Freedom of association and collective bargaining are internationally recognized human rights according to the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights urge companies to “know and show” that they respect human rights by adopting “a human rights due diligence process to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their impacts on human rights.”1

Our Company’s unionized workforce is represented by the United Mine Workers of America (the “UMWA”). Between April 1, 2021 and February 16, 2023, these UMWA members went on strike after filing unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB”). According to an estimate by the AFL-CIO and the UMWA, the Company had $1.3 billion less potential revenue during the strike as a result of lower levels of production.2

On June 29, 2023, a NLRB Administrative Law Judge found that the Company had engaged in unfair labor practices by failing and refusing to provide information that the UMWA had requested during bargaining.3 The Company and the UMWA have filed exceptions to this decision that are subject to review by the NLRB. On September 7, 2023, the director of NLRB Region 10 dismissed a petition to decertify the UMWA as the representative of the Company’s unionized employees, concluding that “a causal nexus exists between the Employer’s unlawful conduct and the decertification petition.”4

In our opinion, an independent, third-party assessment will provide assurance that the Company’s current employment policies and practices conform with the Company’s international human rights obligations to respect its workers’ rights. At our Company’s 2024 annual meeting, 46 percent of our Comp