Trillbilly Worker's Party - Bonus Episode: Voices of the Harlan County Coal Blockade

Episode Date: August 9, 2019

Special Trillbillies correspondent Shaylan Clark (@316shaylan), a journalist and student at Berea College, talked to miners, family members, and supporters at the Harlan County Coal Blockade in her hometown of Cumberland, Kentucky. We're presenting these voices to you, as a glimpse into what direct action looks like in the mountains. Photo by Sylvia Ryerson If you'd like to support the miners you can donate here: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/79d3da4c086bc1598eb1f50b70f98bba9acabcd3?hash=340f6b1f35483f3a493882f9640809ce P.S. We will be taking the week off from our regularly scheduled episode this week, as we are all either very busy or still recovering from touring. We will have a Patreon episode this weekend, and be back on our regular schedule next week. Thank you for your patience!!!

Hello, Trillbilly family. This is a special bonus episode. As I'm sure you've seen or heard on the news or on social media, early in July, the coal companies Black Jewel and Revelation Coal declared bankruptcy, leaving some 1,000 coal miners and their families in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia without paychecks. in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia without paychecks. These wages, it should be noted, was for work that had already been done and for coal that had already been dug out of the ground. The CEO of these companies is one Jeff Hoops, who is not only screwing these miners out of their hard-earned pay,

but is building a $30 million Rome-themed resort in West Virginia. Yes, you heard that correctly. In response to Hoops' blatant theft, a group of the miners occupied a railroad track in Harlan County, Kentucky, establishing an encampment on the tracks and effectively preventing a coal train from leaving the county. As of this recording, that encampment is still going, and if you'd like to donate to the miners, we will be including a link in the description of this episode. Special True Beliefs correspondent Shailen Clark went over to Harlan County on day three of the protest and talked with miners and their families.

We thought we'd share those interviews with you, to give you a sense of what the miners have had to deal with, what they're up against, and what drove them to direct action. Alright, tell me your name. My name's Joseph Watts. Can you tell me what you're doing here today? I'm down here helping these guys block tracks, keeping the train from coming. The coal we work for, mine for, we ain't been paid for yet. They're trying to haul this coal out of here and make money for their pockets, but

they ain't paid our miners yet, and they mined it for them, so it ain't going nowhere right now. Can you tell me about the situation where they haven't paid you guys? Yeah, we get paid every three weeks and we work June 23rd through July 1st and we never got paid for it. And the check we got before that, which was 21st, I believe, our checks bounced and we're overdrawn at the bank. Some guys got families, kids feed and ain't got no money. Yeah. Yeah, he ended up getting paid for a check that got

bounced and then he didn't get paid for what he worked for. Yeah, and I've heard situations of they're taking money out of the men's account. Yeah, they took it out. It stopped. Monday morning money was gone. Exactly. A lot of people's bank accounts is in the negative due to it. We're one of them. So you cashed the checks? Yeah, we cashed the checks on Friday, paid bills that were due at that time. We got up Monday morning, went to go pay more bills, and the money was gone. Went to the bank, the money had been declawed, which had been bounced, and now we're in the negative for the money had been declawed which had been bounced and now we're in the negative for the money we did speak.

So how is it like how important is it to you to stay out here? Pretty important to me and a bunch of us other guys because we all feel the same way we got that coal out on the ground for them got it clean underground miners mined it got it with a plant that we washed. They're trying to haul it out of here for, put money in their pockets. It might be done paid for, but that's what they're claiming. The Georgia Power's bought this coal and they got it done paid for, and it's their coal, but we mined that coal and got it for them, and they still owe us for it. I mean, honestly, because that's the only way we're going to get anything done. If we just pack up and leave when this engine comes through here, we've done this enough. I'm staying.

You know what I'm saying? The engine can go, but the coal's staying and I'm staying. You know what I mean? Because somebody's going to see this. Somebody's going to do something. Every table of coal that's in those carts belong to these men. We're just here to support and make a change any way we can. Hopefully get paid.

