--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Welcome to Today Explained. I'm Sean Rameswaram.
--:-- Noel King: And I'm Noel King.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Today, we're talking about a group of coal miners in eastern Kentucky who are blocking a train full of coal. They're demanding that the company that laid them off, Black Jewel, pay them what they owe.
--:-- Noel King: That's right. So, Black Jewel declared bankruptcy on July 1st, leaving over a thousand coal miners in central Appalachia out of work.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And it gets worse. The miners got a paycheck on June 28th, but it bounced a few days later. They were told not to come back to work, but they weren't officially laid off.
--:-- Noel King: It was just this kind of ongoing mess for over a thousand coal miners and very little information for them about what was going on.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So, the miners decided to take a stand. They blocked the train, and it's been three weeks now.
--:-- Noel King: That's right. And it's become a full-on protest camp. There are seven or eight tents, lots of camping chairs set out, people hanging out in the shade, people playing music spontaneously.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: It feels very much like a neighborhood picnic, but at the same time, there's this feeling that they shouldn't have to be here.
--:-- Noel King: We're joined now by Sydney Bowles, a reporter with the Ohio Valley Resource, who's been covering this story.
--:-- Sydney Bowles: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So, Sydney, can you tell us more about the situation with the coal miners in Kentucky?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: Sure. So, the coal that's being blockaded on this railroad track is owned by a company called Black Jewel Marketing and Sales, which is a different company from Black Jewel Mining.
--:-- Noel King: That's confusing. So, who owns the coal?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: According to court documents, the coal is owned by Black Jewel Marketing and Sales, but the company that owns the mines in Kentucky is Copper Glow.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And what's the value of this coal?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: It's worth $1.4 million.
--:-- Noel King: And if it catches fire, it's a complete hazard.
--:-- Sydney Bowles: That's right. And the miners are impeding some company from getting what it bought, rightfully.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Have the cops gotten involved to shut this protest down?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: Well, the cops showed up on that first Monday, July 29th, but they were really friendly. They basically said, you know, we support you, but you're trespassing, so you need to get off the train tracks.
--:-- Noel King: And what happened then?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: The miners moved about half a mile down the tracks and set up there. And essentially, ever since then, the cops have basically stood down.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Why did that half mile make a difference?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: I don't know that it really did. I think it was just committing to the principle of it, saying, you know, you can tell us we have to move, but that's not going to change what we're trying to do here.
--:-- Noel King: It sounds a lot like an organized labor action.
--:-- Sydney Bowles: They are not part of a union, though. There are currently no union mines operating in the state of Kentucky.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Is that a change from the way these mines have worked in the past?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: Yeah, I mean, central Appalachia is really core to the history of labor organizing and the county where this is happening, Harlan County, is right at the heart of that.
--:-- Noel King: I want to introduce to all of you now, and I expect that most of you already know her, Miss Florence Reese.
--:-- Florence Reese: I'm not a coal miner, as you well know, but I'm as close as I could be not to be one. And my husband and me was in the strike in the 30s in bloody Harlan County.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And that's a really important part of the history of labor organizing in this region.
--:-- Florence Reese: Back in the 1920s and 30s, Harlan County got the nickname that it still has, Bloody Harlan, because of these really violent protests back in those days as Minish tried to unionize.
--:-- Noel King: And it's interesting to hear from someone who's lived through that history.
--:-- Florence Reese: Now this song I composed in the 30s, and it can't sing very well, but you can ask the scabs and the gun thugs which side they're on, because they're workers too.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Which side are you on?
--:-- Florence Reese: Which side are you on? Which side are you on? Which side are you on? Which side are you on?
--:-- Noel King: That's a powerful message.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And it's still relevant today.
--:-- Florence Reese: As the strike dragged on for more than a year, two miners were shot, one man was killed.
--:-- Noel King: And that's a really important reminder of the sacrifices that workers have made in this region.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And it's also a reminder of the importance of labor organizing and collective action.
--:-- Florence Reese: Union membership has really declined in Kentucky since then and across the Ohio Valley, which is Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia.
--:-- Noel King: And between 1997 and 2017, Ohio Valley miner participation in unions actually dropped by 76%.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Why is that?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: So different folks have given different answers to this question. I think one thing is that there was this kind of concerted strategy among industrial groups to pitch the American South as a sort of a non-union alternative to the North, to attract industry to move to the South.
--:-- Noel King: And that's had a big impact on the coal industry in this region.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Do these miners miss the days when they would have had a union backing them?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: I have spoken to a lot of these miners, and I've gotten just as many answers about how these guys relate to unions, to companies, to politics.
--:-- Noel King: But I do think that pretty universally, there's a sense that a lot is owed to the union fighters who came before, to the legacy of workers fighting back for fair wages, for safety and working conditions.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Is what's happening to them right now legal?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: It is not. Black Jewel was in violation of a Kentucky law that required new mining operations to post a bond that would cover a month's worth of wages for all of its employees.
