May - June - United Mine Workers of America

May–June 2012 123rd Year, No. 3 

Stepping up 

Young 

members 

on the 

rise

United Mine Workers 

journal 

Young members step up......................4 

The average age of UMWA members has 

dropped dramatically, increasing the need 

for younger members to learn about the 

union and move into leadership roles 

in their locals. In every corner of the 

UMWA, that is exactly what is happening. 

Labor’s bank.........................................10 

As Brotherhood Bank and Trust in 

Kansas City works to become the bank of 

choice for unions and union members, 

the UMWA is working right alongside as 

the collective bargaining representative of 

the bank’s employees. 

Departments 

Letters.................................................3 

Actively Retired...............................13 

Government in Action....................14 

Around Our Union..........................17 

Our Health and Safety....................20 

Districts in Action...........................22 

Cover: Several of the young members from 

around the UMWA who are bringing renewed 

strength and activism to our union: top 

left, Mike Payton, L.U. 9909; middle left, 

Mike Shearer, L.U. 1501, bottom left, Willie 

Williams, Jr., L.U. 2397; center left, Renea 

Aldridge, L.U. 2397; center right top, Cecelia 

Alvarado, L.U. 8935; center right bottom, 

Eric Popham, L.U. 1984; top right, Adam Fry, 

L.U. 1702; upper middle right, Dan Martos, 

L.U. 2258; lower middle right, Casey Mullooly, 

L.U. 522; bottom right, Chuck Knisell, L.U. 

2300. Photos by Phil Smith, David Kameras, 

Bill Burke and Dennis O’Dell. 

The Mirror of History 

[Editor’s Note: The UMW Journal is looking 

back through pages of past issues and 

finding that the struggles of those who 

came before us were not all that different 

from what we face today.] 

25 Years Ago: Attend Your Local Union Meetings 

“Getting more members involved in your local union pays off for everyone— 

especially at contract time. More active rank-and-filers means stronger union 

programs like health and safety, contract enforcement and political action. 

Involvement also brings new respect from management, which makes your mine 

a better place to work.” June 1987 UMW Journal 

50 Years Ago: Coal Dust Can Produce Fatal Lung Diseases 

“More than three decades of extensive study point to a continuing need to lessen 

concentration of coal dust in mines. Dust from coal seams can produce serious 

and fatal pneumoconiosis, and this applies to both anthracite and bituminous coal. 

These diseases can occur in the absence of significant amounts of free silica.” 

June 1, 1962 UMW Journal 

75 Years Ago: Social Security Law Held Constitutional 

“In one of those famous five-to-four decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld 

the Social Security law in its entirety. Justice Cardozo wrote the opinion of the 

majority, in which he was joined by Chief Justice Hughes and Justices Brandeis, 

Stone and Roberts. The decision settles the question of the constitutionality of the 

law, which affects more than 26,000,000 persons in the United States.” 


100 Years Ago: Miners’ Families Driven From Home 

“Twenty-five hundred men, women and children, miners and their families, 

are camped tonight in the hills behind Kaylor, an Allegheny valley mining town, 

70 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The Great Lakes Coal Company, the corporation 

owning the mines and the houses, served notice earlier in the week that unless 

the miners signed a wage scale lower than the one agreed to at the Cleveland 

convention and returned to work, the houses must be vacated.” 


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 

Official Publication of the United Mine Workers of America, 18354 Quantico Gateway Dr., Suite 200, Triangle, VA 22172-1779, www.umwa.org 

© by the United Mine Workers of America. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. The United Mine Workers Journal (ISSN 

0041-7327, USPS 649-780) is published bimonthly by the United Mine Workers of America, 18354 Quantico Gateway Dr., Suite 200, Triangle, VA 22172-1779. Periodicals postage 

paid at Triangle, VA, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to UNITED MINE WORKERS JOURNAL, Data Edit Department, 18354 Quantico 

Gateway Dr., Suite 200, Triangle, VA 22172-1779. Telephone: 703-291-2405. Subscription price: $10 per year to non-UMWA individuals, $25 per year to institutions, $100 per year 

to corporations. Dues-paying members and associate members receive the Journal free of charge. If this is a change of address, include the address label from the back cover of your 

Journal or your old address. 

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40624074. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Pitney Bowes International Services, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. 

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 May/June 2012 • United Mine Workers Journal

letters 

Peabody ends relief 

funding program from 

miners 

[Editor’s note: The miners at Peabody’s 

Willow Lake mine near Harrisburg, 

Ill., voted last year to be 

represented by the UMWA. However, 

the company continues to contest the 

election, even though an NLRB Administrative 

Law Judge has ruled against 

the company, and the NLRB and a 

federal judge have ordered the company 

to reinstate a miner fired during the 

election period because of company 

misdeeds. The UMW Journal received 

a copy of this letter from the L.U. 5929 

president to the company.] 

On or about April 9, 2012, [the 

local] was made aware that management 

would no longer take out the 

voluntary checkoff from employees’ 

paychecks, as they have done for over 

16 years. This program was started to 

help employees and members of our 

community in times of need. The 

program has helped employees who 

were unable to work due to illness or 

injury, for employees whose homes 

have burned and other hardships, 

the Share Your Blessings to help lessfortunate 

kids have Christmas and 

recently, the tornado victims 

of Harrisburg. 

Our members signed a sheet to 

give over four thousand dollars to 

the victims of the tornado. That is 

when management made the decision 

to stop the long-standing past 

practice of the automatic checkoff. 

That will have a substantial impact 

on the employees, without any prior 

notice to the union. 

We feel that management has 

made a unilateral change.... We 

request that management rescind the 

decision to eliminate the voluntary 

checkoff. 

Greg Fort, President 

L.U. 5929 

Thanks to L.U. 9909 

members 

I am currently off work due to lung 

cancer, my second time around. I just 

wanted to write this letter to show 

my gratitude to the men and women 

of L.U. 9909, Loveridge #22 mine, 

District 31, and what they have done 

for me. 

These members have gone above 

and beyond to show great unity 

and great consideration of one of 

their own. I am honored that they 

chose me as the recipient of Consol’s 

Working Safely for a Cause program. 

Again, I thank you all and God 

Bless! 

Jon Smith 

L.U. 9909 

Correction: In the story entitled 

“Woven into the fabric” in the 

March-April 2012 issue of the 

UMW Journal, L.U. 2397 member 

Dale Fisher was misidentified. The 

UMW Journal regets the error. Our 

apologies to Sister Fisher. 

The UMW Journal welcomes letters. Please 

include your name, address and local number 

and keep letters as short as possible. Letters 

may be edited for length and clarity. Send to 

UMW Journal, UMWA, 18354 Quantico Gateway 

Drive, Suite 200, Triangle, VA 22172 or email to: 

journal@umwa.org. 

Kindergartner wins 

Virginia Coal Fair 

top prize 

I wanted to take this opportunity to 

share with you the story of my son, 

Brady Armistead, who is a kindergartner 

from Norton, Va. Brady 

entered the CEDAR of Virginia Coal 

Fair and won Student of the Year and 

nearly $1,600 for his narrated video 

of his trip to an inactive coal mine. 

Brady loves coal and he loves coal 

miners, and he is very proud to have 

coal miners in his family. 

Nearly 600 students from grades 

K–12 from many counties and many 

schools competed in this highly competitive 

Coal Fair. 

Brady thanks coal miners in his 

video, and I wanted to share this with 

you in the hopes that miners will 

remember what an inspiration they 

are to all of us. 

Alicia Armistead 

Big Stone Gap, Va. 

[Editor’s note: According to its website, 

www.cedarva.com, “CEDAR (Coal 

Education Development and Resources) 

of Virginia, Inc., is an all-volunteer, 

non-profit corporation whose mission 

is to facilitate the increase in knowledge 

and understanding of the many benefits 

the coal industry provides in our 

daily lives by providing financial and 

educational resources to local teachers 

and students.] 

United Mine Workers Journal • May/June 2012 3

Stepping up 

A new generation of UMWA 

takes on the challenges of leadership 

When Jim Burk came to Cumberland mine in Greene County, 

Pa., in 2006, he had some mining experience but had never 

been seriously involved in his local union. After his first L.U. 

2300 meeting, that all changed. 

“Our local president at the time 

stressed how important it was for 

young guys to step up and get involved,” 

Burk said. “I looked around 

and I thought, ‘This is going to be 

our union in a few years, we’ve got 

to start getting ready for that.’ I don’t 

like seeing the company pushing 

people around, running over guys, so 

I just thought I can be a voice on the 

job for the membership.” 

Two years later, he was elected to 

the Mine Committee and has been 

working to resolve grievances and 

other issues at the mine ever since. 

