Since April, over 1,000 Alabama coal miners have been on strike. The workers say their employer, Warrior Met Coal, has denied them fair wages, good insurance, and reasonable work schedules and conditions, all while paying millions of dollars in fees to Wall Street firms and bonuses to upper management. Since 2016, when Warrior Met Coal took ownership of the mine, workers have seen lower hourly wages, less paid time off, and decreased medical coverage, and both tenured and new employees lost their pensions. Despite various hurdles, the miners’ union is prepared to continue its strike as an expression of workers’ constitutional rights.
Workers must use their newfound leverage to protect their careers from automation (brookings.edu)
