1989 JUNE PART 2 PITTSTON UMWA LOCAL STRIKE NEWS

Описание: Local news recordings between April-May of 1989 of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) strike against Pittston Coal. The VHS tapes were provided by Jackie & Debbie Branham for me to digitize and upload. Note: Some of the news clips are not in chronological order and some are repeats.

This is the 1st of 11+ videos in this series. They will all be located in a playlist on my channel labeled: “1989-90 Pittston Coal/UMWA strike”. I will release them as I get them finished.

It is my hope that these videos will be educational for our kids and grandkids and future generations in Appalachia. I pray that these videos don’t bring up hard feelings among families and friends in this area, but that we might learn from our triumphs as well as any mistakes during this labor dispute. God bless y’all and may God bless the coal miners.

If you have any strike videos you would like me to digitize please send me a message.

Background:
"The Pittston Coal strike was a United States strike action led by the United Mine Workers Union (UMWA) against the Pittston Coal Company, nationally headquartered in Pittston, Pennsylvania. The strike, which lasted from April 5, 1989 to February 20, 1990, resulted from Pittston's termination of health care benefits for approximately 1,500 retirees, widows, and disabled miners. The strikers also cited the refusal of the company to contribute to the benefit trust established in 1950 for miners who retired before 1974 and the refusal of the company to bargain in good faith as grounds for their action. The company cited declining coal prices, decreasing demand, and recession as its reason for limiting health care benefits.

The strike affected production in mines mostly in Virginia, but a few in West Virginia and Kentucky as well. Mine workers and their families engaged in acts of civil disobedience, work stoppage, protests, and rallies. At its peak in June 1989, the strike involved approximately 2,000 miners daily staying at Camp Solidarity with thousands more sending donations and holding wildcat walkouts that involved around 40,000 people. The participation of women in the labor action through the ad hoc formation of the Daughters of Mother Jones—reminiscent of the early days of union organization—proved an essential element of the successful strike." -Wikipedia