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Former Blackjewel Miners End Railroad Blockade In Kentucky
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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The nearly two-month blockade of a Kentucky railroad track is coming to an end as unpaid coal miners end their protest in order to take new jobs, start classes, or move away… Read More
Paychecks Cut For Some Blackjewel Miners; Others Still Wait
By: Brittany Patterson | Ohio Valley ReSource
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West Virginia employees of coal operator Blackjewel LLC have received their final paychecks more than two months after the company declared bankruptcy on July 1. In an agreement reached last… Read More
Coal Mine Electrician Dies in Accident at West Virginia Mine
By: Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia officials say a 40-year-old coal mine electrician has died in an accident. The West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training says Steven… Read More
Kentucky Labor Cabinet Requesting Bond Payment from Coal Companies
By: Associated Press
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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Labor Cabinet has sent letters to coal and construction companies that might be in violation of a state law that requires a bond to… Read More
On Labor Day, Miners Mark Historic Union March
By: Emily Allen | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ninety-eight years ago, thousands of pro-union miners marched toward West Virginia’s Logan County, to protest abuses by coal operators in what was then a largely anti-union territory. The marchers were… Read More
Mines That Change Owners Have Worse Safety Record, Audit Finds
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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A new federal government report shows that mines that changed ownership had worse safety records than mines where ownership did not change. According to an audit from the Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector… Read More
“Bloody Harlan” Revisited: Blackjewel Miners Draw On Labor History While Facing Uncertain Future
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Curtis Cress sat in the gravel beside a railroad track in Harlan County, Kentucky. Tall and thin with a long, black beard, Cress is every bit a coal miner, or,… Read More
Few Answers For Unpaid Miners After Day One of Blackjewel Sales Hearing
By: Brittany Patterson | Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Blackjewel coal miners will have to wait at least another day to learn if the sale of the bankrupt coal company’s mines and equipment will deliver their overdue paychecks. The… Read More
Blackjewel Miners Continue Protest As Bankruptcy Hearing Looms
By: Brittany Patterson | Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Miners left unpaid by the bankrupt Blackjewel coal company say they are prepared to keep up their protest on railroad tracks in Harlan County, Kentucky, where they are blocking delivery… Read More
Blackjewel Miners Block Railroad To Demand Pay From Bankrupt Coal Company
By: Sydney Boles | Brittany Patterson | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Some coal miners left without pay by the bankruptcy of coal company Blackjewel LLC are protesting by blocking a coal train in eastern Kentucky. The stand-off began early Monday when… Read More
Coal Miners Back in Washington Fighting for Benefits
By: Becca Schimmel | Ohio Valley ReSource
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United Mine Workers and supporters were on Capitol Hill Wednesday in an effort to shore up their pension and health benefits. More than 43,000 coal miners in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia… Read More
As Disabled Miners Hit D.C., Lawmakers Introduce Bills To Fund Black Lung Benefits
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Democratic members of Congress introduced legislation Tuesday to provide additional funding for coal miners suffering from black lung. The bills came as a contingent of Appalachian miners afflicted with the… Read More
Miners to Advocate for Money for Black Lung Trust Fund
By: Associated Press
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SOUTH WILLIAMSON, Ky. (AP) – As black lung disease surges in Appalachia, some coal miners are going to Washington, D.C., to lobby for restoration of a tax that coal companies… Read More
Laid-Off Employees Of Bankrupt Blackjewel Mining Seek Pay, Answers
By: Brittany Patterson | Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Patrick Fitchpatrick has worked at Blackjewel’s D-11 coal mine in Cumberland, Kentucky, for more than a year. He said he enjoyed the work right up until he was told not… Read More
Retired Miners Make One More Push For Pension Protection On Capitol Hill
By: Becca Schimmel | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Retired coal miners joined lawmakers from the Ohio Valley on Capitol Hill Wednesday for another attempt to protect miners’ pensions. Pensions are at risk because of a downturn in the coal market,… Read More
Retired Miners Rally Over Pensions in Washington
By: Associated Press
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Dozens of retired coal miners visited lawmakers in Washington to call for legislative action to preserve the pensions of about 87,000 retirees and another 20,000 working… Read More
Remembering A Coal Miner Who Stood Up For Those With Black Lung
By: Jessica Lilly | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Robert Bailey started mining coal in southern West Virginia’s McDowell County in the 1970s. By the time he retired from the Patriot Coal Company 36 years later he was already… Read More
Federal Prosecutor Adds Charges In Kentucky Coal Dust Fraud Case
By: Becca Schimmel | Ohio Valley ReSource
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A federal prosecutor announced new charges against a senior coal company official for conspiring to falsify the required monitoring of coal dust. The case comes amid a surge in cases… Read More
Coal Comeback? Coal At New Low After Two Years Under Trump
By: Brittany Patterson | Ohio Valley ReSource
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It’s been two years since President Donald Trump took office and began rolling back environmental regulations on the coal industry. At a November rally in Huntington, West Virginia, the president… Read More
Out-Of-Work Appalachian Coal Miners Train As Beekeepers To Earn Extra Cash
By: Jodi Helmer | NPR
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In West Virginia, mining jobs have been declining for years, and there have been few other options to make a living. The Appalachian Beekeeping Collective is hoping to help turn that around.
Calls For Change Follow NPR/Frontline Black Lung Investigation
By: Howard Berkes | NPR
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Federal regulations for silica dust in coal mines haven’t changed in decades. But since an NPR/Frontline report into black lung, some are calling for a new response.
Ohio Valley Senators Again Aim to Shore Up Shaky Pension Plan For Coal Miners
By: Becca Schimmel | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Following a failed attempt to address a looming crisis in many multi-employer pension programs, two Ohio Valley lawmakers have introduced a bill in Congress to shore up the shaky pension… Read More
Three Miners Dead In Eleven Days: Grim December Caps Year In Coal Mine Safety
By: Jeff Young | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Just a few months ago, the U.S. coal mining industry was on track for its safest year in history. But in an eleven-day span in late December, three miners died… Read More
Black Lung, Red Ink: Residents Press McConnell As Deadline Looms For Black Lung Fund
By: Becca Schimmel | Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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On a cool but clear November day about a dozen residents from eastern Kentucky’s coal mining region crowded into the lobby of an office building in the small town of… Read More
GOP Tax Bill Would Extend Endangered Funding for Disabled Miners
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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As Appalachian coal miners suffer from a historic surge in black lung disease, a federal trust fund that supports some of those miners has been scheduled to lose a significant… Read More