By Doug Cunningham

Peabody mines has its headquarters in St. Louis and workers are calling on the company to recognize the basic right to form a union. The United Mine Workers of America marched on Peabody's St. Louis offices this week protesting routine human rights violations in the workplace. UMWA Communications Director Phil Smith.

[Phil Smith 1] : "Their normal scheduled shift is 11 hours a day Monday through Friday and then another eight hours on Saturday. Many of them don't receive a lunch break, they have no sick days. Health and safety on the job is kind of a secondary notion sometimes."

Smith says people in the St. Louis area can have a powerful impact to help workers win basic human rights at Peabody.

[Smith 2] : "They can let Peabody know that they support the American workers' basic right to belong to a union. They can let their members of Congress know that they support this basic right so that the members of Congress can support the Employee Free Choice Act."