The United Mine Workers used to be the most powerful union in the country, guided by union President John L. Lewis with a peak membership of more than 700,000. Today, membership has fallen to 30,000 due to environmental regulations, union officials say. However, with President Bush’s coal-friendly energy plan, most notably Bush’s call to build 1,300 power plants and the rejection of the Kyoto agreement on global warming, the UMW now sees a new opportunity to revive unionization in the industry.
See "Miner’s Union Sees Opportunity in Bush Policy", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, June 24, 2001