Hard Coal: Last of the Bootleg Miners (screener copy)

Directed by Marc Brodzik and Produced by Woodshop Films. US. 81 mins.
Filmed from 2004-2008, completed in 2009.
The discovery of anthracite, or hard coal, in northeastern Pennsylvania more than 200 years ago resulted in hundreds of corporate mines in this eleven county area throughout the early 20th century. Although anthracite coal makes up only 2 percent of all the coal reserves in the United States, the area boasts more than 7.3 billion tons of this clean burning coal in a very concentrated geography.
In the mid 1800s, there were hundreds of active mines with more than 17,000 coal miners- mostly poor immigrants- toiling in them for twelve hours daily. The corporations had little concern with the health of the workers, and it was extremely dangerous work, with frequent accidents and few safety measures. Miners were burned in gas explosions, crushed by tunnel collapses and run over by mine cars. If they survived the job, many miners suffered the slow and painful suffocation called black lung, caused by continual exposure to coal dust.
Today, only 6 anthracite mines are left in Pennsylvania, down from 60 in 1995 and more than 140 a decade earlier. These remaining mines are worked by "bootleg" miners- typically independent, family-centric teams struggling to carry on the family tradition and support their families, working in mines they may have dug themselves.
This film will bring you face-to-face with the proud, persevering individuals facing these challenges. Share their frustration with the current system and their fear of losing dignity, independence and the only means of survival they know.

[@royhauer311]

Was born and raised in the heart of the Anthracite region in Schuylkill county. Worked with a man who was to be my father inlaw, at the age of 13 in his bootleg mine. He used to work for another mining company, would come home and work his own mine. My grandfather worked his entire life for the Coal Baron Jack Rich. My cousin (Fritz Roehrig) and Donnie Muscarra had a partnership with another guy in Minersville called D & F coal company. My uncle was a coal deliveryman all his life making runs from Gilberton to Frackville daily hauling and delivering coal to homes and businesses. My other grandfather worked St. Nicholas Collery, and I lost an uncle in Porter Tunnel incident. I have nothing but the utmost respect and support for these independant miners and workers in the hard coal industry. All those small "patches" that were once happy little places full of life are slowly going away and most are now just memories.

[@HaraldFinster]

In 1992 I came over from Germany to visit and photograph the still active bootleg mines in Pennsylvania. Actually, some of my BW photographs taken in the course of this trip are included in this video. I had the pleasure to be invited to visit Jeff Coal Co. at Goodspring-Keffer and was allowed to go underground there. The miners and mine owners were extremely helpful and cooperative. I would like to express my gratitude and my deepest respect to these hard working and honest people. Thank you very much! This video really gives them justice!

[@enthalpiaentropia7804]

Hi mate ,thanks for your kind regards to the miners in Europa & USA..then & now.. As you know H&B Becher made a lot of bootleg mines photos in the past ..their book " forderturme " is very interesting.. Dan from Paris - France.

[@HaraldFinster]

@@enthalpiaentropia7804 Bonjour Dan, yes Bernd and Hilla Becher are (were) certainly THE industrial photographers. "Fördertürme" includes just a few bootleg mines. There is also a book called "Pennsylvania Coal Mine Tipples" by them. Highly recommended!

[@Cody2nd]

Harald Finster that’s awesome man! Thanks for sharing and taking interest in our mines!

[@pointingdog7235]

Thanks for posting this and to the miners that are out there doing this hard work.

[@judeodomhnaill9711]

Did you swing by the then recently abandoned B&M operation also known as International Anthracite Corporation? That was in Goodspring.

[@skidmore75]

As a coal miner in my fathers independent mine in the mid 40s I find this video brings back old memorias.

[@undergroundtomas8083]

tony shay How many on the crew at once time?

[@Alex-uy7pc]

You must be 90 years old at minimum

[@brittanyjackson1718]

God Bless You Sir!

[@alexcarter8807]

Filmed in the mid-2000s using 1990s technology, feels like a 1980s film, of people living in flyover country where it's still the 1970s. Love it.

[@KanjoosLahookvinhaakvinhookvin]

Pennsylvania isn't flyover (in the traditional sense... actually more planes fly over the East coast than the Midwest). Flyover = Midwest, not rural.

[@theangryitalian7922]

Definitely a look back at how things used to be

[@cartergrant5728]

epic comment

[@bctw9004]

I knew a family in east Tn that had a small “illegal” mine. They ran it for generations. I could listen to the older miners stories for days. Really great folks.

