Alabama Miners Shut Down Coal Production, Rally for Labor in Birmingham
April 5th, 2011
by Glynn Wilson
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The United Mine Workers of America declared a day of mourning on Monday and shut down all coal production for the entire state of Alabama to protest the anti-union budget cutting policies of the new Republican governor and GOP-controlled legislature.
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| Daryl Dewberry, UMWA Watch the video here |
Daryl Dewberry’s army of mine workers from District 20, covering most of the Southeast, packed the house with their signature camouflage T-shirts at the “We Are One” rally at Boutwell Auditorium, moved across the street from Linn Park due to the threat of afternoon thunderstorms.
“These colors don’t run,” Dewberry said to resounding cheers and applause. “A wrong to one is a wrong to all. We stand with you …. We’re ready to fight and we’ll fight with you.”
The mine workers were joined by the Communication Workers of America Local 3902, which hosted the rally, along with the AFL-CIO, the plumbers and pipefitters of UA Local 91, and all the other unions in the state, including the American Federation of Teachers and the Alabama Education Association.
Under the leadership of Alabama’s new Republican Governor Robert Bentley, the state legislature is debating a number of policies to cut state budgets on the backs of public employees. In the lame duck session before he left office, former Alabama Governor Bob Riley had lawmakers pass a so-called “ethics package” of bills which had little to do with ethics but everything to do with eliminating the tax credit and payroll deduction for teachers to pay their dues to AEA, which is often demonized in the local press as an evil union, but really is organized more as a professional association.
Now the Republicans are debating other anti-union and anti-worker policies, much like Republican governors and lawmakers are trying to do in other states across the county, most notably Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.
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| Glynn Wilson |
| Alabama mine workers from the United Mine Workers of America |
It’s a “conspiracy to diminish labor if they can,” Dewberry said in an interview. When asked to explain that more, he said it was “politicians manipulated by big business to do away with the middle class and union workers.”
In his rousing speech to more than 1,000 in attendance, he said, “There is a conspiracy in this country right now” by the Republicans in the name of trying to say they are balancing the budgets, but doing it on the backs of public employees and other workers, union and non-union. It’s not just a conspiracy against unions, he said, but against the middle class.
“They will have us eating fish heads and rice like the Chinese if we don’t stand up and fight for our rights now,” he said. “They’ve awakened a sleeping giant.”
He said to fix the budget shortfalls, “All they’ve gotta do here in the state of Alabama is collect the unpaid taxes off these big corporations. It’s not just here it’s at the federal level as well. We keep putting the Republicans back in, and I cannot understand the mentality.”
It was a special day to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dewberry acknowledged, who was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968, there on a trip to march with the striking public sanitation workers.
Dewberry quoted from King’s Letter From a Birmingham Jail.
“Moreover, I am cognizant of the (interrelatedness) of all communities and states. I cannot sit by … in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere,” he wrote. “We are caught in an inescapable network of brutality tied to a single garment of destiny. Whatever effects one directly affects us all indirectly. Never again can with live with the narrow … outside agitator idea. Anyone who lives within the United States can never be considered an outsider.”
“That’s why whatever happens in Wisconsin, we’ve seen it happen and it’s arising in every state in the union,” Dewberry said. “Therefore, I’m ready to fight.”
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| Stewart Burkhalter, AFL-CIO |
Other speakers at the rally included Stewart Burkhalter, the outgoing head of the AFL-CIO in Alabama, who also talked about the national Republican plan to destroy the unions.
“The Republican Party and the well-funded right-wing corporate politicians are trying to take away the rights that some of our forefathers and Dr. King gave their lives for,” he said. “They are trying to destroy the unions, and thereby eliminate the middle class.”
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| Rev. Anthony Johnson, NAACP |
Even though Alabama is a so-called “right-to-work” state and does not allow public employees to engage in collective bargaining, Burkhalter said, the fight is also going on here.
“The well-funded, right-wing politicians are coming after the American Federation of Teachers, the firefighters, police officers, the Alabama Education Association, state employees, and the Alabama AFL-CIO,” he said.
He accused Governor Bentley of doubling the pay of his staff recently while “zeroing out” of the budget all AFL-CIO programs to help train dislocated workers, train those in existing industries and apprenticeships for the building trade union workers, as well as the program for labor archives and history.
“You know and I know, that if Dr. King were alive today, he would be leading the fight to prevent this from happening,” Burkhalter said. “And we must carry on this fight.”
The Rev. Anthony Johnson of the Birmingham NAACP also gave a rousing speech, saying while certain parties are making decisions, “it’s not a party issue. It’s about the haves and the have nots. It’s a war on the middle class,” he said. “It’s time to get in the fight.”
Other speakers included Rep. Merika Coleman, state Senator Priscilla Dunn, state Rep. Mary Moore, state Rep. Oliver Robinson, and the Birmingham, Alabama president of the American Federation of Teachers, Vi Parramore.
Union workers rally outside Boutwell Auditorium in downtown Birmingham
Watch a video to go along with this story here
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April 5th, 2011 at 5:24 pm
Great article Glynn. I’ll share it widely.
April 5th, 2011 at 6:48 pm
I hear all the cries from all the many people who feel they are being unfairly targeted by some of the legislation being proposed. My question is simple. What have they to offer to counter the reality that there is just not enough money available. I hear the call to collect the uncollected taxes from corporations. That is a fine idea except that they will only pass the cost on to the consumer, thus actually paying nothing just as the legislatures have written into the tax codes. These loopholes that are available are the responsibility of both GOP and Democratic lawmakers. Most were passed to benefit those lawmaker/business owners. My sympathy would be much greater if I ever saw any benefit from any union.
April 5th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
Well, complain to your local corporation, then, and ask them why they pay no taxes in this state or country?
The union workers pay taxes, because they demand to be paid a living wage often for very hard, highly specialized work necessary to the corporations, especially the power companies, where you get your lights, heat and air conditioning.
Without unions, they would be paid low wages like the state owned enterprises in China, and have horrendous working conditions. Is that what you would have for your American brother?
You need to rethink your sympathy and get away from Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. They just mislead you. We tell the truth around here.
April 10th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
When we look at UNION history or any other organization you will see the chart goes up and down. UNIONS always comes back stronger than ever. People who don’t know anythig about UNIONS don’t realize the good UNIONS have done for this COUNTRY.
Even The Companies benefit by UNIONS because we pay and do the work that betters the company. UNIONS are committed to quality work. Sure we expect better wages. The money goes to the company or the workers. Why not pay better wages to the employees and give them better benefits?
Look up your big company C.E.O.’s salary and bonuses. You would faint at some of them. Their bonuses are more than our President makes a year.
Your lower management always (secretely of course) pulls for the UNIONS because I have been told by them (secretely of course). What you all get in bargaining helps us too.
You talk to Walmart employees (secretly of course) and they will eagerly tell you” I wish we did have a UNION! I would be the first to sign the card.”
UNITED WE STAND!! I am UNION and PROUD!!!! Yeah for COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA