All other Drummond mines in Alabama have been closed in the last few years. Drummond's Cedrum facility, a surface mine located north of Jasper, Alabama, shut down at the end of last year, throwing 165 miners out of work. There are now only six UMWA-organized coal mines in the Alabama coalfields. In a number of cases, coal mines have opened in virtually the same area where former Drummond mines once operated, except they are now run as nonunion operations. Wages, safety, and working conditions are considerably worse in nonunion mines in Alabama than when they were under UMWA contract.
Some nonunion mines offer health benefits, but the premiums are usually sky-high.
Others offer no medical coverage at all. In this context, coal mines that traditionally have been nonunion are also slashing wages and benefits. The Taft Coal Company, for example, closed two surface mines south of Jasper about two years ago, and soon after opened a third in the vicinity. Layoffs are widespread through the coalfields as the price of coal has plummeted in recent months. Coal production in 1999 fell to 21 million tons from 24 million in 1998.