Quote of note:

"It is common knowledge that the work ethic of the eastern Kentucky worker has declined from where it once was," the president of Sidney Coal, Charlie Bearse, wrote to the Kentucky Mining Board. "Attitudes have changed among the existing workforce, which affects attendance, drug use and, ultimately, productivity."

Latinos Sought as Mining's Next Generation
The industry is lobbying in Kentucky to bring in non-English speakers to fill jobs. Miners fear the move may degrade safety and wages.
By Jenny Jarvie
Times Staff Writer
February 20, 2006

SIDNEY, Ky. — At age 15, Ricky Mullins followed his father and his grandfather into the mines. For years, they scraped and shoveled coal to put food on the table. But Mullins, now 48, fears that the family tradition will end with his son.

Despite the inherent hazards of being a miner, Mullins and others in the area consider it the best job opportunity available to them — and are proud of the work they do.

"All we have is coal mining," Mullins said. "But the companies don't want to hire local — not when they can get the Hispanics to work cheaper." The local mine company here, Sidney Coal Co., is seeking to change Kentucky mining legislation so it can hire non-English-speaking Latino workers.

Kentucky law requires that miners be fluent in English for safety reasons, but Sidney Coal, a subsidiary of Massey Energy Inc., has claimed that it cannot find enough local workers.

"It is common knowledge that the work ethic of the eastern Kentucky worker has declined from where it once was," the president of Sidney Coal, Charlie Bearse, wrote to the Kentucky Mining Board. "Attitudes have changed among the existing workforce, which affects attendance, drug use and, ultimately, productivity."

Bearse's comments have unsettled many in this region of steep mountains and thin hollows, where the descendants of English, German and Scotch-Irish settlers have struggled as the coal industry has declined in recent years.

"It's insulting to the men and women who want to work here and stay here," said Kentucky state Rep. Robin Webb, a former miner. "Mining is their way of life." Although migrant workers are already a presence in Kentucky's tobacco fields and thoroughbred horse farms, they scarcely penetrated the Appalachian coal fields.