Utah Catholics among those supporting fired miners

Published: 2003-12-23

HUNTINGTON, Utah (CNS) -- When 74 miners went on strike at the Co-op Mine in Huntington this fall and then were immediately fired and replaced by other workers, Father Donald Hope, pastor of Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in neighboring Price, immediately got on the phone. The priest was trying to make sure that the miners would not be evicted from the plots of land where they have modest trailer homes. "Their landlords were threatening to add $3 every day to their rent when their rent was late," Father Hope told the Intermountain Catholic, newspaper of the Salt Lake City Diocese. "Most of these people are from Mexico, and they don't understand how this happens, but people have been very generous, and we have gotten their rent paid with no late fees," he said. The workers went on strike Sept. 22 in support of co-worker William Estrada, who says he was fired for trying to get fair union representation for the workers to ensure safer working conditions and better wages. Company officials told The Associated Press Estrada was fired for being insubordinate after he reportedly was caught falsifying a safety inspection record.

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