Rosebud Mine contract talks to
continue
BILLINGS Contract negotiations continued today between Western Energy
Company and union workers at the Rosebud Mine near Colstrip.
Yesterday, the two sides worked with a federal mediator.
Operating Engineers Local 400 voted last Friday to reject the current
contract, which expires tonight at midnight. They also voted to authorize
the negotiating committee to call a strike if necessary.
About 285 union members work at the Rosebud Mine, which supplies the
coal to nearby Colstrip power plants. Union head Jim Keane says they'd like
to settle. But he rejected assertions by the mine manager that the contract
offer was a good one.
While the offer includes a raise of two dollars, 45-cents an hour,
Keane says the company wants to reduce the pension contribution, on top of a
giveback by the union a few years ago when coal prices were down.
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