So what does the end result look like for you guys? Like how do you think this is gonna end? How would you like it to end? I'd like to get paid and make it right with us. Get our money that we've earned and you know a little pain and suffering. There was people, I talked to people last night on one of the homemakers, what was his first name? Barry. Barry. He was in Destin Beach, Florida. Yeah. When he found out he was $3,000 in the hole.

They had the hotel reserved, but then I think his dad had to pay it up for him. They still stayed for their vacation. In misery. But it wasn't for his, right, in misery, worried, lost her job, you know. When my brother was on vacation, he had to come home. Really? I didn't know that. Well, you know, and the other thing is, you know, this isn't just about these guys

not getting paid. You know, this is a human rights issue. There is. There's men, there's women, there's kids involved in this, you know, and they don't understand. It's emotional trauma to them because they don't understand why mom and dad can't buy me that pack of gum or can't buy me new shoes for school.

You know, people need to put all this nonsense aside and look at the root cause of it. And these people need to be held accountable for what they've done to these people. Right. And the effects they've had on them. There should be some sort of amount of pain and suffering involved in this, for sure. I mean, I've never heard of anything like this. And I do want to say this on any report I get to speak on is it's a shame that our very own state representative

is not here and there is representation of the state from other districts. That's shameful. The man ought to be ashamed of himself that he's not here. And I'm speaking directly to Chris Fugate. He should be ashamed of himself. Yes, I agree with that. How does he not support us when he's our representative? That's our voice. Yeah. And he ain't even here. You know, I know all this is bad and there's a lot of negative in it, but we also need to look at the positive aspect of it. We can't. This should be the foundation and the stepping stone for state representatives and other elected officials to get involved and bring some kind of sustainable long-term jobs to this area.

Exactly. This is the foundation. That's the positive thing of all the negative. They come in, they get this money, they rape the mountains, and leave. It's been a recurring story for hundreds of years now. And then they leave nothing for the miners that went in there and broke their back. And some died, some injured for the rest of their life, can never work again. John, you know, he's got an artificial elbow now. He's at the house, 28 years old. The work that coal miners do, you know, I'm a former coal miner. These guys are coal miners. You know, the work that we do, it doesn't just benefit us.

I mean, the industry that, the fossil fuel industry, man, it helps other people. It supplies other people. Coal severance. Yeah, it's the reason why that we have electricity. It's the reason why we have steel. You know, there's byproduct coal. There's other things made out of it. But, you know, the root of this is that people are affected, and somebody needs to come in and save these people.

Yep, somebody needs to represent us as a whole in the right way. And stop all the, I mean, getting treated and done anyway. Talk to, hey, let's go. They don't care about no safeties. Throw it out the window. Get the coal out there. All they're about are numbers, tonnage, loading this train. So what happens when the next big coal company comes in and says hey we have a job for you well i mean that that's the thing that we just talked about this right here

should be the foundation for people to have a choice some people may want to take that attempt again but we need something here that is sustainable this should be the stepping stone for people to have a choice to go into something else, not just another coal company job. People are going to go back because people are born here, they love here, this is our home, this is what we know, this is what we love, we want to be here so if we have an opportunity to work then they're going to work. But we need to utilize this right here as the stepping stone to sustain long-term jobs in this area. Exactly. When they get that Coast Everest money,

how about bringing some businesses to this area? There's plenty of land. There's plenty of places to set up big industry business. So I did get paid. I can sympathize with them at this point because two things. They did not get paid, and they don't have a promise of a job tomorrow. So you're putting a lot of guys that have lived here their entire life and planned on living here for the rest of their lives, other kids and grandkids here, they're going to have to feed them somehow.

I can talk. Why don't you talk now? Okay, get us in here. Get us all in here. So tell me your names, how long you worked in the mines. My name is Barbara Lewis. I worked for Archer, Kentucky and U.S. Steel almost 20 years. All right. I'm a ground coal miner. Worked for the local union reporting secretary for over 20 years. And I'm a UMWA coal miner 110% and I stand by all coal miners.