For L.U. 1307 Recording Secretary 

Matt Maus, getting involved just 

made sense for his job and his future 

at Wyoming’s Kemmerer mine. “I figured 

if I’m going to be in the union, 

I might as well go to meetings and be 

active. That way I would have more 

of a say. Sometimes guys complain 

that, ‘Oh, we didn’t get this or that 

in the contract.’ Well, I wanted to 

do more than complain, I wanted to 

have a say in what was in it. 

“I like helping when members 

have a question about the contract,” 

the 28-year-old Maus said. “I get into 

a lot of different things. There’s an 

ongoing stream of work for a local 

union, and believe it or not, it can 

be rewarding.” 

“One of the best things about 

taking on a position in the union 

is the ability to help your fellow 

members when they have a problem,” 

President Roberts said. “Serving as a 

local union officer or on a committee 

takes extra time, no doubt about it. It 

can cause some headaches and some 

sleepless nights. 

“But the other side of that is 

knowing that you are doing something 

for the other people in your 

local union that helps everyone and 

makes us all stronger,” Roberts said. 

“After all, that’s what being in a union 

is all about. Without people who are 

willing to step into leadership roles, 

enforce the contract, make sure the 

workplace is safe and make sure 

members get the pay and benefits 

they’ve rightfully earned, we wouldn’t 

stay a strong union for very long.” 

Filling the generation gap 

in coal 

A rapid transformation is underway 

in the North American coal industry. 

As technology improved and mine 

productivity skyrocketed over the 

last 25 years, most companies didn’t 

Jim Burk 

add very many workers over that 

time. People hired in the 1970s and 

1980s generally had steady work in 

the mines, but as they aged, there 

were few hired after them. That all 

changed in the last decade. 

Three things happened in the 

coal industry in the middle of the 

2000s that spurred new hiring: The 

demand for coal went up significantly, 

the price of coal went up significantly 

as well and the older generation 

of miners began to retire. This 

made it imperative for the companies 

to hire new workers. In the years 

since then, that trend has accelerated. 

“We’ve seen the average age 

of miners at most of the UMWA 

mines go from about 50 to about 

35 in just a few years,” Secretary- 

Treasurer Kane said. “At some mines, 

the average age is even younger. Our 

older members are retiring, and that 

includes those who have filled leader- 

Phil Smith 


members 

Phil Smith 

David Kameras 

ship roles in the local unions. We 

need these young people to step up, 

and I’m glad to see that so many of 

them are.” 

Many of the new generation of 

union leaders are from a UMWA 

family, and so are familiar with the 

union and the benefits it brings to 

both active and retired miners and 

their families. But many more are 

first-generation miners who have no 

previous attachment to the union. 

L.U. 2245 Vice President and 

Mine Committee Chairman Doug 

Ward is one of those. A veteran 

who served tours in both Iraq and 

Afghanistan, Ward understands the 

value of brotherhood, teamwork and 

watching out for each other’s back. 

“I worked in a nonunion job, 

and now I’ve worked union,” Ward 

said. “There is a real difference. It’s 

like one big brotherhood. The union 

tries to help you when you have a 

problem, but you’ve got no one on 

your side when you’re working without 

a union. I like being able to help 

people with their problems. 

“Being active at the Jim Walter 

Resources #4 mine in Alabama has 

its benefits,” Ward said. “You learn 

a lot about mine safety and how a 

mine is supposed to work. I’ve met 

some great people and have had very 

good leaders at this local who have 

helped me.” 

Responsibility and reward 

Mike Shearer, who works at the 

Robinson Run mine in West Virginia, 

is a 31-year old fourth-generation 

union coal miner who serves on 

the L.U. 1501 Mine Committee, the 

Safety Committee and the Organizing 

Committee. “It’s in my blood,” he 

said. “It’s the only industry around 

here that you can be in that has a 

strong union. I don’t mean to slam 

anybody else, but the UMWA is the 

strongest union around. 

“You’ve got to have broad shoulders,” 

Shearer said. “Sometimes you 

go home and it wasn’t a good day, 

because you can’t give your people 

the answers they wanted, when they 

wanted or how they wanted. 

“There can be 10 bad things that 

happen in a day, but if I help that one 

person, that’s good enough for me,” 

Shearer said. “I do what I can to the 

best of my ability to help a person, 

and that’s all anyone can do.” 

L.U. 2300’s Burk agrees. “I get 

out of my truck in the parking lot 

and I’ve already got people coming 

at me,” he said. “You’ve got to be 

honest with them. They might not 

like the answer they get from you, 

they might get mad, but in the end, 

people respect you for being upfront 

and telling them what you think. The 

reward is being able to step in and 


Brian Seabolt 

Michael Bauer 

Phil Smith 

David Kameras 

Matt Johnson 

make sure the company is 

doing right by the workforce 

and by the contract.” 

Michael Bauer, L.U. 1101 

Recording Secretary at the Beulah 

mine in North Dakota, also serves 

on the Mine Committee, the Safety 

Committee and the Mine Rescue 

Team. “My father is the president of 

our local, so I had the full union experience 

growing up,” he said. “Those 

of us who are coming up need to 

pick up the ball and run with it. 

“I’ll be honest, some days it’s a 

really thankless job,” Bauer said. “But 

some days it’s incredibly rewarding. 

A lot of the work is answering questions 

about the contract and about 

whether things were done properly 

or not. Members come looking for 

answers, and its my job to get those 

answers for them. No one else is going 

to do this for us, we have to step 

up and do it ourselves.” 

L.U. 9909 President Mike Payton 

has been working at the Loveridge 

mine in West Virginia since 2007. 

Payton’s mother was also an underground 

coal miner, a single mom 

who raised four children. “There 

came a point where I realized that 

there was a need for younger guys at 

our local to step up and take these 

jobs on,” Payton said. 

“The older guys in the local at 

that time said, ‘You need to sit in 

on grievance meetings, you need to 

go check this out, you need to go to 

this rally,’ and I saw for myself what 

a difference it makes when someone 

has your back,” Payton said. “I 

saw how close the UMWA family is 

outside of the mine, at the District 

and International levels. I understood 

that when we say ‘solidarity,’ it 

means something. 

“But I take it home every day,” 

Payton said. “The phone calls, the 

conversations.... They say it’s a thankless 

job but it’s really not because you 

realize you’re helping people at the 

mine and you’re helping the union. 

Somebody’s got to do it, you know. 

We’ve got to keep this union going. 

There is too much at stake not to.” 

Strong local 

unions matter 

everywhere 

A strong local union is important 

no matter where you work. For 

Casey Mullooly, a 33-year old 

correctional officer at the Westmoreland 

County, Pa., prison, getting 

active in his local union was 

about standing up for what’s right. 

“I don’t like bullies,” Mullooly said. 

“When you stop management from 

bullying workers, it makes all your 

time and effort worthwhile.” 

The current vice president and 

former president of L.U. 522, Mullooly 

was instrumental in changing 

the assignment system for where officers 

are posted in the facility. “Who 

“We’ve got to keep 

this union going. 

There is too much 

at stake not to.” 


Phil Smith 

received good posts and who got bad 

posts were at the whim of management,” 

Mullooly said. “If someone 

was filing a grievance or was not 

liked by management for another 

reason, they would get bad shifts. We 

got that changed. Now posts are bid 

out and it’s done by seniority. That’s 

how it’s supposed to be.” 

Matt Johnson, vice president 

of L.U. 4242 at Brotherhood Bank 

and Trust in Kansas City, knows the 

members at his workplace don’t have 

the same challenges as other UMWA 

members do. “We don’t have many 

safety issues here. We don’t work 

with heavy machinery or dynamite. 

Matthew Miller 

“But when you have a union, 

there is still the internal relief you 

feel of someone having your back 

when you need them,” Johnson said. 

“There just isn’t as much stress at 

work for the employees.” 

Ronald Yanik, the financial secretary 

of newly organized L.U. 285 at 

Sandvick Mining and Construction, 

tells younger members that “if it 

wasn’t for the workers here, the company 

wouldn’t be what it is. You have 

to look out for your future, because 

you can bet the company will look 

out for its future. You have to stand 

up and use your voice, because the 

company sure won’t.” 

New workforce, 

same issues 

Many young UMWA miners worked 

in a nonunion mine before they 

were hired at a union mine. For 

them, there is something of a culture 

shock coming to a union mine. 

For 37-year old Matthew Miller, 

coming to the Robinson Run mine 

was a godsend. 