[@joshuagibson2520]

I'm from Morgan Co. Anywhere close to there?

[@Richardofdanbury]

Having worked in the Coal Industry for over 25 years in sales I've nothing but respect for these men and women who produce the energy which keeps our nation great. They demonstrate the pioneer spirit that formed the economic powerhouse the USA is in the world today. To punish them is not only a shame but near criminal.

[@joshuanorris5860]

Gov is legalized maffia.

[@joedanero5360]

Did you do this for 25yrs?

[@Richardofdanbury]

@@joedanero5360 Yes, for slightly over 25 years and I often took prospective customer with me into the mines even to the coal face. Some seams, that is what coal veins are called, are less than 32 inches and you simple roll off the mining equipment from a reclining position. Yet, men worked these mines 5 days a week for 8 hours a day.

[@joedanero5360]

​@@Richardofdanbury Then based on that I agree with your original comment and am left with some internal conflicts. These folks are being trimmed because of the nature of capitalism and its drive to be as efficient as possible to make the most profit as possible(unless it's tax payer funded). The capitalist that have sway want that land. Their influence on the peoples government have convinced the correct people in the peoples government that that land is best utilized by them in the nations best interest. Yet, I side with the bootleggers and believe they should be categorized separately and not have to abide by the same standards big energy has to, but maybe have their own set of standards. The only way to separate the bootleggers from big energy is to implement some type of grandfather clause which would lead to a whole other slew of problems for future bootleggers and would be fought tooth and nail by the big energy reps that have already infiltrated the government through their lobbyist and lawyers. Lobbyist and lawyers that everyday citizens and bootleggers alike do not have. When the issue was raised in democrat circles against lobbyist and they were hollering about the citizens united decision republican circles were silent... A right-wing justice gave it wings and it would be an argument against capitalism in republican circles to come out against it(which is the party where that is a huge no-no). Yet here we see union and corporate mingling for profit(You see the recent dilemma with Fiat Chrysler the UAW and GM? They're in bed. The Union I used to work for was in bed with the companies they represented too) to push these people out and get that land for their own benefit. I think the harsh reality here is that money and greed corrupts and capitalism has limits that need to be identified with everyone on the same page as to the ways that can occur. However, to even get to that point together we need to all agree that capitalism like any other system is not a system that can never do any wrong and we also need to agree that there is no such thing as having to choose one definition of an economic system over some other. This video might not exist if the public were on the same page in all of these regards to begin with. Unless a national emergency energy crisis was paid for by you know who.

[@joedanero5360]

@Nicolas Edwards Well, it's the violations against them are. Still to the point, those regulations are to protect the general welfare of the working people from employers and large corporations who will take it there to make an extra buck as they have in the past. I'm fine with that. However, when they are applied to small operations like this that don't have an effect on the gen pop then there's some BS going on that needs to be addressed. I think that these operations should fall under different liability guidelines. The problem with that is where does the line get drawn? If we create a different set of standards for a small mom and pops operation in the same industry as the big dogs then they will send out their lawyer and lobbyist hounds to fight against it. That's where the small operations have the disadvantage in this current system and that is exactly what this video demonstrates.

[@darylsmith9318]

I have a whole new appreciation for my desk job. What hard workers, and a great film.

[@uberjhonny9758]

WHO KNEW THAT WE WILL FIND PURE GOLD ON KZbin. I LOVE THIS.

[@bbgdaddy5198]

Amazing how so much of the BS and hardship facing folks in this country always come from the same 2 places, government and large corporations.

[@joeprimal2044]

Amen to that

[@jonnie2bad]

the corporations are the government how long is it gonna take for people to realize it

[@TreeLBollingTreeMan]

@Nobody Knows Man you sure do troll a lot!!! Why don't you crawl back under the rock you came from.

[@TreeLBollingTreeMan]

@@nowake go away troll. No one rang your bell or spoke to you.

[@mtadams2009]

They are one and the same. The government is owned by the large corporations, they are called lobbyist.

[@SusieQUnleashed]

This enrages me and breaks my heart for these hard working families

[@crewcut442]

We didn't know any better. It was join the miliary or dig coal.

