【AL】 Striking Alabama coal miners to pay $435,000 in damages – Alabama News

The National Labor Relations Board has revised a previous damage assessment to the United Mine Workers of America downward, as the union continues its ongoing strike against Warrior Met Coal.

According to the UMWA, the NLRB’s Region 10 has now recalculated its damages to $435,000, down from an earlier amount of $13.3 million this summer.

UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts hailed the decision, saying the union would pay the amount, “put this behind us and negotiate a fair and reasonable contract with Warrior Met Coal that will settle this strike. Let’s get this done.”

In August, Roberts had called the larger amount an “outrageous assessment of damages” and said the union had no intention of paying it.

“We appreciate that NLRB Region 10 took another look at the damages it had initially assessed and recognized that the number should be in line with what Region 10 had initially indicated would be charged,” Roberts said. “This recalculation, which comes to about $435,000 plus interest, conforms to the number we had been told we would be charged.”

The damages came as the result of a settlement agreement the union entered into in June regarding charges made by Warrior Met regarding picket line activity. The union said last month that it entered the settlement agreement in order to save “members and families from days of hostile questioning by company lawyers.”

NLRB spokesperson Kayla Blado said the assessment “is a result of a consideration of applicable case law, the settlement terms and circumstances, and the monetary damage claims asserted by affected parties.”

The UMWA strike against Warrior Met Coal began April 1, 2021. About 1,100 union members walked off the job that day and rejected a tentative agreement later that month. Earlier this year, union representatives said about 900 workers remain on strike.