“At the nonunion mine where I 

worked, you kept your mouth shut, 

you didn’t question what they said or 

you were out of the mine and out of 

a job,” Miller, who is a mine committeeman 

at L.U. 1501, said. “Safety 

is just so different. You don’t have 

a say-so at that nonunion mine, it 

didn’t matter if it was safe or not. 

“At a nonunion mine, it’s the last 

thing they care about,” Miller said. 

“And some of these young guys coming 

in, that’s all they’ve ever known. 

They don’t know that what they’re 

doing is unsafe, that’s the way they 

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep us going. 

Because together, collectively, we can do anything.” 

were taught. They don’t know that 

they have safety rights.” 

“Some of these young guys—19, 

20, 21 years old—still think they’re 

bulletproof,” Mike Shearer said. 

“They need to understand that there 

is a reason there are safety laws. 

Every one of those laws is written in 

the blood of a dead or injured miner 

who was once just like them.” 

“It can take a while for some of 

the red-hats (new hires) to understand 

that they have a voice here,” 

said Travis Elswick, a mine committeeman 

at L.U. 2286 at the Hobet 

mine in West Virginia. “They’re coming 

into a union setting for the first 

time, and they don’t know what to 

think when they find out they have 

a say. You’ve got to get them to open 

up and see they have a right to stand 

up for themselves when it comes to 

safety or following the contract. But 

when they do, watch out!” 

“Sometimes guys will say they 

can go down the road to a nonunion 

mine and make more money,” said 

Brian Seabolt, the 28-year old chairman 

of the L.U. 1713 Mine Committee 

at the Pinnacle mine in southern 

West Virginia. “What they’re not 

thinking about is that if it weren’t 

for the UMWA, they wouldn’t be 

making that kind of money at that 

nonunion mine. It’s the sacrifices our 

forefathers made that got us to where 

we are today.” 

 


“I have an 

opportunity to help 

people, to help them 

realize they have a 

voice on the job.” 

Ask these 

local leaders 

what the most 

rewarding thing 

about what they do is, 

and you’ll get the same 

answer: keeping people 

on the job. “I know all the 

members in my local,” Mullooly said. 

“I know their families. I went to a 

member’s house when we were in 

arbitration to save his job, and I saw 

his daughter sitting at the kitchen 

table doing her homework. I know 

he needs that job to keep food on 

that table for her and a roof over 

her head.” 

“Saving someone’s job, that’s a 

good day,” said Dan Martos, chairman 

of the L.U. 2258 Mine Committee 

at the Emerald mine in Pennsylvania. 

“This job doesn’t stop when I 

clock out. I see people in the parking 

lot, I get phone calls at home. That’s 

all part of it, and I’m OK with that. 

But when you feel like you’ve helped 

a person keep their job, get the things 

they deserve under the contract..., 

yeah, that’s a good day. Because you 

know it’s not just 

them you’ve helped, 

it’s the whole local, the 

whole union.” 

“People make mistakes,” 

said Seabolt. “Sometimes 

they get themselves 

into trouble and we have to get 

them out of it. After a while, there 

isn’t anything you can do for some 

of them, but for others, it can be an 

eye-opener and we can get them on 

the right road. They don’t miss a day 

of work, they do their jobs and they 

go home safe every night. 

“The job of a mine committeeman 

is to enforce the contract,” 

President Roberts said. “That 

includes making sure all the rules are 

followed with respect to discipline 

and discharge. It’s not fun, it’s not 

glamorous, but it is one of the things 

that separates a union from a nonunion 

job. When you have a written 

contract with a strong grievance 

procedure in it, management needs 

a lot more reason to fire you than 

just a whim. That’s an important 

lesson to learn early in a union 

member’s career.” 

Taking on a larger role 

Some younger members, like Mike 

Payton from L.U. 9909, have taken 

on the greater level of responsibility 

of being local union president. 

L.U. 2300’s Chuck Knisell served 

as vice president of his local before 

assuming the presidency last year. He 

wouldn’t change a thing. 

“I have an opportunity to help 

people, to help them realize they 

have a voice on the job,” Knisell 

said. “I am pretty lucky, we’ve always 

been on top of safety at Cumberland. 

We’ve been running this 

way for a long time, so the guys 

here don’t have to worry as much 

about getting hurt—or worse—on 

their shift. 

“They’re not worrying about 

being forced to make an unsafe decision 

to keep their job,” Knisell said. 

“It makes for a pretty friendly atmosphere 

around the bathhouse. And it 

means we can focus more on being 

a strong local union that is there to 

help everyone and make this a good 

place to work.” 

Holding the top local union 

job can be stressful, especially for 

someone who is barely in his 30s. 

“Sometimes I feel like I have to be 

Mr. Perfect, that everyone’s eyes are 

on me,” Knisell said. “That comes 

with the territory. I have a lot of help 

at this local from younger guys and 

older guys. The bond between the 

miners is special. I am really good 

friends with men old enough to be 

my father or grandfather. That just 

doesn’t happen anywhere else.” 

Payton credits some of the older 

members at L.U. 9909, some who 

have retired and some who are still 

working, with helping provide guid- 

Phil Smith 


“I’ve got a voice, I’m not going to just sit there 

with my tail between my legs.” 

ance when he needs it. “They gave me 

a chance, helped me learn, and they’re 

still keeping an eye out for me. If I 

need to call on them, they are there.” 

For L.U. 1702 member Adam 

Fry, the responsibilities can sometimes 

weigh heavy. In addition to 

being on the Mine Committee and 

Safety Committee at the Blacksville 

#2 mine in West Virginia, the 31-year 

old Fry is also working part time at 

the District 31 office handling grievances 

and arbitrations. 

“I enjoy being able to get around 

and talk to people at other mines, see 

what’s going on there,” Fry said. “I 

wish I could meet them under other 

circumstances, because if they see 

me, it’s because something’s wrong. 

But when we get the grievance resolved 

and they’re back to work, then 

it’s all worthwhile.” 

“It’s worth every minute” 

Though serving as a local union 

officer or committee member 

can sometimes mean dealing 

with upset coworkers, the rewards 

are overwhelming. 

“It’s worth every minute,” sad 

Martos. “You get to know a lot of 

people, and the feeling of brotherhood 

is awesome. You get a feeling 

of accomplishment, knowing that 

you’re doing a job that makes you 

a part of the entire international 

union. A small part, yeah, but a 

key part.” 

“I’ve got a voice, I’m not going 

to just sit there with my tail between 

my legs,” said Jim Burk. “Plus, I’ve 

been able to meet a lot of new people 

I would never have met otherwise. 

You realize you’re part of a bigger 

thing, but that it only works if those 

of us at the local level do our jobs.” 

“I think we’re at a crossroads 

right now, but I’m certain this union 

can survive,” L.U. 1501’s Miller said. 

“We’re going to have to fight some 

to keep our union strong, but that’s 

nothing new. As for me, I’m going to 

do whatever it takes to keep us going. 

If a brother needs me, I’ll be there. 

If a sister needs me, I’ll be there. 

Because together, collectively, we can 

do anything.” 

That is exactly the spirit that has 

kept the UMWA the strong, powerful 

voice for working families in North 

America for more than 120 years. 

And that determination to stick 

together to meet and overcome the 

challenges we will face in the years to 

come remains alive and well in a 

new generation of UMWA members 

and leaders. 

The future is in good hands. 

Doug Ward 


Banking on Labor 

Membership branches into 

financial services 

America was a different place 

in 1924. A small but growing 

middle class, boosted by a still-young 

labor movement, needed a place 

they could trust to keep their money. 

Banks were local enterprises, relying 

on the goodwill from and a strong 

sense of duty to their customers. 

When the International Brotherhood 

of Boilermakers founded Brotherhood 

Bank and Trust in Kansas 

City, Mo., that year to serve working 

families, the future seemed bright for 

worker-friendly banks. 

“Whether you’re in banking 

or ditch-digging, the 

common working person 

needs a voice.” 

Today, Brotherhood Bank is 

one of the very few labor-oriented 

banks left in the United States. It has 

survived the Great Depression of 

the 1930s and the Great Recession 

of 2008. It has one other distinction 

as well: The bank’s employees are 

represented by the UMWA. 

“By providing a collective voice 

to these financial services workers, 

our union has demonstrated once 

again our ability to meet the desire 

of working people to be in a strong 

union, irrespective of trade or location,” 

said President Roberts. 

A smart investment 

“I’ve always wanted to work at 

Brotherhood Bank,” said L.U. 4242 

Vice President Matt Johnson, a 

“universal” (personal) banker and 

member of the Grievance and Safety 

committees. “My father works here, 

and I’ve known a lot of the people 

who have worked here a long time.” 

Johnson has observed a notable 

reduction in workplace stress since 

the UMWA came on the scene. 

