On July 1st, 2019 the coal company Blackjewel declared bankruptcy. In the middle of their shift, miners were told to stop working. Blackjewel employed over a thousand miners across the Appalachian coalfields, who soon discovered that their last paycheck had bounced and their insurance policies had been cut off. In Cumberland, Kentucky, dozens of miners have been protesting for weeks by blocking the tracks in front of a Blackjewel coal train. The company's CEO, Jeff Hoops, was almost immediately fired by court-order, but as of August 12th (when this episode aired) miners have not yet received compensation. WMMT reporter Benny Becker, arrived at the railroad tracks at 7 PM on the strike's second day, July 30, 2019 and recorded throughout the night.
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