Safety and 

Health Act. It would increase 

OSHA’s civil penalties, which have 

not been changed in 20 years, 

and set higher penalties when 

violations result in fatalities. 

UMWA and 

USW demand safety action 

At an emergency meeting in June 

led by President Roberts and 

United Steelworkers (USW) International 

President Leo W. Gerard to 

discuss the nation’s alarming rate of 

worker deaths, the two labor leaders 

demanded compliance from corporations 

and rigorous enforcement of 

regulations from government. 

Both spoke to a gathering of 

USW oil workers in Pittsburgh 

about troubling rates of workplace 

fatalities, and discussed strategies to 

reduce the number of workers killed 

on the job. 

“A half century ago, UMWA 

President John L. Lewis said, ‘Coal 

has been splattered by the blood of 

too many miners, and that same 

coal has been washed by the tears of 

too many widows and their families,’” 

Roberts recounted. “Much has 

changed since then in the coalfields, 

but we are not yet rid of examples of 

coal corporations putting production 

and profit ahead of safety.” 

Also during that month, 11 

workers were killed in the Apr. 20 

explosion of the BP Macondo oil 

rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and seven 

Tesoro refinery workers died in an 

explosion Apr. 2. “The deaths of 

workers, utter destruction of the 

environment and devastation to 

communities are caused by reckless 

corporations that revere profit above 

community, the natural world and 

human life,” Gerard said. 

The union leaders said that the 

federal government must intervene 

with tougher safety laws and regulations 

and stricter enforcement, since 

corporations have refused to conduct 

themselves honorably and voluntarily 

end unnecessary endangerment 

of workers. 

MSHA memo rakes POV screening limits 

An internal MSHA memorandum slammed a policy adopted last year that 

restricted the agency’s Pattern of Violations (POV) authority to require 

immediate corrective action. 

In March 2009, the Coal Mine Safety and Health Administrator directed 

district managers to “select no more than one mine on the initial screening 

list per field office and a maximum of three mines per district” of the mines 

meeting POV screening criteria. “We were told this guidance was necessary 

to address resource limitations,” MSHA auditor Elliot Lewis told Assistant 

Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Joe Main in the memo. “However, this 

instruction set a limit that was inappropriate for this enforcement program.” 

“We are very concerned about mines removed for reasons other than 

appropriate consideration of the health and safety conditions at those 

mines,” Lewis said. “MSHA is not subjecting these mines to the enhanced 

oversight that accompanies potential POV status, yet it does not have 

evidence that they had reduced their rate of significant and substantial 

violations. As a result, miners may be subjected to increased safety risks.” 

United SteelWORKERS 


UMWA–Lorin E. Kerr 

Scholarships 

Two UMWA–Lorin E. Kerr Scholarships will be 

awarded for the 2011–2012 academic year to help 

individuals pursue undergraduate degrees in any 

field at accredited colleges or universities in the United 

States or Canada. 

Who is eligible? Current members of the UMWA and 

their dependents are eligible to apply for the scholarship. 

How much is it worth? The UMWA will award two 

scholarships for the 2011–2012 academic year, each for 

$2,500. Each will be paid in equal installments—Sept. 2011 

and Jan. 2012—as long as the winners have been accepted 

to a degree program at a qualified institution. 

How can the scholarship be used? 

The scholarship can be used only for education expenses. It 

is not transferable and will be forfeited if the recipient does 

not remain a student in good standing. 

How will the winners be chosen? A preliminary screening 

committee will select applications to be reviewed by an 

independent scholarship selection committee. The decision of 

the committee will be published in the UMW Journal. 

To apply for the scholarship, fill out the form below 

and mail it, along with the additional material specified in 

the instructions, to: UMWA–Lorin E. Kerr Scholarship Fund, 

18354 Quantico Gateway Drive, Suite 200, Triangle, VA 22172. 

UMWA–Lorin E. Kerr Scholarship Fund 

Application Form 

(Please print or type) 

INSTRUCTIONS: Applications must be submitted along with 

the following material, postmarked no later than Feb. 18, 2011. 

1. High school transcript. 

2. Transcript of any college (or other advanced) study. 

3. Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, or equivalent (if taken). 

4. A 500-word essay that addresses the following questions: 

(a) Why are you applying for this scholarship? 

Include a description of any unusual family or personal 

circumstances that have affected your school activities 

or work experience or that may affect your ability to 

achieve your goals. 

(b) What are your educational plans and career objectives? 

(c) In your opinion, what are the most important issues 

facing the organized labor movement today? 

5. On a separate sheet, describe your extracurricular activities 

and hobbies. 

Name: 

Address: 

City: State: Zip: 

Phone: 

Are you a UMWA member? 

If yes, L.U. 

Birth date: 

District 

If no, are you a dependent of a UMWA member? 

Yes 

No 

UMWA member’s name: 

L.U. 

District 

Degree program in which you intend to enroll (associate’s 

degree, bachelor’s degree, etc.): 

College or university at which you intend to study: 

References: 1. 

2. 

3. 

Note: Please have your references submit letters of 

recommendation directly to the UMWA–Lorin E. Kerr 

Scholarship Fund at the above address. At least one of your 

recommendations must be from an instructor or teacher. 

In accordance with the UMWA Constitution, the UMWA–Lorin 

E. Kerr Scholarship Fund does not discriminate on the basis of 

age, race, creed, color, nationality or sex. 


Printed in the U.S.A. 

Live. 

Relax. 

Enjoy. 

50 

BEnEFits 

help stretch your paycheck 

and make life a little easier. 

We know you work hard for your money. that’s why we’ve created 50 benefits to 

help you and your family get more out of life. Visit UnionPlus.org and see how 

to: 

l save on wireless devices and services available through “Union Proud” At&t. 

l Get discounts and upgrades on rental cars, vans, sUVs and trucks, plus great 

deals on family vacations. 

l save on theme parks, sporting events, theater, movies, movie rentals, 

restaurants and more. 

l secure a Union Plus Mortgage with special cost savings and protections 

against layoff, strikes and hardship. 

l Get Union sAFE grants to help weather economic storms. 

Plus EVEN morE BENEFITs offer you additional financial, health, insurance, 

legal, travel, entertainment and educational savings and services. 

For full details, visit UnionPlus.org 

UMWA 08/2010

July - August - United Mine Workers of America

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