Dole to Meet With Striking Coal Miners
Labor Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole will visit striking coal miners today in southwest Virginia for a first-hand look at the six-month walkout involving Pittston Co. mines in three states, a department official said Thursday.
“She’s frustrated and wants something to happen. Obviously, she wants to see the strike resolved,” spokeswoman Dale Tate said, adding that Dole is not taking sides in the dispute.
Dole met earlier in Washington with Pittston chief Paul Douglas and Richard Trumka, president of the United Mine Workers.
“We think that’s a tremendous step in the right direction,” Trumka said of Dole’s trip. The UMW official spoke at a news conference in which several international labor leaders expressed concern over the coal strike.
The delegation of foreign labor leaders met earlier Thursday with Virginia Gov. Gerald L. Baliles, and spent Wednesday in the southwest Virginia coal fields after meeting with Pittston chairman Douglas.
Contract talks resumed Thursday in suburban Washington after a six-week break.
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