Peabody Energy

In response to demands by its workers and the UMWA, Peabody now acknowledges in its code of conduct, the freedom of its employees to organize and bargain collectively. But Peabody continues its 15-year anti-union campaign. Send a fax to CEO Greg Boyce telling him to allow coal miners to organize free from fear intimation and harassment. A copy of your fax will be sent to your congressman.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Fax To Gregory H. Boyce CEO of Peabody Energy

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Dear Mr. Boyce: I urge you to negotiate an agreement with the UMWA so that Peabody's workers can choose to join a trade union in an environment free of coercion. Peabody should remain neutral concerning its employees' choice to unionize, and Peabody should agree to a fair process, such as card-check majority verification, for employees to make that decision. There is no justice in a coal mine without the right to organize a union free from fear intimidation and harassment.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
May 22, 2006

Background Information

In just the first four months of 2006, 26 coal miners have already died on the job in the United States, 23 of whom worked in non-union mines, including the 12 who perished in the Sago mine disaster.

Miners at Peabody Energy Corp., the world’s largest private sector coal company, are fighting for a voice on the job to protect their right to refuse unsafe work without fear of retribution from management and their right to elect safety committees of their peers — not management appointees.

Over the past year and a half, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) has met with hundreds of Peabody employees to discuss the issues that plague them. In December, Peabody miners kicked off a major campaign to organize a union in multiple mines to raise their standard of living with better pay, benefits and workplace safety improvements.

But Peabody Energy has different plans. At a recent investor conference call, Peabody CEO Gregory H. Boyce acknowledged the company’s policy to be entirely non-union reaches back over a decade: “We have, over the last 15 years, moved the vast majority of our production and developed our operations to where we have reduced the intensity of our unionization and we would continue on that path,” Boyce said.

Despite Peabody’s anti-union campaign, its workers continue to organize. And as a result of pressure from workers and the UMWA, Peabody recently amended its Code of Business Conduct and Ethics so that it now acknowledges the freedom of its workers to organize and bargain collectively.

But these are just words. Peabody must implement its policy immediately and ends its union-busting campaign. It is time for Peabody to practice what it preaches in its code of conduct.

Send a fax to Peabody CEO Greg Boyce insisting that the company remain neutral concerning its employee’s choice to unionize. Let him know that Peabody should agree to a fair process for employees to make their decision.

There is no justice in a coal mine without the right to organize a union free from fear, intimidation, and harassment.