TIMELINE: A Look Back On One-Year Anniversary Of UMWA Strike At Warrior Met

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Friday night at 10:30 p.m. will mark one year since more than 1,000 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) members walked off the job at Warrior Met Coal in Brookwood.

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The protracted labor strike has seen little in the way of compromise, as negotiations have stalled at every turn. At the heart of the strike is pay — as UMWA members labored for five years under the hopes that their pay would be returned to levels prior to the widely-publicized bankruptcy of Walter Energy in 2016.

“The workers gave up more than $1.1 billion in order to pull the company out of debt," said UMWA President Cecil E. Roberts on the anniversary of the strike beginning. "It was reasonable to assume that once the company became profitable, a fair and decent contract would be negotiated in 2021. But the corporate team Apollo left in place – the same team that drove the company into bankruptcy in the first place – appears to have no intention of doing that."

Roberts went on to say that, in the present, the coal market is booming, with prices at highs not seen since before Walter Energy's bankruptcy, which was due in part to the market going belly-up.

"Coal prices have skyrocketed, coal companies across the nation are getting record prices for their coal, yet Warrior Met has already lost more than a billion dollars in potential coal sales over the last year because it has refused to settle this," he said. "The company brought in high-priced, anti-labor law firms like Akin Gump to sit at the bargaining table instead of bringing back the skilled workforce that could increase sales by as much as a billion dollars a year at current prices."

As the bickering over a new collective bargaining agreement shows no signs of cooling, here is a look back at our coverage of the strike over the last year.

March 31, 2021 — UMWA issued an unfair labor practice strike notice at Warrior Met Coal, Inc., to begin at 10:30 p.m. on April 1, which came as the restructured company continues to battle back from its 2016 bankruptcy.

The strike notice covered more than 1,100 workers at all of the company's operations, including the No. 4 mine, the No. 5 preparation plant, the No. 7 mine and its Central Shop. The union also filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board relating to Warrior Met's conduct during negotiations.

In the financial quarter prior to the strike, the Brookwood coal producer reported a net loss of $33.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, as Patch previously reported. The net loss was coupled with a noticeable dip in production for the full year, however company officials cited its cash flow position in expressing optimism for the future. (Read More)

April 10, 2021 — More than a week after 1,100 members went on strike, UMWA announced that a union hall vote in Bessemer failed with 95% of the vote opposing the ratification of a tentative collective bargaining agreement with the company.

UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts made it clear that the tentative agreement was not sufficient enough to make up for the sacrifices made in 2016 — referring to the company's restructuring after declaring bankruptcy in 2015 under the Walter Energy brand.

In a show of good faith and to help save their jobs, union miners had previously agreed to a 20% pay cut for the five-year term, which came in the range of $6-$8 an hour for employees, depending on their pay grade. (Read More)

April 12, 2021 — UMWA announced it would begin holding "Unity Rallies" in Brookwood for members, families and community supporters to build solidarity and hear from local and national allies.

The union also contributed $50,000 to establish a relief fund for workers and families, while paying roughly $600,000 in the first wave of bi-weekly strike benefits to dues-paying members who have participated in strike activity. (Read More)

June 8, 2021 — UMWA reported three separate incidents of vehicular assault that occurred at Warrior Met Coal on legal picket lines over the course of three days. The union said the instances of violence raised questions about the company's response to the strike, as two separate videos posted on YouTube show the incidents in questions.

In the first, a red truck can be seen hitting a man standing on the picket line, although he stays on his feet and appears to be unharmed. In the other video, a large truck can be seen driving through a picket line of striking miners at the Brookwood mine's entrance. (Read More)

June 20, 2021 — Warrior Met Coal offered a $10,000 reward for more information on damage to equipment caused on three separate occasions in the previous two months. The company elaborated, saying damage was done to electrical transmission and distribution equipment.

The Alabama Mining Association (AMA) said the damage was intentionally caused on the evenings of May 15, June 1, or June 12. (Read More)

Aug. 4, 2021 — As the strike entered its fifth month, UMWA held its largest rally to date at the Brookwood ballpark, which saw a substantial showing of support from the west Alabama community. (Read More)

Sept. 27, 2021 — Members of the UMWA Local Union 1948 ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with Peabody Energy, which operates the Shoal Creek metallurgical coal mine that had been idled by a labor strike since Oct. 4, 2020. The new agreement passed in the union hall with 63% of the vote.

UMWA expressed hopes the ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement for the mine in Adger would pave the way for talks in Brookwood. (Read More)

Feb. 18, 2022 — UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts, along with Warrior Met employee and UMWA member Braxton Wright, testified on the strike before the Senate Budget Committee on Capitol Hill, with discussions focused on the role had by massive private equity firms and their influence on workers at companies like Warrior Met Coal.

Tuscaloosa Patch took a close look at these private equity firms, reporting that when Warrior Met Coal returned to the New York Stock Exchange as a publicly-traded company in 2017, the coal producer would go on to pay out more than $1 billion in dividends to shareholders — all while employees worked longer hours for less pay.

According to the latest available financial data, BlackRock Fund Advisors owns 6.7 million shares in Warrior Met Coal, representing a 13.22% shareholder stake in the company. This makes BlackRock the largest shareholder in the company, with its stock options valued at $178 million.

BlackRock is trailed by The Vanguard Group, Inc., which owns approximately 12% of the Warrior Met shares available — a total that carries an estimated sales price of $159 million. And when looking at the next eight largest shareholders of Warrior Met Coal, another 25% of the company's stock options are owned by a range of investment firms and holding companies. (Read More)

March 24, 2022 — The Alabama Mining Association announced a $25,000 reward for information after what it referred to as an "explosive device attack" on a methane gas line operated by a subsidiary of Warrior Met Coal in Brookwood.

The incident is being investigated by the ATF and FBI.

"Warrior Met Coal and its subsidiaries have always focused on the safety of our employees and the communities in which we live and operate," said Warrior Met Coal spokesman D'Andre Wright. "We believe today's attack on our pipeline facilities was related to the ongoing labor dispute." (Read More)

March 31, 2022 — UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts issued a statement on the one-year anniversary of the strike, chiding Wall Street interests and "out-of-state lawyers who could care less about Alabama families and Alabama values."

Roberts said UMWA members have labored over the last six years under abusive management, working six and sometimes seven days a week, leaving little or no time for their families.

“Management is setting up the company to fail," he said on Thursday. "Alabama workers are not going to work long for a coal company that pays less, offers fewer benefits, less vacation time, and forces miners to work more hours than the mines right down the road."

He then said, since the beginning of the strike, that safety violations have skyrocketed and turnover rates are substantially increasing.

"They are spending money trying to recruit unskilled workers from West Virginia and Kentucky to work in these mines because no self-respecting Alabama miner would agree to work in these conditions," Roberts said. "It’s time for the company to put aside the New York lawyers whose job it is to avoid reaching an agreement. It is time for the people who matter to come to the table and sit down for as long as it takes to resolve this. Stop holding these workers, their families, and their communities hostage. Let’s get a contract done here.”

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