--:-- Noel King: And there's new legislation proposed in Kentucky that would close that loophole.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: What's Black Jewel saying in its defense?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: So, Black Jewel has essentially told employees that they're doing everything they can to cover their debts.
--:-- Noel King: And they've also encouraged miners to dip into their 401ks to pay their current expenses.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: But that's not going to solve the problem.
--:-- Sydney Bowles: No, it's not. And it's not going to solve the problem of the $1.4 million worth of coal that's sitting on the tracks.
--:-- Noel King: And what about Jeff Hoops, the former CEO of Black Jewel?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: So, I reached Jeff Hoops by phone, and he said that he was frustrated with the situation and that he was sorry that it had reached this point.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: But then he hung up on me.
--:-- Sydney Bowles: Yeah, that's right. And it's worth noting that there have been reports that Black Jewel paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars right before the bankruptcy.
--:-- Noel King: So, it's not like he's in a position to be sympathetic to the miners.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And what does that leave these miners?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: They've been on these tracks for three weeks, almost four now. They're not getting anywhere, it seems like.
--:-- Noel King: The cops aren't stopping them, and the company's not paying them.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: How long are they going to stay there?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: I get the sense that they are not going anywhere anytime soon.
--:-- Noel King: And are any of them going to get their money back or even get back pay?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: So, the company that bought these mines, Copper Glow, in their purchase agreement, they put up $450,000 to pay back miners who worked at these mines with an additional $550,000 potentially available depending on what those assets end up being worth.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: But estimates that I've seen have anywhere between one eighth and one fifth of the total amount that they're owed.
--:-- Noel King: So, it's not clear if they'll get all of their money back.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And what's the impact of this protest been?
--:-- Sydney Bowles: It's impossible to say for sure, but I think that without them drawing attention to this, they would have had a hard time getting representation in the bankruptcy hearing.
--:-- Noel King: Which means that there would be no one representing their interests as Black Jewel's assets are sold off to the highest bidders.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And it's brought in thousands of dollars in donations that have helped families pay electric bills.
--:-- Noel King: And it's kept food on the table. It's helped families afford back-to-school expenses.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And it's also brought in national attention.
--:-- Noel King: Including a visit from the Bernie Sanders campaign.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: They sent 18 pizzas to the campsite.
--:-- Noel King: One for every day of the protest.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And the president has weighed in on the situation.
--:-- Sydney Bowles: The administration Department of Labor has actually intervened basically in support of these miners.
--:-- Noel King: They filed a motion in this bankruptcy proceeding to halt Black Jewel Coal leaving Harlan County.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So, it's not just a local issue anymore.
--:-- Sydney Bowles: That's right. It's a national issue.
--:-- Noel King: And it's a reminder of the importance of labor organizing and collective action.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And it's also a reminder of the challenges that workers face in this region.
--:-- Noel King: And the importance of supporting workers' rights.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: We're going to take a break, and when we come back, we'll be talking to Jeff Willing, one of the coal miners who's been blocking the train.
--:-- [Break music plays]
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Welcome back to Today Explained. I'm Sean Rameswaram.
--:-- Noel King: And I'm Noel King.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: We're joined now by Jeff Willing, one of the coal miners who's been blocking the train.
--:-- Jeff Willing: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So, Jeff, can you tell us a little bit about your experience as a coal miner?
--:-- Jeff Willing: Yeah, sure. I've been working in the mines for over 10 years.
--:-- Noel King: And what's it like working in the mines?
--:-- Jeff Willing: It's hard work, but it's a good job. I enjoy it.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And what do you hope comes from this protest?
--:-- Jeff Willing: I hope that the company will pay us what we're owed.
--:-- Noel King: And what do you think about the situation with the coal industry in this region?
--:-- Jeff Willing: It's tough. Coal jobs have been declining for a long time.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And what do you think about the president's support for the coal industry?
--:-- Jeff Willing: I think he's doing the best he can, but it's not enough.
--:-- Noel King: And what do you think about the impact of this protest?
--:-- Jeff Willing: I think it's had a big impact. It's brought attention to the issue, and it's helped to raise awareness about the struggles that coal miners face.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And finally, what do you think about the future of the coal industry in this region?
--:-- Jeff Willing: I'm not sure. I think it's uncertain.
--:-- Noel King: Well, thank you, Jeff, for sharing your perspective with us.
--:-- Jeff Willing: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And that's all for today's show. Thanks for listening.
--:-- Noel King: And thanks for supporting workers' rights.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And if you want to learn more about the coal industry and the struggles that coal miners face, we recommend checking out our previous episodes on the topic.
--:-- Noel King: And if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to us on social media.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And finally, thanks to our producer, Noam Hassenfeld, for helping to put this episode together.
--:-- Noel King: And thanks to our engineer, Afim Shapiro, for making sure everything sounds great.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And that's all for today's show. Thanks for listening.
--:-- [Outro music plays]
