COAL COUNTRY: 10.Darby_stoker.jpg

State police patrol the Osborne Coal Yard near Pennington Gap, VA ,during the 1978 national bituminous coal strike led by the United Mine Workers of America. The strike lasted 110 days. When it was settled, coal miners were forced to pay for part of their health care for the first time in 30 years, they lost their pension benefits, and they lost the right to strike over local issues. By 2014, coal mining had largely shifted to open pit mines in Wyoming. The once 200,000-strong UMW was reduced to just 20,000 miners, mostly in underground mines in Kentucky and West Virginia. Jon Chase photo
10.Darby_stoker.jpg

State police patrol the Osborne Coal Yard near Pennington Gap, VA ,during the 1978 national bituminous coal strike led by the United Mine Workers of America. The strike lasted 110 days. When it was settled, coal miners were forced to pay for part of their health care for the first time in 30 years, they lost their pension benefits, and they lost the right to strike over local issues. By 2014, coal mining had largely shifted to open pit mines in Wyoming. The once 200,000-strong UMW was reduced to just 20,000 miners, mostly in underground mines in Kentucky and West Virginia. Jon Chase photo