“Management has always been 

decent to work with, but you never 

knew when there was going to be an 

organizational change. Now people 

know they’re not going to come to 

work and find everything different. 

You know that there’s somebody else 

out there working for you, as opposed 

to you being on your own.” 

Universal banker Brenda 

Hernandez, who got into banking 

through an internship while studying 

accounting in high school, has seen 

a lot of changes with the UMWA at 

Brotherhood. “Being in the union is 

great for me. Now we have a Safety 

Committee, which means if something 

isn’t safe, we can get it resolved. 

We get more benefits. We got a raise; 

we hadn’t had a raise in a while, and 

didn’t know when we would get one. 

“Also, we have a voice,” she said. 

“We’re able to say, ‘hey, this is not 

right’ or ‘something’s going on,’ and 

we have someone there to help us out 

if we have an issue. Before, I think 

people held stuff back because they 

couldn’t say things straight to managers 

and have someone at their back. 

You are actually able to have somebody 

speak for you or defend you.” 

Sherri O’Connor, a universal 

banker at the Mid-County Branch, 

agrees. “It’s put us on a more level 

playing field with management. I 

think unions are good in every profession. 

You have someone to protect 

your rights. Whether you’re in banking 

or ditch-digging, the common 

working person needs a voice. 

“I’ve been in banking for 

45 years,” she said. “With a union 

here, management treats everyone 

the same.” 

“I like the bank; it’s been good 

to me and it’s really a good place 

to work,” said Rich Filbert, a trust 

operations specialist. “I get along 

with everybody. It seems like a small 

family; everybody knows everybody.” 

“The union’s presence gives both 

management and the employees the 

opportunity to increase and enhance 

David Kameras 


our relationship,” said L.U. 4242 

President David Stokes, a network 

engineer in the Technology and 

Operations Division. “There’s been 

some evidence of that already, and 

my anticipation is that moving forward, 

it will get closer and stronger.” 

Bank of Labor 

“Financial services in this country 

are dominated by a handful of 

enormous national banks, using 

their depositors’ money to invest in 

places and often risky ventures far removed 

from their customers,” noted 

Secretary-Treasurer Kane. “It is rare 

indeed to have a bank that actively 

identifies with union workers, capably 

manages union funds and creates 

good jobs for working families.” 

One thing that makes Brotherhood 

Bank special is the degree to 

which it has reached out to the labor 

movement for 88 years. Its Trust Division 

alone has nearly $6 billion in 

assets, 95 percent from labor-related 

sources. Today, referencing its newfound 

partnership with the UMWA, 

the bank has launched what it calls 

the Bank of Labor—an initiative 

to expand the bank’s mission beyond 

the Kansas City area and open 

up existing trust accounts to new 

union customers. 

“‘Bank of Labor’ is a name we 

have chosen for our division that 

was specifically formed to meet the 

needs of the labor community,” said 

bank President Bob McCall. “It was 

born, in part, by labor approaching 

the bank and saying, ‘We are tired 

of dealing with these large, multinational, 

impersonal, anti-labor 

banks that have caused an economic 

downturn, and have put hundreds 

of thousands, if not millions, of our 

members out of work.’ 

“This is essentially a bank 

without walls, and we have invested 

Bob McCall 

millions of dollars to reach the labor 

community, wherever they are, 

through the electronic medium,” 

McCall said. “Once we explain that 

you’re not only working with a 

union-owned bank, but one where 

the employees are represented by the 

UMWA, one of the greatest labor 

organizations in the country, people 

really do start to take notice.” 

“You’re not only working with 

a union-owned bank, but 

one where the employees are 

represented by the UMWA.” 

Hernandez agreed. “I have had a 

lot of customers say, ‘Oh, I’ve heard 

you’re a union bank now, and I want 

to open an account.’” 

“Unions are made up of 

very loyal people, and we are no 

different,”said Matt Johnson. “We 

are extremely loyal to our customers, 

especially our brothers and sisters; 

they may be in different trades, but 

they’re still our brothers and sisters. 

Banks fail all the time now, but we’re 

not going to fail. We’re backed by a 

labor union, we’re going to be here 

for the long haul. 

“The Bank of Labor is a wonderful 

idea,”he said. “Why wouldn’t labor 

unions want to take part in that?” 

David Kameras 

David Kameras 

Community banking 

Beyond reaching out to labor via 

the internet, Brotherhood Bank is a 

durable fixture in the region it serves 

through its seven locations. 

“You know, all banks are kind of 

the same,” said Matt Johnson. “They 

pretty much do the same thing for 

retail customers; you can cash a 

check, you can make deposits. But 

our people here, they really go above 

and beyond what they really need to 

do. Our people make the difference. 

“People don’t have to worry 

about their money here,” Johnson 

said. “It’s not going to feed Wall 

Street greed. It’s staying in the 

community, where it’s safe. This is 

a union-owned bank, and it’s been 

around a long time. We support our 

union friends, but we also support 

charities and do a lot of different 

things in the larger community. Everyone 

knows Brotherhood Bank.” 

“We do help with a lot of community 

programs, a lot of Hispanic 

programs, and we help raise money 

for the Red Cross,” added Saemg 

Phimmachak, an operation maintenance 

file reviewer. “I think the bank 

is good for the community.” 

“It’s not a conglomerate; it’s a 

locally owned bank,” said O’Connor. 

“We treat customers like customers, 

not numbers. I would say that 

75 percent of the people who walk 

through that door, I know their 

Saemg Phimmachak 


names, and frequently their kids’ 

names as well.” 

“Brotherhood Bank has long 

been a trusted household name in 

the Kansas City area,” said International 

District 31 Vice President 

Steve Earle. “Now its customers can 

see first-hand that working union 

and banking union are a perfect fit.” 

Work union, bank union 

Although it employs close to 

6 million people, the U.S. financial 

services industry is overwhelmingly 

nonunion, and most of its workers 

have little or no familiarity with 

labor unions. But at Brotherhood 

Bank, that is quickly changing. 

“The UMWA’s into many 

different trades and 

occupations.” 

“I had no idea what a union 

stood for,” said Jane Anderson, a client 

support specialist in the Shawnee 

Branch. “I didn’t even realize there 

was a union for coal miners; that’s 

how unfamiliar I am with unions. 

Now I appreciate what coal miners 

do. It’s a hard job and it’s a dangerous 

job. There’s a lot to learn about 

it, but I’m enjoying it.” A member of 

the Safety Committee, Anderson’s 

not aware of any safety issues since 

the UMWA’s arrival. 

“My grandfather was in a union, 

so I knew a little about unions,” said 

Jan Johnson, a trade settlement coordinator 

and member of the Grievance 

Committee. “So I said, ‘I’m in,’ 

because I knew that unions are for 

the working people. It makes me 

want to take a more active interest in 

what’s going on, and helping other 

people who have issues. It makes me 

feel I’m part of a family that cares 

about me and about my job. 

Lura Powell 

“The biggest change I’ve noticed 

is that the employees seem more together, 

more like a family, more open 

to communicate with each other,” 

she said. “The union has made us a 

lot more comfortable about talking 

about workplace issues.” 

“Both my grandparents and 

father were in a union. In fact, 

they were in the United Mine 

Workers,” said Lura Powell, a 

bookkeeping and accounting clerk. 

“The union was wonderful to my 

father, who retired after 44 years. 

I lost my father a month ago, and 

my mother of course still has her 

UMWA health insurance.” 

Although all bargaining unit 

workers saw wage and benefit improvements 

under their first collective 

bargaining agreement, part-time 

workers got a unique benefit. “As a 

part-timer, I get paid holidays under 

the contract, more paid vacation; 

there’s benefits all the way around,” 

said Sue Lehn, Trust Department 

image scanner, who did two previous 

full-time stints with the bank. “My 

dad worked for Missouri Pacific as 

an electrician, my brother belongs 

to the IBEW and my husband is an 

AT&T retiree. The bank opened a 

door with the UMWA, and maybe 

other places will see that and more 

facilities will be organized.” 

David Kameras 

David Kameras 

David Kameras 

“Paid holidays; I love that,” said 

Randy Neidig, a maintenance worker 

scheduled for five hours a day. “I 

didn’t get any in all my 32 years in 

construction. I like working for a 

union bank. I come from a union 

family, so I’m all for unions. I’ve never 

crossed a picket line and never will.” 

Last January, Matt Johnson 

participated as part of the UMWA’s 

Randy Neidig 

delegation to the AFL–CIO’s annual 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., birthday 

observance, where he had the 

opportunity to see first-hand the occupational 

diversity of the UMWA’s 

membership. “The UMWA’s into 

many different trades and occupations. 

