Van Hollen, Brown Press Warrior Met To Negotiate A Fair Contract With Workers’ Union

Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) wrote to Walter J. Scheller, Chief Executive Officer Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (Warrior Met), urging him to oversee good-faith negotiations for a fair contract with the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). In 2016, when Walter Energy filed for bankruptcy, the UMWA agreed to save the company by sacrificing their wages and benefits packages. The new company, Warrior Met Coal, then asked workers to work most holidays, 12 hour-days – sometimes seven days a week – for the past five years. These workers deserve a fair contract that honors the dignity of work.

“These workers sacrificed in order to save the company and put it on the pathway to profitability. Now that Warrior Met has achieved record revenues since 2016, these workers seek to engage in serious negotiations for a fair contract. As an employer of workers in a hazardous profession, Warrior Met has a moral responsibility to repay workers for their sacrifices and compensate them fairly for the profit they help create,” wrote the senators. 

Earlier this year, Van Hollen, Brown, and colleagues introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, comprehensive labor legislation to protect workers’ right to stand together and bargain for fairer wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces. Unions are critical to increasing wages and addressing growing income inequality—with studies showing that union members earn on average 19 percent more than those with similar education, occupation, and experience in a non-union workplace. The PRO Act would reverse years of attacks on unions and restore fairness to the economy by strengthening the federal laws that protect workers’ right to join a union and bargain for higher wages and better benefits. 

The letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).  

The Democrats’ letter can be found here and below:

Dear Mr. Scheller: 

We write with concerns about the ongoing eight-month long strike at Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (Warrior Met) by approximately 900 union workers. We urge you to negotiate in good faith with the representative union, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), to reach a fair compromise so the parties can move forward amicably. 

It is our understanding that in 2016, when Walter Energy filed for bankruptcy, the UMWA agreed to save the company by sacrificing their wages and benefits packages. Your company then asked workers to work most holidays, 12 hours a day, sometimes seven days a week, for the past five years. These workers sacrificed in order to save the company and put it on the pathway to profitability. Now that Warrior Met has achieved record revenues since 2016, these workers seek to engage in serious negotiations for a fair contract. As an employer of workers in a hazardous profession, Warrior Met has a moral responsibility to repay workers for their sacrifices and compensate them fairly for the profit they help create.

Furthermore, this strike harms not only the workers but also the entire community. The higher wages provided to union mine workers create a dynamic multiplier that supports local businesses and provides communities with much-needed revenue for schools and hospitals. As the strike persists, the loss of revenues ripples through the community.

In addition to the local economic impacts of the nation’s longest strike, local media outlets report that company personnel have conducted acts of violence, including vehicular assault,^[1],[2],[3] against the workers and families on the picket line. The coal industry has a long, shameful history of violence against workers. Violence is never acceptable, and it is imperative that you not only condemn but take clear steps to protect your employees exercising their legal rights.  

We have seen unions and employers find the will to resolve highly contentious disputes in the past. UMWA remains poised to reach a fair contract. In recognition of all the workers at Warrior Met have done to preserve their jobs and their communities, we ask that the company negotiate a fair contract and bargain in good faith with the United Mine Workers of America.

Sincerely,