“It was a union job. WhenI hired on I didn't know anything about union, I would just told you pretty much have to join or they wouldn't hire you because it'd be too much contention. The union is what provided our contract, what we worked under. The benefits were from the union negotiating with the company. And so I became a strong believer in the unions and when I saw how the [union] people were treated I agreed even more with it. Good benefits, good retirement.” JF
“I just want to know what’s happening out there at the local level. We still have the same local 1307, but it’s changed management twice since I’ve been out there. So I’m just curious on what’s going on out there [at the mine]. It’s in my blood. Can’t let it go”
“You know, we’re the oldest local in the UMWA.”
“Down here in Diamondville, when my grandpa moved down, he was very against companies because of the company store. They could never get ahead, they had to live in the company homes, they had to buy at the company store. They didn't really get a check, they got a stub that said how much they made and then everything that they bought or whatever was taken out of that and they got what was left, which might only have been a dollar, didn't know. He moved down here, and he tried to form a union, which he did secretly. Union organizers would come to town and he would take them down to his wine cellar where he made wine, and they would talk down there. My grandma said that was because they were afraid that the company men would find him and kill him. They tried to hide as best they could. He did form a union but isn't the one that is here now.
My husband was also a coal miner. He worked out at this mine. He started out working on the powder crew which is the one that did the explosive works, so he was licensed through the state of Wyoming. He gradually ascended into, basically, running one of the biggest shovels around, and he did that for many years. He was instrumental in the local union, 1307.” -SH
