Westmoreland Announces New Labor Deal At Western Energy Company
Westmoreland Coal Company (NasdaqGM:WLB) today announced that its
Western Energy Company subsidiary entered into a six-year collective
bargaining agreement with the represented employees at its Rosebud Mine
located in Colstrip, Montana. The new agreement with the International
Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 400 is effective January 1,
2013, and will expire February 28, 2019.
'We are pleased that we were able to cooperatively enter into this
long-term agreement with the IUOE prior to the expiration of the prior
agreement. This new agreement provides us certainty to continue to serve
the needs of our customers,? stated Robert P. King, Chief Operating
Officer and President. 'We would like to thank the leadership and
membership of the IUOE for their commitment to a collaborative process
and look forward to continued safe and successful mining operations at
the Rosebud Mine.?
'IUOE Local 400 and its bargaining team are pleased to announce that
they have reached a six year agreement with Westmoreland Coal Co. This
contract is the direct result of the Union and the Company working
together to make sure that both have the ability to look towards the
future with some degree of certainty and stability that will benefit
everyone,? stated Chuck Cashell, Business Manager of the IUOE Local 400.
'After a very contentious negotiations and strike in 2009, the Company
and the Union came together and with the assistance of the federal
mediation and conciliation service ?(FMCS) used interest based bargaining
as a framework to do things differently this time around. We feel that
this process has worked well and has been successful in addressing the
needs of both parties.?
About Westmoreland Coal Company
Westmoreland Coal Company is the oldest independent coal company in the
United States. The Company′s coal operations include coal mining in the
Powder River Basin in Montana, sub-bituminous mining in Wyoming, and
lignite mining operations in Montana, North Dakota and Texas. Its power
operations include ownership of the two-unit ROVA coal-fired power plant
in North Carolina. For more information, visit www.westmoreland.com.
About the International Union of Operating Engineers
The International Union of Operating Engineers is a diversified trade
union that primarily represents operating engineers, who work as heavy
equipment operators, mechanics, and surveyors in the construction
industry, and stationary engineers, who work in operations and
maintenance in building and industrial complexes, and in the service
industries. IUOE also represents nurses and other health industry
workers, a significant number of public employees engaged in a wide
variety of occupations, as well as a number of job classifications in
the petrochemical industry. Founded in 1896, IUOE today
has ?approximately 400,000 members in 123 local unions throughout the
United States and Canada. For more information, visit www.iuoe.org.
Westmoreland Coal Company
Kevin Paprzycki, 855-922-6463