Editor:
Ever since the current labor dispute at Co-op Mine began, I have been curious to know who buys the coal produced there. Recently I found out that Aquila Inc., a power company in Missouri, was a customer of C.W. Mining. C.W. Mining has terminated the contract with Aquila, which they can no longer meet, listing a labor dispute as the cause.
I have also found out that our local power company PacifiCorp is a customer. PacifiCorp is not currently buying coal from C.W. Mining but they have in the past, and can’t say if they will in the future. I have not been able to find who else has, or does buy coal from the operation.
I, as a customer of PacifiCorp, find it repulsive that I have indirectly supported C.W. Mining when I’ve paid my power bill. Given a choice I would not buy anything produced by the Kingston businesses until they pay their employees more in line with the current standard for the type of work performed. The wages the Kingstons pay miners who work for C.W. Mining is shamefully below the average wage paid to coal miners in Utah.
C.W. Mining has fought its employees in every possible way to stop them from improving their lives. This one sided struggle has put continued hardships on the miners and their families. Perhaps if the buyers of C.W. Mining’s coal were to put pressure on the Kingstons, in the form of boycotting the mines product, then possibly the struggle for better wages and benefits would not be so difficult.
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