Collective Bargaining

The 2007 coal industry agreements with the Bituminous Coal Operators Association (BCOA) include the following major improvements in the contract:

The new five-year agreement calls for a 20 percent across-the-board increase in wages over the life of the agreement, and a $1,000 bonus to be paid immediately. When wage roll-ups and other improvements in the contract are factored in, the overall hourly cost of this agreement will increase by 32% percent.

Underground miners working at the top rate will be earning $24.42 per hour in the final year of the contract. The training rate for new miners will be $22.77 per hour in the last year of the agreement.

Pensions for future retirees will be increased by $10 per month, per year of service over the life of the agreement, and pensions for current retirees have been raised as well. A miner who retires with 30 years of service at the end of the term of this agreement will see almost a $600 per month increase in his pension check.

The BCOA agreement included increased contributions to the UMWA 1974 Pension Fund in each year of the agreement. By the end of the agreement in 2011, the companies will have made over $500 million in contributions to the pension plan. The 1974 Pension Plan currently has $6.2 billion in funds.

Even though the BCOA agreement was initially with Consol Energy, other coal companies like Peabody Energy, Foundation Coal Company, Jim Walter Resources and others are bound by the pension improvements and pension contribution rates included in the new agreement because they are part of the UMWA Health and Retirement Funds, which includes the UMWA 1974 Pension Fund.

The union preserved full health care benefits for active and retired members and their dependents, with no increase in co-payments. The agreement also eliminates a cap on what retirees who receive health care benefits from their former employers can earn and still receive those benefits.

Improvements were made in other areas of the agreement as well, including an additional day off for members with 19 or more years of service, higher benefits for lost time due to sickness or accidents, improved life insurance benefits and more.

Companies who have subsidiaries that are signatories to the agreement include:

• Bluestone Coal
• Consol Energy
• Drummond Coal
• Foundation Coal Holdings
• Jim Walters Resources
• Magnum Coal
• Ohio Valley Coal
• Peabody Energy (now Patriot Coal)
• PinnOak Coal (now Cleveland Cliffs Coal)
• Pittsburg and Midway Coal (now Chevron Mining)

Update: The UMWA successfully concluded negotiations with Peabody Energy for a new agreement at the company's Highland mine in western Kentucky in October. The provisions of the agreement mirror the national agreement and has a common expiration date with the national agreement.

Subsequent to this agreement, Peabody spun off the Highland mine and all of its mines in Appalachia to the newly formed Patriot Coal. 

Negotiations for a new contract at the Crown II and Crown III mines in Illinois, which were recently sold by General Dynamics to Springfield Coal Co. are also ongoing. Crown II is currently idled.

ExxonMobil has sold the Monterey mine in Illinois, however the mine remains closed at this time. The new owner has not announced a date for reopening the mine.