Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 21, 1993 TAG: 9312210047
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, W.VA. LENGTH: Medium
A United Mine Workers official said the union spent at least $140 million on the seven-month strike that ended last week.
And coal companies targeted by the union are turning in earnings reports that show losses.
Almost 18,000 union members were on strike in seven states at the peak of the latest walkout. Howard Green, who represents southern West Virginia on the union's governing board, would not say how the union spent $140 million during the strike, which began May 10 and ended last Tuesday when UMW members ratified a five-year contract. He said most of the money came from the union's strike fund, which paid benefits up to $225 a week to striking miners.
The union doesn't have to detail its finances until April, when it files an annual financial report with the U.S. Labor Department.
The union entered the strike with a selective strike fund that exceeded $100 million.
The fund maintained a balance of $69.8 million as of Sept. 30, according to a union report. In the third quarter, the union paid $30.7 million in strike benefits and collected $5.6 million in payments from working miners.
Coal company balances also were negatively affected by the strike.
Earlier this month, London-based Hanson PLC, the parent company of Peabody Holding Co., said its earnings had fallen $187 million this year because of the strike.
Peabody Holding Co. is the world's largest coal producer. Its affiliates include Peabody Coal Co. and Charleston-based Eastern Associated Coal Corp.
Ashland Coal Inc. of Huntington reported its third-quarter sales off $44 million this year from 1992. Ashland Coal is a subsidiary of Ashland Oil Inc. and owns two units hit by the strike: Hobet Mining Inc. and Dal-Tex Coal Corp., both in southern West Virginia.
by CNB