Colombian Union Sees Threat

Drummond Co. has fired miners who serve on the board of its labor union in Colombia, and wants to get rid of all 4,000 union members there, the United Steelworkers said Friday.

President Leo Gerard of the United Steelworkers, which aids organized labor movements worldwide, protested the actions in a letter sent Thursday to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, union lawyer Dan Kovalik said.

If the State Department recommends it, the U.S. government can impose economic or other sanctions against foreign countries. Birmingham-based Drummond was awarded a coal mining license by Colombia in the 1980s, and operates a vast surface mining complex there.

Attempts to reach officials with Drummond were unsuccessful.

Labor relations have been a sore spot for Drummond in Colombia. In March, miners walked off the job for a few days to protest safety conditions, which they say contributed to the death of a fellow miner.

In 2007, there were allegations of murder. In the end, Drummond prevailed during a trial in U.S. District Court in Birmingham that sought to find the company and executives liable for conspiring with right-wing militias to kill three union officials who were slain in 2001.

Now, the Steelworkers say, Drummond has asked the Colombian government for permission to fire all union members in that country.

''That has been their intention from the start,'' said Kovalik, the labor lawyer.

Drummond was founded in Walker County in 1935 and eventually operated dozens of Alabama mines. It began planning the Colombian strategy in the 1980s, as the profitably recoverable Alabama coal ran out. Drummond is down to one Alabama underground mine, Shoal Creek in west Jefferson County.

EMAIL: rhubbard@bhamnews.com [1]