There were court reporters and 

nursing home workers and plenty of 

coal miners. I said to myself, ‘We fit 

right in here.’ I don’t think anything’s 

different, except we don’t wear a 

hardhat with a light on top at work.” 

Jan Johnson also participated in 

the Detroit event. “After I met some 

of the Mine Workers and read up on 

the union’s history, I think it’s really 

cool. I feel like I’m at home now.” 

12 May/June 2012 • United Mine Workers Journal 

Jan Johnson

Freddie Wallace 

Freddie Wallace likes to travel. 

And many delegates to the last 

few UMWA constitutional conventions 

saw that personally when they 

arrived in Las Vegas. “I go out one or 

two weeks ahead and help set things 

up,” said the L.U. 1259 member, who 

is proud of his 41 years as a UMWA 

member. “I’m usually doing whatever 

jobs they hand me to do. That 

includes transportation to and from 

the airport and getting baggage. It is 

very important to see a friendly face 

when you get off an airplane.” 

International District 17 Vice 

President Joe Carter agrees. “Brother 

Wallace has been a good union 

supporter and a good friend for 

many years,” he said. “He helps us at 

conventions and just about any functions 

that we ask him to do.” 

A member of the UMWA since 

1970, Wallace worked in maintenance, 

mobile equipment, as a brakeman 

and utility man before retiring 

in 1998 from the Moss 3 Preparation 

Plant in Russell County, Va. During 

the 1989–90 Pittston strike, Moss 

3 was the site of a legendary sit-in, 

with union members occupying the 

facility for four days. 

“The Pittston strike was a lifechanging 

experience, and also an 

education on how the union could 

pull together,” said Wallace. “It really 

paid off in the long run for the 

union. We either had to fight or quit, 

and we chose to fight. It was amazing 

how our leaders stood with us and 

we stood with our leaders. Working 

together allowed us to accomplish 

our victory, because everybody was 

on the same page.” 

“Freddie worked extremely hard 

during the Pittston strike,” remembered 

Region II Director Gary Trout. 

“In fact, Freddie has always been 

a really good guy. He works every 

convention hard. You never hear 

him complain. He’s always out front, 

working for the membership.” 

President Roberts agrees. “Freddie 

was a leader in the Pittston strike, 

one of the true warriors in that 

“Some young miners don’t realize what they 

could lose if they don’t go union.” 

effort. He’s been a leader ever since, 

working and retired, and I can’t 

thank him enough for his lasting 

contributions to our union.” 

As much as his brothers and 

sisters appreciate his service to our 

union, Wallace more than matches 

that in return. “I am so grateful to 

the union,” he said. “It always gave us 

a good wage scale. And the insurance 

is a blessing that is still paying my 

medical bills. My wife had cancer for 

nine years before she died. If I didn’t 

have UMWA insurance, I wouldn’t 

know what I would have done.” 

actively 

retired 

Like many other members, 

Wallace is concerned about the 

potential impact of federal environmental 

regulations on coal, while 

trying to balance that concern with 

the need for clean air and water. “The 

government’s trying to do something 

about pollution,” he said. “I’m not 

against it; we should deal with climate 

change. But they should be doing it 

more gradually. Otherwise, it may 

take a lot of people’s jobs. You know, 

when you lose one job in coal, you 

lose jobs in other industries as well.” 

Today, as the 69-year-old 

Wallace looks forward to spending 

time at a place he just bought 

in Gatlinburg, Tenn., he reflects on 

the need to motivate new members 

just starting out. “Our fathers and 

forefathers accomplished so much,” 

he said. “Some young miners don’t 

realize what they could lose if they 

don’t go union. Life is a cycle; and if 

we lose our gains, we might have to 

fight for them all over again.” 

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. 


Government 

in action 

Colombia 

free trade 

agreement 

bad for workers, miners 

in both countries 

The Apr. 15 announcement 

by the Obama administration 

that it was implementing a 

free trade agreement with 

Colombia, based on the Colombian government meeting minimal 

labor standards, will not reduce the daily violence union leaders 

and members face simply for standing up for their rights. 

Colombian miners work 

long hours without basic 

protective and survival gear. 

UMWA delegation finds dangerous 

working conditions in Colombian mines 

“This trade deal won’t improve 

safety conditions for miners in 

Colombia,” President Roberts said. 

“It’s not going to improve the lives 

of ordinary working Colombians or 

Americans. It won’t stop the killing 

of labor leaders there. Indeed, it 

sends a message that the U.S. isn’t 

going to stand in the way of the 

death squads.” 

The UMWA has been working 

with the AFL–CIO’s Solidarity 

Center for years to improve working 

and living conditions for Colombian 

miners and their families. As part of 

that effort, a UMWA health and safety 

delegation visited the Colombian 

coalfields in February, touring mines 

and meeting with miners, union 

leaders and community groups. 

The conditions they found were 

appalling. “The safety standards 

in coal mines there are what ours 

would have been in the 1920s,” said 

Ron Airhart, Executive Assistant to 

Secretary-Treasurer Dan Kane. “The 


Government 

in action 

truth is that there are no safety standards 

because there are no mining 

laws. Miners do what they can to stay 

safe, the union does what it can, but 

if there are no laws to comply with, 

then the company can do pretty 

much whatever it wants to do.” 

The delegation visited both 

underground and surface operations, 

noting that the most obvious health 

and safety risks for Colombian miners 

were exhaustion, spinal fatigue 

and lack of dust control. “We went to 

a surface mine where they were doing 

absolutely nothing to control the 

dust,” Airhart said. “They know what 

we know, that breathing in coal dust 

make no significant expenditures for 

safety and health in their mines, then 

they have an unfair advantage over 

U.S. mines,” President Roberts said. 

“And because of this free trade agreement, 

that advantage will be locked in. 

“This trade deal will make it 

even harder for American coal to 

This mine’s portal is a tin-roofed 

lean-to on a steep hillside. 

compete with Colombian coal,” 

Roberts said. “That’s a direct threat 

to our members’ jobs, especially 

metallurgical mines in southern and 

central Appalachia.” 

Buckling timbers are all that holds up 

the roof in many Colombian mines. 

causes black lung. But they don’t do 

anything about it.” 

And instead of taking steps to 

reduce fatigue by reducing working 

hours and long bus commutes to 

get to the remote mines, Colombian 

miners said their employer’s 

response to worker exhaustion is to 

install lasers that will flash light into 

heavy-equipment operators’ eyes 

when slowed blinking is detected. 

“When coal operators in Colombia—who 

compete directly with U.S. 

mines where our members work— 

can continue to pay low wages, 

provide their workers no benefits and 

“They Said It 

“I love that we are one of the least unionized states 

in the country. By Executive Order, I will make 

it clear that our state will not subsidize striking 

workers by paying them unemployment benefits. 

We’ll make the unions understand full well that 

they are not needed, not wanted and not welcome 

in the State of South Carolina.” 

Gov. Nikki Haley, (R-S.C.) 

State of the State speech, Jan. 18, 2012 

Gov. Haley is one of the new generation of viciously anti-union 

leaders in the Republican Party. When signing her order to keep 

striking workers from receiving unemployment benefits (which 

state law already prohibited), Gov. Haley said that workers’ going 

on strike was “bad behavior.” 

So, all the things union workers had to strike to win over the 

years—middle class wages, overtime pay, paid time off, health 

care and retirement benefits—were the result of “bad behavior?” 

Guess we’ll just keeping behaving badly, Gov. Haley. 


Government 

in action 

Greenhouse gas proposed rule 

threatens future of coal industry 

rule proposed by the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) A 

regarding new sources of greenhouse 

gas emissions would eliminate the construction of new 

advanced coal-powered generation plants if approved, 

President Roberts said when the proposed rule was announced 

in March. 

“Natural gas plants, which emit about one-half the 

carbon dioxide of coal, can meet EPA’s proposed standard 

with no add-on emission controls,” Roberts said. “Coal 

plants, however, could meet the standard only if they employ 

carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. 

“But the EPA knows very well that CCS technology has 

not been commercially demonstrated,” Roberts said. “Even 

so, the rule it proposed would require the potential builders 

of new coal plants to commit to CCS at the time of their 

permit applications, despite the associated costs and uncertainties. 

In practice, it would not be possible to finance a 

new coal plant to meet the proposed EPA standards. 

“If President Obama is serious about an ‘all of the 

above’ approach to energy in America, then advanced coal 

generation with CCS must be part of that program,” Roberts 

said. “Now is the time to renew our nation’s commitment 

to energy independence, not diminish it. We intend 

to work with Congress and EPA to provide a workable 

basis for the future deployment of CCS technology that 

does not hinder the nation’s ability to use its most abundant 

fossil fuel resource—coal.” 

