In Coal Country, the Mines Shut Down, the Women Went to Work and the World Quietly Changed

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

FLEMING-NEON, Ky. — In the pre-dawn hours when all is dark and quiet, Amanda Lucas leaves her house and begins the long drive to her job at a hospital an hour away.

In years past, it was the men who would empty out of the hollows of Letcher County before sunrise. All day long they would be underground, digging out coal as their fathers and often their grandfathers had done. Ms. Lucas’s husband, Denley, had a job with one of the big mining companies, with good benefits and an income approaching six figures when all the overtime was added. She stayed at home to raise their four children.

“We had a good life,” she said.

Then everything changed.

It has been a hot and mean summer in Letcher County, with a rash of coal mine bankruptcies and layoffs even crueler than the ones that came before. From the barstools at the American Legion post to the parking lot of the unemployment office, there was little debate: The coal business around here is going under. The only question was what would keep everyone afloat.

These days, the answer has been: women. From 2010 to 2017, Letcher County saw a greater shift in the gender balance of its labor force than almost any other county in the United States.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/in-coal-country-the-mines-shut-down-the-women-went-to-work-and-the-world-quietly-changed/ar-AAHh3w6?li=BBnb7Kz

[shanti]

1. $100,000+ to dig coal?

Wow, no wonder coal miners are pissed. I didn't know it was so lucrative. Old technology, though. It's a new day, time to move forward.

[Indykatie]

2. That $100K Figure is a Huge Stretch Even With the Overtime Qualifier

Coal Miners are in the same boat as steel workers in that they used to be able to earn a solid middle class income with little to no formal training or education. They fared much worse than auto and other manufacturing workers who still have jobs available but had to accept a 2 tier wage structure for new workers starting in the 90s.

[SMC22307]

3. They risk their lives stepping into those mines -- they should be paid well.

I didn't read the entire article but the blurb in the OP states "approaching" $100K with all OT factored in. I'd be pissed too if I were married with four kids and able to have a nice life on one income. But, yes, time to move on to cleaner technology. Get them into wind, solar, hell, the Appalachian honeybee program...

[mopinko]

4. get them into healthcare.

that was one thing about the aca that people didnt seem to grok.
healthcare jobs are good jobs, and desperately needed in coal country.

the healthcare sector in chicago is one of the reasons we are not detroit. chicago weathered 2008 pretty well in no small part because universities and hospital are a major part of our economy.
no one will admit it, but daley's deal on the parking meters is another, but that's another story.

[SMC22307]

5. That, too. I see, for example, how well Imaging techs are paid...

and that's with AA degrees from community colleges. IT is another route they could take.

[DFW]

6. And STILL they will vote for Moscow Mitch and Trump

Because, after all, McTurtle and Pence, at least, are "Christians," and none of them are libbruls...........

Never mind that none of them, Trump, Pence, or McTurtle, could give a rat's ass about any of the people of Letcher (or any other) County.

[Wellstone ruled]

7. Sure seems to be the patern

for many dying industries. And as a result,the total economic shape of those areas are transformed to a Service only Economy with limited income potential for the masses and the also the Political Landscape is now in flux.

BTW,all of these so called Individualism jobs are now being replace by Medical Service Jobs that are dependent on Governmental Agencies to survive. They may hate the word Socialism,but,they are living it in real time.

[keithbvadu2]

8. Keep the faith. Trump and McConnell will bring the jobs back... Right?

Keep the faith. Trump and McConnell will bring the jobs back... Right?

[MarcA]

9. Jobs dominated by working class white males become Icons

in the U.S. at least. Those with large numbers of POC and women usually don't.
Icons are hard to let go of even when reality dictates.

[Hortensis]

10. "When the mines left, they all ended up on drugs, and their women went to work."

We saw this visiting friends in the Puget Sound area after the lumber companies moved to the South, unemployed men hanging outside a welfare office a couple doors down from a rather precious market catering to well-off new residents (Fresh Foods with sawdust on the floor). In those days government programs and social workers were available for retraining, and ex- lumberjacks were practically begged to allow themselves to be helped, but many refused and went down the drain as they waited for the lumber jobs to come back.

Eastern KY is beautiful and has some advantages of location near the east coast, etc. Climate heating is expected to hit KY less than some other areas. Hillary and what were to be new Democratic majorities in congress had big plans for that area. If they'd voted for Democrats, we'd now be reading about rising real estate prices, new industry, and the miners' chlidren moving back to the towns they grew up in and had to leave.