Thank you. And you? Hi. My name is Roger Vaughn. I've worked 40 years at Cumming River Coal Company. I worked 40 years at Cumming River Coal Mine. Proud of it, too. And you? I'm Shirley Smith. I worked underground for U.S. Steel and Arch of Kentucky for 16 years. And then I went to work for Black Mountain Resources, the best company I ever worked for. And worked for them for seven years as a mine clerk. And that's about it.

So tell me about the UMWA. UMWA is the greatest. Yes. They'll do anything for you. I don't care what it is. You call a UMWA miner out, they'll be right there for you. And you're in a UMWA as well? Yes, ma'am. And you guys are out here to support the miners today?

Yes. Can you tell me about that? We're going to stay with them until they get their pay. Well, yeah. We were in a big storm last night. It was really scary, but we stood right here. We didn't run. Got soaking wet. Yeah yeah but you know what it could have cooled us off because we were so

hot and mad at Jeff Hoops oh yeah we was wanting to get a hold of him and get him wet so do you guys have any family or anything in the mines right now? No. My brother, me and my brother are coal miners, David Smith. And I had a brother-in-law that worked in the coal mines for about 10 years. So it's all coal country here. Yeah. So what do you guys want to happen with the protest? What's the end result that you guys would like to see?

We want the miners for money, pay the miners, and let them have their jobs back. Yep. All right, so do you think that coal is the future of Harlan County? Yes, it is. Yes. Awesome, awesome, awesome. And can you tell me about when you guys were working in the mines, did anything similar to this situation

happen? No. Not like this. We was on a strike but we was recently on a strike to get more pay. And more safety. Pay for it. CSX is still going to be held reliable for what's sitting up there because somebody has to have their cars

Yeah, somebody has to get paid somebody somebody says look I got this money I got I don't spent three million dollars on what sitting up here on the phone by the mountain. What's that 70 cars? They don't have exactly not just that but George power the Georgia powers already paid for it. They will they're gonna eventually want that they will say look You know what? We'll push for these guys standing blocking our code. I've seen coal sitting up there for two or three years. But has it been met coal? Met coal come out of this mountain in 99 and 2000. Black Mountain, Orange, whoever.

They had the money to do it. But what we're doing is we've always looked for that next savior, where coal has always been King Cohen is in his just had everyone and I'd love for us to take that one and really look at maybe it's 10. Maybe it's 20, maybe it's 30 different industries. I would much prefer.

I would much prefer. 100 places that employ 10 people as opposed to one place that employs 1000 so. Paul Browning. Alright, what are you doing here today, Paul? Just simply offering any support that I can, moral support, anything else that can happen. Just letting these guys know that as an elected official, we're certainly behind them. And although we can't do a whole lot to alleviate the immediate problem, we're trying to look ahead into

the future and see if we can catapult what we've got here and some of the national coverage that we're getting here. Let people in the world understand that we're not broke down, poor old coal miners. We're actually very industrious, very passionate young men and women that are just looking for opportunity. So if we can get that message out into the world, then that's absolutely positive. It can be the best thing that can come out of this. What do you see for the future of Harlan County? Well, and as I kind of mentioned a little bit earlier,

the world of coal is due to no issue of any of these young gentlemen or ladies. no issue of any of these young gentlemen or ladies. It's just an overall economic change where coal was always king when it came to energy production, things of that nature. We're starting to see a lot of that change over to natural gas and other venues, wind, solar, things like that. So as we see coal starting to take a backseat or even no seat at all in the car anymore, we have to start looking at what we can transition into. And there are Kentucky's number one in, believe it or not, automotive and what I call peripheral automotive production and manufacturing, aerospace. There's a lot of things we can do. What I'd really like to see us do here though is, I guess take full advantage of what we

have here. And that being a huge, strong heritage. I would love to see us move more into like some Kentucky proud products that we're actually manufacturing here, whether it's food, beverage, crafts, things like that. I'd like to see our community college start to take a slightly different turn going from just what they've traditionally done, which was more of a starter, a two-year prep type school for bachelor's degree. I want them to really focus more on things that are indigenous to our areas, our regions, the bluegrass, the arts and crafts, things like that.

