Cumberland Mine workers ratify contract
After several months of talks, union workers at Cumberland Mine have ratified a collective bargaining agreement.
The United Mine Workers of America announced the accord over the weekend, saying the contract affects about 475 members at the Contura Energy-owned facility in Franklin Township, outside Waynesburg.
In the same news release, the union said an estimated 75 workers at five coal-processing plants in southern West Virginia ratified a separate pact.
The agreements take effect immediately, and do not include reductions in wages and benefits, according to the UMWA. It said the Cumberland pact also provides additional job protections for members there.
These announcements came eight weeks after Bristol, Tenn.-based Contura said it “plans to actively market” Cumberland Mine for sale. The underground mine is one of the largest employers in Greene County, and is Contura’s only Pennsylvania mine.
Cecil Roberts, the UMWA International president, was gratified by the ratifications. He said in a statement:
“I commend our bargaining team at Contura, led by secretary-treasurer Levi Allen, for hammering out tentative agreements that do not have wage or benefit reductions. That is an extraordinary achievement in a time when the coal industry is in free fall and non-union miners are seeing significant cuts to their wages and benefits. And I commend the membership at these operations for recognizing that and voting to ratify these agreements.”
Roberts added that the “pandemic has caused the thermal coal market to crash, and the longer it goes, the worse it is likely to get. Production in northern Appalachia has dropped by almost 30% from a year ago and now stands at a 25-year low.
“Our members have been slammed with production cuts and loss of hours while doing all they can to keep themselves and their families safe from COVID-19. Working through this pandemic has been stressful for everyone, but our membership continues to hold together and look out for each other.”