After 59 days, the Blackjewel coal miners announced an end to their courageous protest to resist massive wage theft by their former boss. The blockade organized by these brave workers sets a bold example for all those dealing with injustice at the hands of big business.
After the Blackjewel coal company filed for bankruptcy in July, 1,700 miners were abruptly laid off and their final paychecks bounced. The miners and their families were left facing bills they couldn’t pay with no certainty of future employment or reimbursement for stolen wages. A group of miners decided to take action to prevent the removal of the coal they had mined without compensation: “No pay, no coal!”
Originally, five miners gathered on the railroad tracks in Cumberland, Kentucky that would be used to transport the coal. The blockade continued into late September with millions of dollars worth of coal sitting on the tracks. The coal miners were engaged in this act of resistance with broad support from their community as well as allies from across the country to demand simply that they be compensated for the wealth they created.
“There has been absolutely no one (other than Black Jewel LLC) against us because everyone in the community is impacted, and everyone who looks at the situation knows that we’ve been wronged.” Daryle, who worked the mine for decades, told Liberation News. The owner of the mine filed for bankruptcy and received a 53 million dollar settlement, but refused to pay the workers claiming it as personal assets that the workers are not entitled to, even though they produced all of the wealth the business ever made.
The encampment consisted of several canopy-style picnic tents on a patch of gravel between the railroad tracks and a small access road. A few feet away, a handful of camp chairs sat on the tracks marking the spot where miners and their supporters would take shifts holding the blockade. The slogan “No Pay, No Coal” was prominently displayed around the camp on signs and t-shirts. Throughout the protest, the camp was occupied by anywhere from a small number of miners and family members to upwards of dozens of miners, supporters and community members gathering to share donations and show their support.
The miners commonly referred to the coal sitting on the tracks as their coal, reflecting their understanding of the value they produced as workers. There was also a strong sense of working-class unity. Curtis Cress told Liberation News at the blockade: “This is happening way to much, it’s time for the working class to unite!”
During the first week of the blockade, the miners decided to make an agreement with employees of the railroad company CSX Transportation. They would allow the train’s locomotive to pass through the blockade, on the condition that the cars containing the miners’ coal would remain. According to the wife of a Blackjewel miner, Stacy, the miners agreed to let the locomotive through because “we don’t want to keep anybody else out of work.”
A long tradition of struggle
The Blackjewel miners’ protest is not the first time mine workers in Harlan County, Kentucky had organized to resist exploitation by coal companies. In the 1970s and the 1930s, prolonged strikes in Harlan County forced coal capitalists to make concessions, but not without violent struggles that claimed the lives of strikers and earned the county the nickname “Bloody Harlan.”
After nearly 2 months the blockade is coming to an end, but the struggle continues. Even though hundreds of Blackjewel miners in both Kentucky and Virginia still haven’t received their pay the blockade can claim at least one significant victory as Blackjewel miners in West Virginia finally received their owed wages earlier in the month. The coal miners also brought national and international attention to one of the United States’ poorest regions and highlighted the precariousness of life in coal country.
The trainload of coal the miners blocked will remain where it is until a ruling from a West Virginia bankruptcy judge. That ruling is expected in October.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation is grateful for the openness and hospitality of the miners and their families who shared with us their experiences and opinion, and we salute them for their bravery and sacrifice in standing up for the rights of workers everywhere!