And maybe if they can start teaching that and start offering some classes in that, I believe we could see a real turnaround even from that standpoint. Tourism, obviously, is going to be a huge key. All right, so can you tell me your name? Paula Lewis. Paula Lewis. And can you tell me what you're doing out here today? Sporting my minors. Sporting every one of them. I have one more golf cup. Can you tell me your name? Paula Lewis. Paula Lewis. And can you tell me what you're doing out here today?

Sporting my miners. Sporting every one of them. I have one more drop cup. All right. And you, your husband is a miner? Yes. And can you tell me what happened with the whole situation, like why we're protesting right now?

They're not, they're refusing to pay the miners their money. They've been over a month waiting for a check that was already bounced, plus one that's already open, plus another day over top of that. They've not been paid for it, and there's no answers. They wanna haul the coal out, but they don't want to pay the men what they owe. So us wives, daughters, sisters,

we're gonna support the men. We're gonna be here protesting along with them. Right. So what's the end result? What do you guys, like, want to see happen at the end of this protest? Just pay the money they owe our men. What they do with the mines after that, it's up to them. That's not up to us, but pay what they owe.

Right. And what's the end result? Like, how do you want this whole protest to end? Well, I want us to get our money, and I'd like for us to go back to work. There's a lot of people here hurting over this. Some rich man got to fill his pockets full and made money off of us, but we never got paid for the work we done, and right now CSX is, they're going to come up here, and they're unhooking the engines from the cars. They ain't hauling the coal out of here today.

CSX needs their engines to do other work with and that's perfectly fine. We won't keep nobody outside of work either. But they ain't taking the coal out of here today. All right, and what do you see for the future of Harlan County? Hopefully some bigger company might come in here and run it better and pay their bills right and never have to worry about bankruptcy and hopefully we can mine coal until it's all mined out. And what's something you would like people to know that aren't from here, that don't

understand anything about coal mining or the history of it? It's all in our blood. Everybody's father, grandpa, or even mothers and grandmas have been underground or done something affiliated with the coal industry. And it's just a livelihood in our bloods here. And that's just what we take pride in doing, mining coal. Thank you, Joe. Hey guys, I've been out here with the miners and their families for about two or three hours now. Some of the UMWA miners have come to support the black jewel miners in protest. A lot of people have said this is putting them in the turn into another bloody Harlan scene to where it's the people versus the coal companies. I've asked a lot of people what they hope to see in the future,

how they want this situation to end, and things like that. A lot of them are very hopeful. A lot of them are very understanding. They just want to be paid for the work that they've already done. They just want to feed their families and go home. I don't think that anyone really wants to stand outside for three days in a row on a train tracks to stop a big coal company owner from profiting off of what they've worked so hard for. And so I just want to say before I head out, I'm very proud of the miners of Black Jewel and the protesting that they are doing. And I would like for all of them to know

that the community has their back. We stand with them, we support them. And if it takes 20 days, 100 days, or even just 12 days, we will be there for them the entire time. If you go to Harlan County, there is no neutral there. You'll either be a union man or a thug for J.H. Blair. Which side are you on? Which side are you on? They say they have to guard us to educate their child.

Their children live in luxury, our children almost wild. Which side are you on? Which side are you on? Gentlemen, can you stand it or Oh, tell me how you can Will you be a gunthug or will you be a man? Which side are you on? Which side are you on? My daddy was a miner, he's down in the air and sun He'll be with you fellow, till every battle's won. Which side are you on? Which side are you on? Now all of you know which side you're on, and they'll never keep us down.