In April of 2021, roughly 1,000 miners walked off their jobs in Alabama. For almost two years, United Mine Workers of America members have found other jobs and supported each other through union funds.
Now, what was one of the longest labor union strikes in Alabama’s history has come to an end. Last week, the union said its members would go back to work despite no progress being made in contract negotiations.
The union offered Warrior Met Coal an“unconditional offer to return to work.” Workers are set to go back to the mines on March 2.
The UMWA releasedastatementlast Fridaysaying:
We are entering a new phase of our efforts to win our members and their families the fair and decent contract they need and deserve … We have been locked into this struggle for23 monthsnow, and nothing has materially changed.
We discuss what happens next in this labor dispute. And how the miners and the Warrior Met Coal company were able to hold out for so long.
This show was part of 1A’s Remaking America collaboration with six partner stations around the country. Remaking America is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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