West Virginia Blue
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As recently as April 27th I posted a Diary about how Massey Energy pushed the envelope by intimidating coal miners at the Progress Coal Company that can be seen here.
In a story reported yesterday in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph by Mannix Porterfield we learn that the right of coal miners to organize continues to be abused here in Boone County, West Virginia at the Brody Mine.
Boone County, WV (from Wikipedia)
This story really hits home as to the lengths a company will go to to prevent collective bargaining in our state. The story can be seen here.
BECKLEY, W.Va. - A union election at Peabody Energy's Brody Mine in Boone County was frozen Wednesday by the National Labor Relations Board amid formal complaints by the United Mine Workers of America the mine owner violated federal organizing statutes.
Gary Muffley, the NLRB's region 9 director, said the election would be "canceled pending investigation of the unfair labor practice charge."
Federal labor law violations were alleged this week by the UMWA in its organizing effort at a contractor operating the Brody Mine.
"The actions of the company in this election crossed the line, even in the eyes of the NLRB," UMWA President Cecil Roberts said in a statement from his office.
Roberts interpreted the agency's speedy response to his complaint that "there is evidence that the company so polluted the election process at this mine that it will be impossible to hold a free and fair election at this time."
The story goes on to detail the absolutely ridiculous lengths that the Peabody Mine Company went to in violating the law and abusing the rights of coal miners.
In his complaint, Roberts accused the firm of instigating violence and other illegal acts in a "plot" to make the union look responsible.
"At least one worker has been used by the company as a plant within our organizing campaign," the union leader said.
"He later `renounced' his support for the union after he was fired for sleeping on the job and made false and misleading statements about the union."
Last week, Roberts said, the same unidentified employee threatened union members, staff and their spouses outside a Beckley hotel to trigger a response while "a `union avoidance lawyer' was hiding in the darkness of the hotel parking lot with a video camera."
Police were called and a confrontation never occurred, Roberts said.
It is interesting to contrast this to the diary by Clem Guttata yesterday regarding unions in Pennsylvania and how well they are doing..
There is no doubt in my mind that the abuses listed above will continue until the Employee Free Choice Act is passed by Congress, and we have a President in office that will not veto the legislation.
Click on There's More for more of my thoughts on the plight of unions in West Virginia.
I have always heard from folks that have lived in West Virginia all of their lives about the strength of unions in this state, and how corporations are reluctant to build facilities in our state because we are a non-right to work state. I had always been told that West Virginia is surrounded by so called Right to Work states or more properly Right to Work for Less states. All it takes is a check on Google and you would find that there are only 22 Right to Work states and that the only state with a right to work statute that borders us is Virginia. Virginia has been right to work since the passage of the Taft Hartley Act in 1947 as have a number of other anti-union southern states. Wikipedia has a great explanation of the Taft-Hartley Act that can help you to understand how unions can organize today...
Prior to the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act by Congress over President Harry S. Truman's veto in 1947, unions and employers covered by the National Labor Relations Act could lawfully agree to a "closed shop," in which employees at unionized workplaces are required to be members of the union as a condition of employment. Under the law in effect before the Taft-Hartley amendments, an employee who ceased being a member of the union for whatever reason, from failure to pay dues to expulsion from the union as an internal disciplinary punishment, could also be fired even if the employee did not violate any of the employer's rules.
The Taft-Hartley Act outlaws the "closed shop." The Act, however, permits employers and unions to operate under a "union shop" rule, which requires all new employees to join the union after a minimum period after their hire. Under "union shop" rules, employers are obliged to fire any employees who have avoided paying membership dues necessary to maintain membership in the union; however, the union cannot demand that the employer discharge an employee who has been expelled from membership for any other reason.
A similar arrangement to the "union shop" is the "agency shop," under which employees must pay the equivalent of union dues, but does not require them to formally join the union.
Section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act goes further and authorizes individual states (but not local governments, such as cities or counties) to outlaw the union shop and agency shop for employees working in their jurisdictions. Under the "open shop" rule, an employee cannot be compelled to join or pay the equivalent of dues to a union that may exist at the employer, nor can the employee be fired if s/he joins the union. In other words, the employee has the "right to work," whether as a union member or not whether they contribute financially to the union or not.
The Federal Government operates under "open shop" rules nationwide, although many of its employees are represented by unions. Conversely, professional sports leagues (regardless of where a team is located) operate under "union shop" rules.
It is patently obvious that a worker's rights to organize depend on the desire of the federal government to enforce laws that are in place. Since Ronald Regan was President workers rights to organize have eroded, and enforcement has been virtually non existant under the reign of PResident G.W. Bush. Companies, Unions and the Government have clashed many times over the years in West Virginia. Stories about the Matewan Massacre, the use of the US Army and Air Corps, and other tales of violence are well known in our state. It is unbelievable that working conditions in our state are at a point where mining companies are again supported by and protected by the federal government, and the rights of individual miners are abused.
The Employee Free Choice Act would protect the worker's right to organize according to the AFL/CIO in the following manner...
The Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800, S. 1041), supported by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, would enable working people to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions by restoring workers' freedom to choose for themselves whether to join a union. It would:
* Establish stronger penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations. * Provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes. * Allow employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.
I'm sure that most people have heard this quote... "there was once a time when we needed unions, but not now". Well the time is now back as we have watched good jobs and good pay go by the wayside in the name of increased corporate profit.
Contact your representatives in Washington to help build support for the Employee Free Choice Act. It is needed now.
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