An administrative judge has thrown out Peabody Energy Corp's objections to a union election at the coal producer's Willow Lake mine in southern Illinois and found the company engaged in unfair labor practices, including firing an employee.

Mr Jeffrey E Wedekind a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge ruled that the United Mine Workers of America should be certified as the collective-bargaining representative for employees at the mine and ordered Peabody to reinstate the fired worker with back pay.

UMWA President Cecil Roberts said the ruling shines a strong light of truth on the campaign of fear and intimidation the company terrorized these workers with for months and has continued to engage in after the election."

The St. Louis-based company, the world's largest private sector coal producer, said it will appeal the ruling. The company maintains the decision contains "numerous conclusions that had no basis in fact."

Peabody has operated the Willow Lake Mine in Saline County for almost a decade. Last year, the mine produced 2.9 million tons of coal sold to Midwest utilities. It is just one of two Peabody mines in the US where hourly workers are unionized.

The UMWA began an organizing campaign in March to represent Willow Lake employees, who were previously represented by the Boilermakers Union. More than 90 percent of 440 production and maintenance workers at the mine signed authorization cards requesting UMWA representation. But in a secret ballot vote in May, the union prevailed only by just 13 votes -- 219-206.

(Sourced from www.stltoday.com)