Picketing Alabama Miners Stopped by Rare Non-Federal Court Order

As an Alabama coal miners’ strike neared the eight-month mark, a Tuscaloosa County judge took an unusual step: prohibiting union workers from picketing outside properties owned by their employer.

The order was a rare incursion by a local court into a private-sector strike—an activity protected under federal labor law for nearly a century. The United Mine Workers of America, which represents workers at Warrior Met Coal Inc., called the move unconstitutional, saying it violated their federal rights in addition to the First Amendment.

Judge James Roberts Jr. of the Circuit Court of Tuscaloosa County, was not convinced by the union’s ...