CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the United Mine Workers ratified a new five-year agreement with the Bituminous Coal Operators Association Friday night, giving the nation's largest coal operators a measure of stability at a time when the global energy industry is roiling with uncertainty.

        An unofficial tally shows 60 percent of the union's members voted to accept the contract that covers an estimated 100,000 union members when laid-off miners and pensioners are included.

        The vote comes more than a year before the December 2002 expiration of the current agreement. The new agreement received its strongest support in southern West Virginia and the Midwest.

        “This is a tremendous victory for UMWA members nationwide,” UMWA International president Cecil Roberts said. “The gains we were able to make in this agreement reflect our members' wishes. We got it done early, we negotiated higher pensions and we protected our retirees' health care.”

        Vote tallies remain unofficial until UMWA International tellers certify the results in early January. Once that occurs, Mr. Roberts said, he expects the final percentage to be near 61 percent in favor.

        UMW members working for Peabody Coal Co., CONSOL Energy Inc. and at some Arch Coal Inc. mines cast ballots Friday on the new contract, which will be in force until Dec. 31, 2006.

        The union members voted through the day Friday at their workplace. Local union officers then tallied the votes and telephoned the results to the union's headquarters in Fairfax, Va. The companies also must approve the proposal, but that is viewed largely as a formality.

        The contract makes it easier for miners with 30 years of service to retire with full benefits, regardless of age. It includes a lump-sum, $600 bonus for working miners in July 2002, and pay hikes totaling $1.50 an hour over the life of the agreement. Pay now ranges up to $18 an hour, depending on the job assignment.

        Peabody, based in St. Louis, was the nation's largest coal producer with 182 million tons in 2000; CONSOL was the fourth-largest with 68 million tons.

        The companies' contract with the UMW, known as the National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreement, sets the standard for employment for most of the UMW's 26,000 working miners.

        AEI Resources, based in Ashland, Ky., was not among the companies signing on to this year's negotiations. Other, smaller, companies have in the past signed contracts similar to the national one, calling them “me-too” agreements.

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