From Patch.com: How Private Equity Firms Caused The UMWA Strike In Brookwood
Here's an in-depth look at how ongoing business practices have impacted striking blue-collar workers for one west Alabama coal producer.
By RYAN PHILLIPS
BROOKWOOD, AL — There's a little wooden shelter at the intersection of Lock 17 Road and Miners Memorial Parkway in Brookwood that sat vacant on Friday. The site, which is scattered with weathered black and yellow picket signs supporting the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), was silent save for the bustle of traffic.
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Severe storms had done a number on the picket line, which had been active for 325 days as of the publication of this story. The site's portable toilet had been blown over by the wind and some of the ground signs were upended.
The empty picket line also stood in stark contrast to the operations directly across the road in the seemingly-busy offices of Warrior Met Coal.