Alabama coal miners offer to end walkout

Alabama coal miners who have been on strike for almost two years have offered to return to work.

The United Mine Workers of America sent a letter Feb. 17 to executives at Warrior Met Coal Inc. offering an unconditional return to work while the union and the company continue to negotiate a new labor agreement.

Cecil E. Roberts, international president of the UMWA, said in a statement Monday that the union has received a response from the company but want answers to a few questions “before we can discuss the next steps with our members.”

About 1,100 union members at Warrior Met Coal facilities in Brookwood, Alabama, went on strike on April 1, 2021. Workers say they sacrificed pay and benefits in 2016 as a cost-saving measure to help keep the mines open, but that those concessions have not been restored. Warrior Met contends it offered workers a competitive package that would protect jobs and the company’s future.

“We have been locked into this struggle for 23 months now, and nothing has materially changed. The two sides have essentially fought each other to a draw thus far, despite the company’s unlawful bargaining posture the entire time,” Roberts said in a statement about the offer to end the strike.

In a statement, Warrior Met Coal said it appreciates the decision to call for members to return to work, al.com reported.

“We have responded to the UMWA and asked for its cooperation and assistance so that we can begin the process for a safe and orderly return to work by those employees who have been on strike and have expressed a desire to return to work,” the company stated.

Each employee is asked to undergo a physical, drug screening, and regulatory safety training. The company also said it needs “additional information from the UMWA” to begin the process.

“We look forward to the UMWA’s cooperation in these efforts to return the striking miners to work while we continue to negotiate in good faith to reach a new contract,” the company stated.