Abstract

Solidarity In Appalachia

Few Americans seem to be aware of the two-month-old strike against Pittston mines in Virginia and West Virginia. The Eastern Airlines strike has received more national attention, and yet nowhere are the issues so stark, the stakes so high, as in the heart of the Appalachians. The Pittston Co. is the leading coal producer in Virginia and a major force in West Virginia and Kentucky as well, making it the second largest exporter of coal in the United States. Pittston's coal production has gone up 72 percent in the past four years, and the company turned an overall profit of 548.6 million in 1988. In the past, Pittston was a member of the Bituminous Coal Operators' Association (B.C.O.A.), which negotiates contracts with the United Mine Workers. But in February 1988 Pittston refused to be bound by the new B.C.O.A. contract, objecting in particular to clauses guaranteeing laid-off workers preferential hiring at subsidiary operations and this started the trouble.