Senate races heat up 

With five months to go before 

Election Day, several key 

races for U.S. Senate seats in coalproducing 

states are heating up. 

The races in Pennsylvania, 

West Virginia and Ohio pit 

incumbent Democratic senators 

against Republican challengers. 

As of today, all three Democrats— 

Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, Joe 

Manchin in West Virginia and 

Sherrod Brown in Ohio—hold 

leads over their challengers 

in current polls, but in this 

volatile election season, that 

could change quickly. All three 

incumbents have been endorsed 

by the UMWA. 

In Virginia, the race for the 

open seat being vacated by Sen. 

Jim Webb (D) is between former 

Gov. Tim Kaine (D) and former 

Gov. and Sen. George Allen (R), 

who lost to Webb in 2006. Kaine, 

the UMWA’s endorsed candidate, 

has a strong record in support 

of coal and coal miners and is 

slightly ahead in current polls. The 

race is considered a toss-up by 

political observers and will be one 

of the most watched—and most 

expensive—races in the nation 

this year. 

Democrats currently hold a 

53–47 majority in the Senate. 

Republicans have made capturing 

the upper house a major priority 

for 2012, but their prospects of 

doing so remain unclear. 

Democrats currently 

hold a 53–47 majority 

in the Senate. 


Matewan remembers massacre 

President Roberts headlined the annual re-enactment 

of the 1920 Matewan Massacre on May 19, reminding 

the hundreds gathered in the West Virginia town that the 

UMWA miners and supporters who died there “gave their 

lives so we can have the freedoms we have today.” 

The original battle was between Matewan police chief 

Sid Hatfield, his deputies and miners on one side and hired 

thugs working for the Baldwin-Felts security agency, who 

were evicting striking miners’ families from their homes. 

After the Baldwin-Felts men tried to arrest Hatfield using a 

fake warrant, guns were drawn. After the shooting stopped, 

10 lay dead and four more were wounded. 

“If you have health care, if you have a safe workplace, 

if you get paid for overtime work, you need to thank those 

miners who died here,” Roberts told the crowd. The miners 

here said, ‘We want to be part of America; we want to 

around 

our Union 

be somebody!’ Sid Hatfield was the first political leader 

in the area who stood with the coal miners.” Hatfield 

was later murdered on the steps of the McDowell 

County courthouse by Baldwin-Felts thugs while his 

wife stood at his side. 

Also speaking at the event were International District 

17 Vice President Joe Carter, U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall 

(D-W.Va.) and Joanne Tomblin, wife of Gov. Earl Ray 

Tomblin (D). Members of L.U. 1440 provided food 

and cold drinks to all in attendance. 

President Roberts joins the Matewan Massacre 

re-enactment cast along with Rep. Nick Rahall. 

Also pictured is 100-year old Buddy Jones (in 

wheelchair), who is the last surviving person 

known to have been living in Matewan at the time 

the gun battle occurred. 

Walter Energy 

Walter Energy recently 

announced that it plans to 

invest $1.2 billion in the Alabama 

economy by developing an 

underground metallurgical coal mine 

in Tuscaloosa County, a coal terminal 

at the Port of Mobile, a barge loadout 

facility in Walker County and a rail 

spur in Fayette County. The company 

expects to create 530 jobs. 


President Daryl Dewberry said the 

resulting $45 million annual payroll 

will be a huge boost for miners and 

the state’s economy. 

Remington Arms 

In a huge boost for members of L.U. 717, Remington Arms won a 

contract to produce 24,000 carbines for the U.S. Army. 

The weapons, which had been manufactured exclusively by rival 

Colt Defense since 2002, will be crafted at Remington’s home plant in 

Ilion, N.Y. The value of the contract is more than $16 million. 

Several hundred new jobs have been added at Remington’s Ilion 

plant in recent years, expanding the L.U. 717 membership significantly. 

“The UMWA is proud that our brothers and sisters are working to 

supply our armed forces with top-quality American-made and unionmade 

weapons,” President Roberts said. “It’s good 

to see that the Army recognizes the experience and 

professionalism of the UMWA members at Remington.” 

Phil Smith 


around 

our Union 

Willow Lake 

Miners at the Willow Lake 

mine welcome Wade Waller 

back to work after a federal 

judge found he was 

fired illegally. 

U.S. district court issued a ruling Apr. 30 granting an 

A injunction sought by the UMWA and the National 

Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordering Big Ridge Mining, 

a subsidiary of Peabody Energy, to cease engaging in antiunion 

threats and reprisals at its Willow Lake mine. Judge 

Patrick Murphy of the Southern District of Illinois also 

ordered the company to reinstate a miner the company 

illegally fired after the UMWA won a May 2011 organizing 

campaign at the southern Illinois mine. 

“In the court’s view, failure to issue a Section 10(j) 

injunction in this case will send a clear message to Willow 

Lake employees that Big Ridge . . . is too big for the law and 

not even the NLRB can do anything to help Willow Lake 

employees,” Murphy wrote in his decision. 

The company has refused to recognize the UMWA as 

the workers’ representative after the UMWA won an election 

in May 2011, even though a NLRB administrative law 

judge has rejected the company’s objections to the outcome 

of the election. 

“Big Ridge’s employees are currently suffering significant 

harm due to the employer’s refusal to bargain collectively 

with their chosen representative,” Murphy said. 

Murphy also ordered Big Ridge to offer immediate 

reinstatement to the fired employee, Wade Waller, a miner 

with 28 years of experience, seven of them at Willow Lake. 

“This represents yet another decision that completely 

repudiates the company’s actions during and after this election, 

and strongly supports the workers’ decision to elect 

the UMWA to be their collective bargaining representative,” 

President Roberts said. “The UMWA has been prepared to 

sit down at the bargaining table with the company since the 

day we won the election. I once again call on the company 

to put aside its campaign of threats and intimidation, and 

sit down with us so we can negotiate a reasonable contract 

that is fair for everyone involved.” 

Butch Oldham 

National Labor College 

The AFL–CIO-affiliated National Labor College 

is offering a number of online courses in the 

fall to members who want to complete their 

college degree. 

The course work is structured to 

accommodate full-time workers. You also 

can receive college credits for what you have 

learned through training and work experience. 

Online bachelor’s degrees and certificates 

are offered in Business Administration, 

Construction Management, Emergency 

Readiness and Response Management and 

Labor Studies. 

Apply by Aug. 6 to be eligible for financial 

aid and scholarships. Visit NLC.edu or call 

888-427-8100 to get more details and apply. 

In Memoriam 

Leroy Baca 

U. 7949 President Leroy Baca passed away on 

L. Mar. 18, 2012. He was 60. 

Born in Raton, N.M., Brother Baca was a retired 

coal miner from York Canyon mine in Raton, and a 40- 

year member of the UMWA. President of his local since 

1984, he worked as an international representative 

for two years. At age 27, he was one of the youngest 

members to be elected to the International Executive 

Board, where he served from 1979 to 1983. He worked 

as the UMWA District 15 Director of Organizing for 

two years, served as a New Mexico AFL-CIO Vice 

President, was a New Mexico COMPAC representative 

and served 14 years as a member of the Board of 

Trustees of Miner’s Colfax Medical Center in Raton. 

Baca is survived by his wife Debbie; two daughters, 

Sarah Baca-Hamilton and Caroline Baca; two 

granddaughters, Emma and Charlotte Hamilton; his 

mother, Josephine Leal; his brother, Leonard Baca; four 

sisters, Margaret Baca, Gloria Sanchez, Eleanore Ortiz 

and Connie Coca; and a half-brother, Leroy Allen Baca. 

In his memory, donations may be made to the Miners 

Aid Fund, 18354 Quantico Gateway Dr., Suite 200, 

Triangle, VA 22172. 


UMWA in your community 

Help for flood victims 

The West Virginia AFL–CIO gave a check 

for $2,000 to District 17 to assist UMWA 

members in Mingo County whose homes 

were damaged by recent flooding. 

West Virginia AFL–CIO President Kenny 

Perdue presented the check to District 

17 representatives William Chapman, 

Jerry Massie, Gary Young, International 

District 17 Vice President Joe Carter and 

Michael Sneigle, Director of the AFL–CIO 

Appalachian Council. 

Dwight Cagle 

Being elected an official of a local 

union is a sign of the respect and 

confidence that members have for an 

active brother or sister. While many 

have had the honor to serve, and some 

have been reelected repeatedly over a 

long period of time, few have won that 

recognition at multiple locals. 

