United Mine Workers of America Begins Unfair Labor Practices Strike at Warrior Met Coal Mines in Brookwood, Alabama
The United Mine Workers of America initiated an Unfair Labor Practices Strike at Warrior Met Coal in Brookwood at 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
Over 1,000 workers are participating in the strike.
UMWA representatives hoped to reach a last-minute negotiation Thursday night to prevent the strike; however, no such agreement was reached.
"[T]he company will need to move substantially from where it is now for the union to have reason to take something back to our members for potential ratification," said UMWA Union Spokesman Phil Smith in a statement released Wednesday night.
The strike includes Warrior Met's #4 and #7 mines, both located in Tuscaloosa County.
UMWA members at Warrior Met Coal began an Unfair Labor Practice strike in Alabama tonight at 10:00 p.m. #UnitedWeStand #MinersSavedWarriorMet
Posted by United Mine Workers of America on Thursday, April 1, 2021
As previously reported by The Tuscaloosa Thread, UMWA said it was the performance of the miners at Warrior Met that kept the company afloat in the aftermath of the bankruptcy of Walter Energy in 2016. Since then, the union said, Warrior Met has earned tens of millions in profits for the corporation, and upper management was rewarded with bonuses of up to $35,000 in recent weeks.