Warrior Met Coal says the level of violence taking place along the picket line in Tuscaloosa County in the ongoing strike by the United Mine Workers of America has “reached a dangerous level over the last week.”
The company also released video of car and truck windows being smashed that it says happened to workers attempting to cross the picket line.
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More than 1,000 members of the UMWA began a strike against Warrior Met Coal at its Brookwood mines on April 1, calling for higher pay and benefits. Last month, the union called attention to the use of the Highway Patrol Division of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to escort workers past the line.
In a statement, the company today said that it “respects the right of represented employees to engage in lawful strike activities and has provided the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) picketers with reasonable spaces to picket at our entrances since the strike began.”
However, Warrior Met says “in recent weeks striking workers have escalated the amount and severity of criminal behavior.” It says picketers have attacked personal vehicles, property and “uninvolved community members” near the company’s property.
They also said employees have been physically intimidated, assaulted, and had personal vehicles and homes vandalized.
“While unacceptable behavior by the picketers has been occurring since the strike began, actions both on the picket line and in the community have reached a dangerous level over the last week,” Warrior Met said.
Requests for comment from the UMWA were not immediately returned.
In May, nearly a dozen miners were arrested during a protest outside a mine. Striking miners in June reported at least three instances of violence along picket lines.
Warrior Met Coal said that month that it was granted a court-ordered injunction to maintain a safe environment for its employees, “including those actively at work and those currently on strike.”
The company also offered a reward for information on damage to electrical transmission and distribution equipment on the company’s property.
Both Warrior Met and the union have used the picket line as a way to focus attention on the strike.
The UMWA has released videos of incidents where the union says members were struck by vehicles crossing the picket line.
In recent weeks, the company has launched its own website, Warrior Met Coal Facts, to counter what it calls “misleading statements” made in the media by union representatives and striking members.
The current agreement with the union was negotiated as Warrior Met emerge from the bankruptcy proceedings of the former Walter Energy, which declared bankruptcy in 2016.
Union members say they made numerous concessions in pay, benefits, holidays, overtime and in other areas to keep the company going and get it out of bankruptcy.
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