Brookwood, AL – Coal miners who work at the Warrior Met Coal mine held a large rally on August 4 in Brookwood, Alabama. The miners, represented by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), have been on strike for more than four months with no apparent end in sight. The strike began after the company gave the miners a $6 dollar per hour wage cut. At the same time, the company saw large increases in profits.

It was a hot day in full sun, but that didn’t deter a huge crowd of miners and their families and others from coming out to show support for the strike. Besides miners from the Warrior Met Coal there were also many members of the UMWA locals from all across the country. Also seen were many members of other unions, including United Auto Workers, the Communications Workers of America, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and many more. Notably, there was a large showing of delegations of Teamsters union members including groups from all over the South, including South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. AFL-CIO presidents from many of those states spoke as well.

Unions announced donations to support the strike fund of the UMWA workers. A group of Walmart workers gave a notable contribution in a show of working-class solidarity from retail workers to miners.

At the rally, Donnie Samms, who is the at-large International Vice President of UMWA, said, “The company thinks that being on strike this long makes us weaker, but it doesn’t make us weaker, it only makes us stronger. We’re all in this together until we win this thing. How are we going to win this strike? If you think the law, the police, are going to be on our side, the justice system is going to be on our side, your wrong. The only way we are going to win is solidarity, sticking together as one. Period.”

Warrior Met recently released its second quarter numbers report and they lost $4.7 million. It is estimated that the strike has cost the company a total of around $7 million.

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