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War on coal casualties

Any of you guys been hearing about the 300 or so Black Jewel Coal Miners who were all laid off and the mine closed and their paychecks bouncing?

Probably not.

But the miners aren't taking it laying down.

About a week ago, Black Jewel sent a train to the coal tipple to be loaded and was essentially just going to take the coal that had already been mined (and which the paychecks were stopped by the bank and didn't go through).

I'm not sure if Black Jewel company stopped the paychecks themselves directly, or if there were some outside source (like a judge or a creditor) who locked their account because they had filed for bankruptcy, but whatever the reason or cause, the miners blocked the rail road tracks and would not allow them to leave with it.

And it has since been found out that the money that the miners were paying into their 401K were not being deposited into their retirement accounts.

Yep. Miners in Harlan are not ones to be messed with because they don't just roll over and take it.

Governor Bevin even showed up unannounced last Sunday night in support of the miners.

https://www.wymt.com/content/news/G...-protest-site-in-Harlan-County-517067591.html

The miners have since agreed to release the CSX locomotive and allowed it to leave, but not with the coal. The train company had to unhitch the coal and scoot, which was a wise decision by CSX because the folks know that they're not the problem and I know both miners and train employees. All are good folks.

https://www.wjhl.com/news/regional/...k-coal-train-from-leaving-harlan-county-mine/

https://www.harlanenterprise.net/2019/07/31/miners-agree-to-let-train-pass-without-coal/
 
John, I did hear about that and saw a short segment on the news. I hope they get what they earned. Even better if a judge would turn the mine over to the miners. They'd make it work.
 
Nothing in our paper. This is oil country so I guess there's less interest in the coal biz.

I'm sorry to see a lot of companies operating this way and it's a symptom of places that are heavily leveraged and working on borrowed money.

When push comes to shove they cannot meet their obligations. It comes down like a house of cards.

Without the sale of that coal a whole bunch of other financial deals will probably collapse. Stuff totally unknown to the people Down in the Hole.
 
I could not agree more. Let the chips fall where they may.

I will say that a lot of businesses would never proceed at all without some risky business practices.

A lot of men died learning to do things like dig underwater and build big bridges and tunnel through the mountains. We owe them a lot for our current engineering expertise.

That doesn't mean that it's ever desirable but I believe it is part of the human condition that we will do such things as a matter of course.
 
The irony is, if these were illegals at some obscure packing plant in the middle of Iowa the left news media would be all over it. They'd be parading little crying kids in front of the cameras talking about how all their daddy want is a piece of the American dream. They'd blame it on racist America. Since it happens to be workers in the fossil fuel industry it matters not to the left. Probably makes them very happy.
 
Bobster, I just saw your post.

Yeah, I went through school with Chris. He was a year older than me, but we were in the same class because of split classes in the school and we also in cub scouts together.

There are several family members, and really good friends who were also affected by this. When you have a couple of checks bounce, paying those mortgages and bills is a lot harder when you're several thousand dollars farther in the hole because you're not getting paid.

There have been an outpouring of donations to the miners from people and businesses in the county.

I don't want to single out anyone because I don't want to take away from what any one does to help another. But I wanted to applaud what Joyce Chang has done. She is co-owner of the Panda Garden. It is a small Chinese restaurant that has been here for probably close to 20 years now.

She and her husband came from China and settled here and started their business. They have been good people and have bent over backwards trying to raise money to help and I respect them for what they have done. They have sold thousands of dollars worth of meals and donated all the money to the "miners fund."

She has even taken sponsors and been doing mile walks and marathons trying to raise money and help.

Another cable tv company in the area has waived this months tv, internet, and phone bill for affected miners.

While it wasn't a union mine, the UMWA has sent people in support.

With school starting this week, lots of people have given new school clothes and shoes to others.

It's truly a blessed thing when you reach out and try to do the right thing to help out your neighbors and family and friends.

And I don't just mean the money part of it. It's during the darker times when you really know who's got your back.
 
It's been a really long time since the update to the topic, but I wanted to mention this since biden is now in office and they have declared war on coal again.

This not in the US, but the US does sell a lot of coal to them. Germany has always been a big importer of our coal.

Anyway, the article is a little difficult to read, but has lots of good little tidbits in it.

http://tapnewswire.com/2021/02/coal...ezing-germans-desperate-for-coal-fired-power/
 
Things that seem too good to be true usually are just that. Promises by politicians fall into that category.

This hell bent rush to shut down fossil fuels just reeks of corruption to me. The fact is the U. S. has been making a smooth transition for over 30 years. Now all of a sudden there is this craziness to completely shut down an industry completely. There has to be more to this than what the general public is having shoved down our throats.

I often wonder, what if the fossil fuel industry just decided to take month long vacation starting next Monday. Unannounced of course. Just shut everything down Sunday .

No electricity to charge the lefts cars, lol.
 
Many utility companies have some surplus coal at their plants. But, with as much power that is needed right now, would blow through their reserves much quicker.

Once people started going dark and dying because they're literally freezing to death in their homes, and the interstates shut down because there is not enough power to keep fuel makers and gas station distributors going, only when the people are hungry and cold enough would they realize what a gut full of lies they've consumed from politicians over the years.

Politicians and government is not the answer to the problem, they ARE the problem.
 
This hell bent rush to shut down fossil fuels just reeks of corruption to me.

Nothing "good" will come of this administration, IMO. WE enlightened folks can see that--the indoctrinated sheeple in/around the big cities do not. As much as I would not want to see any suffering, a shut-down of power plants would certainly get the unwashed masses' attention... :D
 
And the war continues. John Kerry announced today that he expects every US coal mine to be shut down within 10 years. These Democrats won't be happy until they bring the US electric grid down.
 
Hey, I never did hear what happened to that train full of coal that got "delayed" in transit . . .
Did the Harlan miners ever get paid?

Sorry that I missed this post caddmann. Yes, the miners did get paid.
 
And the war continues. John Kerry announced today that he expects every US coal mine to be shut down within 10 years. These Democrats won't be happy until they bring the US electric grid down.


It'll never happen.

Soros owns too much stocks in coal companies now.

Now would be the time to start preparing for collapse due to the mismanagement of unelected bureaucrats though just in case.

But, the crazy democrats do seem hellbent on putting us back into the stone age again.
 
These Democrats won't be happy until they bring the US electric grid down.

The Chinese will do that for us by detonating a dozen small nukes high above the US, creating massive NEMPs. :eek: Then they will sit back for a month or so before they enter while the cities eat their own for lack of food and energy... ;) Prepared survivors may be able to last for several months but then what... :rolleyes:
 
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