But that’s exactly what Dwight 

Cagle has done. He has chaired safety 

committees since 1979 at three different 

locals. Currently he’s at L.U. 

2397, Jim Walter Resources No. 7 in 

Alabama, where he also serves on the 

Organizing and COMPAC Committees. 

Before that, he was at the Bessie 

mines as L.U. 7918 Vice President, and 

again on the Organizing and COM- 

PAC Committees. And even earlier, at 

Dena Fields 

Flat Top Nebo, Cagle was L.U. 6255 

President and Vice President, and 

served on the Mine Committee and 

Organizing Committee. 

“I just try to do my job, especially 

with regard to safety, and if 

needed, in other fields as well,” he 

around 

our Union 

A Taste of Home 

embers of L.U. 1473, from West Virginia’s Shoemaker Mine, raised $1,050 to buy 

M300 boxes of Girl Scout cookies and send them to members of the U.S. military serving 

overseas. The cookies were ordered through L.U. 1473 member Rob Bandy’s daughter, 

Kailee. The local posted a sign-up sheet at the mine for a $10 check-off and received 

tremendous support from the membership. 

The boxes were donated to Boatsie’s Boxes, a nonprofit charitable organization that 

sends out large care packages to troops overseas. “For so many different reasons there are 

shortages of supplies,” Gail “Boatsie” Van Vranken said. “It is a wonderful thing to send a 

little bit of home to these men and women who are serving us. We take a lot for granted, but 

something from home means so much to them.” 

Phil Smith 

Gail “Boatsie” Van 

Vranken, Mike 

Whitlatch, Shan 

Michner, Kailee 

Bandy, Mike Kelly, 

Kathy Wallace, 

Rob Bandy 

leaders 

in profile 

said. “There have been a lot of changes 

in the safety laws over the years, 

and you need to keep up with them.” 

A member of the UMWA since 

1974, Cagle attributes his desire for 

leadership to an early union experience. 

“A friend of mine many years 

ago was president of the local in 

Harlan County, Ky.,” site of a brutal 

strike in the 1970s during which 

Duke Power Co. brought in strikebreakers 

and armed thugs. “I was in 

his house. It had been all shot up. He 

told me I needed to get involved. 

“And that’s what I’ve done ever 

since,” he said. “You need to see what 

you can do to make things better.” 

Note: The UMW Journal is running an occasional feature showcasing local union leaders 

who have been in office for extended periods. We invite you to submit suggested names of 

long-standing leaders who have worked to significantly improve members’ lives. Contact us 

at 703-291-2405 or send an e-mail to journal@umwa.org. 


our 

health&safety 

Upper Big Branch 

Mine safety and health administration 

NIOSH report 

ing Mar. 27 before the House Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

regarding that review, President 

Roberts said, “The UMWA has long 

held that three things are necessary 

for a safe and productive mine: 1) an 

operator who is willing to follow the 

law; 2) an agency which fully enforces 

NIOSH 

the law; and 3) workers who are empowered 

to speak out for themselves. 

None of these things happened at the 

non-union UBB mine.” 

On Mar. 22, an independent 

panel tasked by U.S. Secretary of 

Labor Hilda Solis under the National 

Institute of Occupational Safety and 

Health (NIOSH) to assess MSHA’s 

Internal Review of its enforcement 

actions at UBB issued its report. It 

Apr. 5 marked the second anniversary 

of the explosion at West Virginia’s 

Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine, 

which claimed the lives of 29 miners. 

“As we remember the terrible 

events that took place there, we must 

continue to keep the families of the 

victims in our hearts and our prayers,” 

said President Roberts. “They have 

suffered more than most of us can 

imagine, and the pain of losing their 

loved ones is something that will be 

with them every single day. They have 

a hole in their hearts that can never be 

fully healed, but through continued 

love and prayers from all of us, we can 

hope that they may eventually find 

some measure of peace.” 

As noted in the Mar.–Apr. 2012 

issue of the UMW Journal, the Mine 

Safety and Health Administration 

(MSHA) on Mar. 6 issued its Internal 

Review on the UBB disaster. Testifygenerally 

agreed with the majority 

of MSHA’s findings regarding lack of 

experience within the inspectorate, 

confusing and conflicting program 

policies and procedures and the fact 

that the mine operator was primarily 

responsible for causing the explosion. 

However, it parted company 

over MSHA’s conclusion that agency 

action or inaction did not contribute 

to the explosion. 

Instead, the NIOSH report 

concluded that although MSHA 

enforcement personnel could 

not have prevented a frictional 

ignition from occurring during 

any given work shift, if MSHA 

enforcement personnel had 

completed required enforcement 

actions during at least one of the 

four UBB inspections, it is unlikely 

that a roof fall would have occurred 

and that airflow would have been 

reduced as a consequence. 


our 

health&safety 

With the proper quantity of 

air, there would not have been an 

accumulation of methane, thereby 

eliminating the fuel source for the 

gas explosion. Further, if MSHA 

enforcement personnel had taken 

appropriate actions during the inspections 

in the months prior to the 

explosion, either dangerous accumulations 

of explosive coal dust would 

have been rendered inert or the mine 

would have been idled. 

Regrettably, the NIOSH report’s 

authors far exceeded their charge by 

making several extremely detrimental 

recommendations with regard to 

mining law, mandatory health and 

safety standards and mining regulations. 

The UMWA believes that 

should these unsolicited and ill-conceived 

recommendations be taken 

seriously, miners’ health and safety 

would be severely compromised. 

The recommendations included 

changing the enforcement 

process and appointing a panel to 

reevaluate the Mine Act; replacing 

technical rules with performance 

standards; incentivizing operators to 

hire in-house specialists; encouraging 

health and safety management 

systems; evaluating the requirement 

that MSHA inspect all underground 

mines on a quarterly basis; placing 

the responsibility for data collection 

on mine operators; and suggesting 

that additional training or revisions 

to manuals and handbooks would 

not address the problems identified 

in MSHA’s Internal Review. 

In response, President Roberts 

wrote to NIOSH to express the 

UMWA’s opposition to the recommendations. 

Noting that no person 

from labor was represented on the 

panel, he stated the recommendations 

would turn back the clock to the days 

when coal operators were left to their 

own devices. History has demonstrated 

over and over that mine operators 

are incapable of policing themselves. 

He urged that NIOSH not pursue or 

support the recommendations. 

Gary May 

On Mar. 29, former Mine Superintendent 

Gary May plead guilty to 

hindering MSHA’s investigation of the 

mine. May is the highest-ranking UBB 

official to be charged so far in the case. 

May was accused of giving 

advance notice of MSHA inspections 

to miners and supervisors 

working underground. According 

to prosecutors, if May learned that 

an inspector was entering an area of 

the mine to check on air quantity, 

he would order ventilation changes 

to artificially enhance the air flow in 

that area of the mine. In addition, 

they said that May concealed the 

existence of excessive coal dust and 

inadequate rock-dusting at the mine, 

and ordered falsification of the official 

mine examination books. He was 

also accused of ordering the electrical 

wiring to the methane monitor 

located on the continuous miner be 

altered to prevent the machine from 

shutting down automatically when 

it encountered excessive methane. 

May is cooperating with prosecutors, 

and is scheduled to be 

sentenced Aug. 9. He faces up to five 

years in prison and a $250,000 fine. 

MSHA Citation for 

Performance Coal 

On Apr. 13, MSHA District 4 issued a 

104(a) citation with high negligence 

for failure by former Massey subsidiary 

Performance Coal Co., operator 

of the Upper Big Branch mine, 

to serve the UMWA, the designated 

miners’ representative, with a copy 

of the latest proposed revision to the 

mine ventilation/seal plan. This issue 

arose in January when the UMWA 

raised objections to the company’s 

failure to provide copies, as required 

by the Mine Act, and asked that 

MSHA cite any future violations. On 

Apr. 9, the company once again submitted 

a proposed plan revision without 

serving a copy to the UMWA. 

Health and safety violation rule 

On Apr. 6, the Mine Safety and Health 

Administration (MSHA) published its Final 

Rule for Examinations of Work Areas in 

Underground Coal Mines for Violation of 

Mandatory Health and Safety Standards. 

The new rule changes the language for 

mine preshift, onshift, supplemental 

and weekly examinations by adding the 

requirement that the mine examiner also 

look for specific “violations of mandatory 

health and safety standards.” The new 

rule takes effect Aug. 6. 

21 January/February 2012 • United Mine Workers Journal United Mine Workers Journal • May/June 2012 21

DISTRICTS 

in action 

District 12 

District 12 welcomed Secretary- 

Treasurer Kane as he met with 

members and toured the Crown 

III mine, the Highland mine, 

Cook Coal Terminal and other 

facilities in May. 

