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courier journal: Seeking back pay, Kentucky miners head to West Virginia

courier journal: Seeking back pay, Kentucky miners head to West Virginia

Image from Library of Congress.

“To sit and watch my dad struggle, not knowing how he's going to pay his water bill or his electric bill, is just devastating.”

— Sasha Templeton, daughter of former Blackjewel Miner


CHARLESTON, W. Va. — They started their day sipping coffee at 4:30 a.m. in a darkened Harlan parking lot, coal mining helmets tucked under their arms.

By dawn, more than 40 laid-off Kentucky coal miners — who spent the week blocking a Blackjewel coal train in a protest gone viral — were singing "You’ll never leave Harlan alive" as their bus snaked through four hours of Appalachian mountain roads.

The Harlan County miners piled out in front of a Charleston federal court wearing “Pay the Miners First” T-shirts, aiming to press a judge overseeing coal producer Blackjewel’s bankruptcy to grant millions in owed wages after the company’s July 1 collapse sent paychecks bouncing.

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Story by Chris Kenning