Alpha Incentives Aimed To Keep Quality Miners

CLEVELAND, Va. – It was meant to be a surprise.

But secrets are hard to keep when coal miners spend eight hours or more each day mining in spaces that measure just 40 inches high and a few feet wide in places.

Word had trickled out the night before that Alpha Natural Resources managers were visiting each of the company’s 58 mining sites in four states on Thursday to hold mandatory meetings with employees.

Many of the experienced miners at Alpha’s Deep Mine 35 in Russell County, Va., have learned over the years that such meetings are rarely something to look forward to, but this time was different. Gossip among the 64 miners was that this session would be worthwhile.

The coal miners – many who rode a transport car known as a mantrip out of the mine just minutes before the meeting – walked into the mine office as Superintendent Darrell Holbrook herded them into the meeting room. Those who arrived early took prime seats in the back, leaving the stragglers to scratch their heads and reluctantly fill the front rows.

The rumors were true. The company bigwigs brought $13 million for this year alone in employee appreciation incentives for Alpha’s 3,600 workers.

Kevin Crutchfield, Alpha’s president, made the trek to Deep Mine 35 to deliver the goodies. He shook hands with workers, asked them a few questions about the troublesome geography at the mine and complimented them on the job they do to harvest the coal that powers more than half of the nation’s electricity.

In addition to the compliments, Crutchfield handed out $1,200 worth of company stock to each worker. He also told them that Alpha will pick up the tax liability on the 25 shares of stock and the workers can cash in the stock in 90 days or keep it until a later date since stock prices for coal are soaring.

Just for sticking with the company, workers no longer have to pay any health care premiums and each worker will get a percentage of their annual salary as a bonus twice a year. Those who stay for three years will get several thousand dollars under the bonus plan. Workers who volunteer on one of the company’s mine rescue teams will get extra vacation time as well.

Alpha also is helping keep employees on the road to and from work by giving them an extra $30 per month to help deal with soaring gas prices. The company’s financial gurus are working to improve this benefit and may find more ways to ease the pain at the pumps, Crutchfield said.

If any of the miners were surprised, they didn’t show it. In typical miner fashion, most sat stony-faced and listened quietly as Crutchfield outlined the incentive plan.

Some – including those who proudly wore T-shirts portraying a coal miner crawling in a low coal seam with the words "friends in low places" – nodded their heads from time to time. Each miner thanked Crutchfield as he handed them the stock certificates.

"It’s a heartfelt gesture from the management of Alpha," Crutchfield explained. "You guys keep the lights on."

He reminded the miners that Alpha started business five years ago in an office that had a phone and no chairs. Today, the Abingdon-based company is one of the largest coal producers in the nation.

"In the end, it’s worked out pretty well," Crutchfield said. "The market for coal right now is pretty good. Coal has gone global. The world has opened up and everybody is looking at coal."

It takes coal reserves, equipment and people to mine coal, he said. Alpha is blessed with a great work force, and the employees deserve credit for the success, he said.

"We want to share that success with you," he told the workers.

Robert Bledsoe has mined coal for more than 30 years. He will pull his last shift today as a supply man at Deep Mine 35. He is retiring and won’t share as much in the bounty, but said he will enjoy his stock and other benefits.

"It’s good of them," he said of Alpha’s employee reward program.

Bledsoe said coal mining has changed over the years and is now driven by technology.

He is in the majority when it comes to the nation’s miners. The average age of underground miners today is 50 or older. Coal companies find it difficult to entice new workers to replace the experienced miners who are retiring. Retaining and luring new workers is among the reasons Alpha wants to reward its workers for sticking around.

Jeffrey Messer drives to Russell County from Tazewell County to work at Deep Mine 35. He’s been mining coal since 1983. As a roof bolter, Messer’s job is to drive metal rods into the mine ceiling to keep the other miners safe.

He said the incentives will keep him around for another 20 years at least.

"It’s nice that the company appreciates you," he said. "It’s even nicer that they show it. All this really helps right now."

He said the program will be a boost to the coal industry, especially for young miners, like co-worker Chad Necessary, who are new to the business.

"Mining is a honest and decent profession," Messer said. "It’s a profession to be proud of."

Necessary has been on the job as a roof bolter for six months. He’s in the company’s Red Hat apprentice program. He wears a red mining hat underground so his co-workers can easily see he’s learning his way around. He can get rid of the red hat in six more months.

"Chad has come an awful long way," Messer said. "It shows that somebody can step in your shoes when you leave."

Necessary seemed proud of Messer’s praise. He chose coal mining because many in his family are in the profession.

"It’s about as good a job as you can get," he said.

The incentives will come in handy, he said.

"I think it’s nice, very nice," he said. "It’s good that the company appreciates us."

Incentives are nice, but the little things also make a difference in the workplace. The reflective clothing miners now wear underground means plenty, miners said.

Years ago, miners wore dark coveralls that made them difficult to see in an underground mine where heavy equipment moves in confined spaces. The reflective clothing makes it safer, they said.

Messer said the reflective clothing, which includes broad orange stripes, really pops underground when mining lamps and headlights on the moving equipment flash on a miner.

"You really stick out," he said.

Necessary also likes the clothes, but he and the others said they often get stares if they stop in local stores on the way home.

"People ask me if I’m on work release," Necessary said as he ran his hand along the bright orange stripes.

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