District 12 held its annual 

John L. Lewis celebration in Oakland 

City, Ind., on Apr. 1, where 


President Steve Earle addressed 

the crowd. 

UMWA members from Illinois 

participated with thousands 

of others in a We Are One rally on 

Apr. 17 in Springfield, Ill., protesting 

Wisconsin Governor Scott 

Walker’s address to the Illinois 

Chamber of Congress. 

G 

President Roberts addressed more 

than 200 guests at the annual 

retirees dinner held at Miners Hall 

in Macon, Mo., on Apr. 14. UMWA 

member Freddie Ricker, Sr., his 

son, Freddie Ricker, Jr., also a 

UMWA member, and wife Cathy are 

pictured with President Roberts. 

UMWA members from 

District 12 joined 

National Nurses 

United on May 18 in 

Chicago to rally for 

fair taxes and better 

health care for seniors 

and working families. 

H 

District 17 

District 17 is still accepting applications 

for their annual scholarship 

program. Two scholarships in the 

amount of $750 each will be given 

out. Applications and guidelines for 

eligible dependents of members of 

District 17 may be obtained by 

calling the District 17 office at 

(304) 346-0341. The deadline for 

applying is Aug. 1. 

The 19th annual West Virginia 

Coal Festival located in Madison, 

W.Va., will be June 19–23. District 

17 would like to invite members 

and their families to attend “UMWA 

Night” on Thursday, June 21, to see 

John Anderson perform live. 

On Apr. 15, L.U. 6196 honored its president, Michael Pauley. Mike recently 

retired from Bluestone Coal Corp., with 39 years of service. From left to right: 

Buck Wade, Robert Boyd, Gary Young II, Steven New, Jerry Massie, Mike 

Pauley, International District 17 Vice President Joe Carter and Brenen McGraw. 

District 22 

Members of L.U. 1307 approved a 

new six-year agreement at Westmoreland 

Coal Co.’s Kemmerer 

mine in Lincoln County, Wyo. 

“I am pleased that we could 

sit down with Westmoreland and 

work out an agreement for our 

members at the Kemmerer mine 

three months early,” said International 

District 22 Vice President 

Mike Dalpiaz. “Westmoreland has 

just acquired the mine, and I commend 

the company’s willingness to 

set a new and refreshing tone for 

a lasting relationship at that mine. 

The membership clearly does too, 

as they have overwhelmingly ratified 

the agreement.” 

The agreement runs from 

May 1, 2012, to Apr. 30, 2018. 


DISTRICTS 

in action 

District 31 

District 31 held its 

annual Mike Ayers 

Memorial Golf 

Tournament on 

May 6. There were 

120 participants at 

the event. Doug 

Ice (pictured here), 

retired member of 

L.U. 1702, got a 

hole in one. 

Marina Fleece is the 2012 recipient 

of the $500 Mike Ayers Memorial 

Scholarship. Marina graduated from 

Lincoln High School in Shinnston, 

W.Va. She will be attending West 

Virginia University in the fall. 

Honoring Our Pensioners 

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. 1257 Ronald E. Rodkey L.U. 1269 William Pancznak, 

Robert Scaramozzino L.U. 1412 Harry Brown, Gerald Harbison, Ralph Lamar, John Magyor 

L.U. 1980 Richard J. Yakubic L.U. 2494 James Blake, Donald R. Conner, Donald V. Farrell, Thomas 

Gregory, Robert A. Kuzminsky, Francis Lutch DISTRICT 12 L.U. 1423 Larry Pinkston L.U. 1545 Robert 

Brooks, Leroy Dees, Ronald Jones, Gary Miller, Richard Tomazzoli, Thurman Wood, James Wright 

L.U. 1605 Donny McDonald L.U. 1613 Wilfred Bilbruck, John Davis, Ricky Mohr, James Neunaber, 

David Reid, Ronald Seamon, Aaron Vaughn L.U. 1791 Robert Grant, Mike Huff, Richard Jones 

L.U. 1793 Edgie Burks L.U. 1802 Richard Litchfield L.U. 1907 Billy Claridge, Richard Miley L.U. 1969 

John Steele L.U. 9653 Frank Stafford L.U. 9800 Bill Alvey, Virgil Boling, Nobel Chinn, Bill Flener, 

Charles Foster, Rick Maddox DISTRICT 17 L.U. 0340 Roy Adkins L.U. 1335 Orvil Spencer L.U. 1440 

Curtis Layne L.U. 1569 Edward Fair, Ralph Wolfenbarger, Freddie Wright L.U. 1640 Garland Owens 

L.U. 1760 Tivis Brown, Harry Claypool, Jr., Clarence McClothlin, Larry Whited L.U. 1971 Emil Canterbury, 

Willard Kelly L.U. 2286 Robert Schultz L.U. 6869 Carl Underwood L.U. 7086 Merlin Lilly 

L.U. 9177 Robert Pauley DISTRICT 20 L.U. 1288 John S. Kirkpatrick L.U. 1928 James E. Hicks 

DISTRICT 22 L.U. 6417 Salomon Montoya, Harold Townsend L.U. 7949 Nickie D. Ortega DISTRICT 31 

L.U. 1473 Donald Nolte L.U. 1501 Wilbur Horner L.U. 1638 Michael Barnhart L.U. 1702 William F. 

Iddings L.U. 1785 Edward Day, Wayne Weber, Donald Wise L.U. 1810 Ronald Bobek, Rodney 

Kovacs, Thomas J. Myers, Jeff Tiger L.U. 1949 Larry Shamblen 

50 Year Pins DISTRICT 12 L.U. 1545 Robert Vancil L.U. 9653 Robert Mooney, Frank 

Stafford L.U. 9800 Bobby Broyles, Charles Foster, Ronnie Hurst DISTRICT 17 L.U. 1259 Joe Matda 

L.U. 1503 Fred Hart L.U. 1569 Mason Caudill L.U. 5741 Leonard Fleming L.U. 7635 Melvin Swartz 

L.U. 8843 Jim Wills DISTRICT 31 L.U. 1304 John Utter 

60 Year Pins DISTRICT 2 

L.U. 2494 John J. Wojno L.U. 6159 James 

E. Franks, Richard Zelina DISTRICT 12 

L.U. 1178 James Miller DISTRICT 17 L.U. 

1760 Charles Hill L.U. 5741 Robert Tolliver 

L.U. 5770 Thomas Simpkins DISTRICT 22 

L.U. 6417 Donald Morrow, Donald Palmer, 

Edward Smith L.U. 9958 James Eaquinto, 

Garren Whitlock DISTRICT 31 L.U. 1304 Dean 

Brick, William Byers, Clarence Morgan 

70 Year Pins DISTRICT 2 

L.U. 3548 Bruno Lorenzi L.U. 6159 John 

Adams DISTRICT 12 L.U. 7110 James Theyse 

DISTRICT 17 L.U. 1760 Boyd Sparks 

L.U. 1976 Alford Martin L.U. 7950 Millard Lee 

DISTRICT 31 L.U. 1360 Fred Melnick 

Unfortunately, due to the number 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 your District office. Pins are not automatically 

issued. Your district representative will send the 

names to the UMW Journal. 


Printed in the U.S.A. 

Check out the Union Plus Travel Center 

and start planning your fun today! 

05/12 

Visit 

EscapE 

When it’s time to chill out, we heat up your savings! 

Travel Savings 

• save up to 25% on resort condo 

rentals worldwide. 

• Book the best flights through the 

largest airfare search engine on 

the internet. 

• Reserve the best rates at hotels. 

• Enjoy discounted travel adventures 

through Worldwide vacation 

Tours. 

Make the most of your fun time off the job! Your UMWA benefits help stretch 

your hard-earned paycheck with exciting offers and discounts, available only to 

union members and their families. 

Whether you’re planning a dream vacation, a weekend getaway, or a relaxing day 

at home, here are some of the ways your union membership helps you save… 

Vehicle Rental Deals 

• get discount car rental rate quotes 

and make rental car reservations 

online. 

• save up to 25% on car rental with 

alamo, avis, Budget, Enterprise, 

national and Hertz. 

Entertainment Discounts 

• save up to 40% on movie 

tickets. 

• Find bargain prices andgreat 

selections at Powell’s Book Store, 

the largest unionized internet bookseller. 

Family Fun for Less 

• save up to $15 per ticket at 

theme parks across the country. 

• get discount admissions to 

museums, aquariums, and zoos. 

• save on Broadway shows and 

sporting events in selected cities. 

UnionPlusTravel.com

May - June - United Mine Workers of America

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?