Miners tour New England, build solidarity for strike
1989 1989-07Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 8 →
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8 SOCIALIST ACTION JULY 1989 By ADAMS-COOPER BOSTON-I met Luther Chaffin, a striking Pittston miner from Cleveland, Va., on the picket line at South Station here June 30. Along with his wife Judy and daughter Heather, he was there to show his solidarity with rail workers who are fighting back against the union-busting attempts of Amtrak management.
Chaffin, a 19-year-veteran of the mines, has been touring New England, speaking at local union meetings to raise money and spread the word about the Pittston strike. Pittston miners went out on April 5, and miners throughout Appalachia and the Midwest have followed in wildcat sympathy strikes.
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"All the unions are one big family, Chaffin told me. He said that was the connection between the strike against Eastern Air Lines, the struggle of Amtrak workers against sub-standard wages and working conditions, and his fight back home.
Chaffin said that he had met with the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, as well as with union nurses, teachers, hotel workers, laundry workers, auto workers, Eastern machinists and flight attendants, electrical workers, and workers in the building trades. "Everybody's been real supportive."
Judy Chaffin spoke of her active involvement in the Women's Auxiliary of the United Mine Workers of America, joining picket lines and helping to raise money for the strikers and their families.
Heather was excited to be seeing New England, where she noted "everything moves much faster" than back home. She has been a leader of a Student Auxiliary in Dickinson County, Va., comprised of students from the elementary grades through high school.
The Student Auxiliary organized fundraising activities for the miners' strike fund— a walkathon, a car wash, and the sale of camouflage ties. They sang solidarity songs at rallies, and did some pretty effective picketing on their own.
In addition, Heather described how students from Irvington and Clintwood High Schools "walked out of school and marched to the Clintwood Courthouse," where those arrested for obstructing the entrance to Pittston mines were being held. She said that over 200 students joined their picket line.
"Everybody [involved in the strike] is in good spirits," said Luther Chaffin. "But all we have is coal mining, and that's why we're not going back without a contract we can live with." three years, which was granted to other rail workers. Management argued that Amtrak, unlike the freight lines, lost money, so the employees would have to lose money.
When the following contract failed to recover the lost 12 percent, Amtrak workers decided to negotiate a separate agreement this time around. They are now 14 months without a contract.
Negotiators for the Transportation Communication International Union (TCU) outlined management's union-busting stance in a letter to all members. Management demands pay cuts of 30 percent to 50 percent, changes in protective "scope" rules (which define what