Salt Lake City bishop visits Utah miners on strike since last fall

Published: 2004-05-07

HUNTINGTON, Utah (CNS) -- Gonzalo Salazar stood by the side of the unpaved road in rural Emery County that leads to the Co-op Mine. "We are privileged that you have come to visit us," he told Salt Lake City Bishop George H. Niederauer. Salazar and other miners have maintained a picket line since they went on strike last September to demand better wages, safer working conditions and fair union representation. He told the bishop that of the 72 miners who walked out 10 have gotten jobs in other nearby mines and are earning $18 to $19 an hour, a more typical wage for such workers. Wages at Co-op ranged from $5.25 to $7.40 an hour. The mine, formally known as CW Mining Co., is one of 160 businesses in Western states owned and operated by the Kingston family, a polygamous sect that broke away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints decades ago.

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