[@karengallagher1959]

Hazleton Pa. here - lots of mining history in this area. My grandfather on my mother's side worked in the bootleg mines around here; he was a tough, hard-drinking man. My mom grew up seeing that. She used to have to bring him home from the bar sometimes 'cause he couldn't make it on his own. He died at age 52, before I ever knew him, of miner's lung.

[@judeodomhnaill9711]

My friend is a certified anthracite miner and knows these guys. Good stuff. Honest men. One got killed in late 2020 in a collapse. Harrowing work.

[@rippitallout149]

Really? It's still active over there in Jolliet?

[@hunters36forgingwoodworkin73]

Can you tell which mines are still active. I want stop by some of them and buy some coal. Help them out a little bit, help me out.

[@shawtatl]

I'll say this, that I absolutely know I won't ever have the courage to do this. I heard the guy say that he's been doing that since he was 9. That's amazing to me. Kids today don't have the kind of heart.

[@seconds-kr5uj]

When you have a 9 ton boulder of coal for a grave stone...you're a Certified Mad Lad.

[@lukkyluciano]

Dank!

[@jeffleblanc8850]

That is one hell of a tribute and one big grave stone that is well deserved RIP

[@kipbrown1549]

@ 15sec. So your mind is to small to understand what it meant ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[@schneir5]

25:30 "they often called it "independent mining" rather than "bootlegging". I used to be an "independent pharmacist".

[@schneir5]

@Sheridan Isashitstain me too! I can't stand customer service!

[@tundrawomansays5067]

“Our menu of options has recently changed. Please press the following option of your choice: For OxyContin, Press 1 For Hydrocodone, Press 2 For Heroin, Press 3 For Adderal, Press 4 For Meth, Press 5 For Crack, Press 6 For Xanax, Press 7 For Eighballs, Press 8 For Death, Press any key hard enough and the Medical Examiner will respond. Eventually.”

[@littleteethkeith]

I go from one independent pharmacist in my town to another. Every year another mom and pop pharmacy goes out of business in my town and I have to switch to another. I’m currently at one of a handful left in my town.

[@thedevilsworkshop7720]

That sounds better than drug dealer , I love it .

[@MrAustruck]

occasionally you come across gold on KZbin

[@rosswhitton8463]

Right!?!?!?

[@alexlaney3423]

No this is coal sir

[@Bbenge1220]

Its amazing the rabbit holes you end up going down from one video. I just clicked on a 6 min pbs video about America's coal industry and 3 hrs later I'm still watching coal videos lol.

[@donnasmith6312]

Bryan Benge me too I’m a south eastern Kentucky coal mines daughter I bleed blue 💙

[@Bbenge1220]

@@donnasmith6312 are you down there near where those black jewel miners sat on the tracks last summer?

[@waylandjennings4073]

Hegins, Pa! I broke down there once and changed my water pump in a dirt parking lot. Ate at the People's Choice restaurant while I was there. I've been to Centralia and am familiar with alot of the scenery in this video. Took a tour of the anthracite mine in Scranton as a kid. God Bless these honest hard working people- they have my respect. Not many left like this who respect family, do what they have to do, and persevere.

[@karengallagher1959]

What's your point? These people worked hard, maybe lost their lives. But they did honest work. So STFU.

[@waylandjennings4073]

@@karengallagher1959 My point is: here's a really cool video I found on KZbin about people whose way of life I respect and would like to see prosper. On top of that, it just so happens I've been to their neighborhood a few times. Somehow this offends you. Excuse me for sharing.

[@ArnoldDarkshner99]

@@waylandjennings4073 I think Karen was responding to @Stephen Clark, not you.

[@joshjones3408]

This video was an eye opener... this needs to played on a national level...

[@NeoVoodooTech]

Held up a wall of coal with his back and kept it from crushing two people to death? Damn son! You're a super hero.

[@bobnwashington5966]

NeoVoodooTech / He held up a TIMBER that was holding back the coal.

[@J0SHUAKANE]

@@bobnwashington5966 may as well say he was holding up his shirt🤔

[@rosswhitton8463]

WHY HAS THIS NOT BEEN MADE INTO A SERIS ON DISCOVERY!?!? These people are amazing and extremely entertaining... please someone do it.

[@desolatesurfer8651]

Agreed

[@RoseDGAF350]

@@jonp2171 We are still around. But you can count those left on one hand.

[@RG-rl6hj]

The best documentary I have ever seen. The brilliance of these families was such marvel it brought me to tears. They are the embodiment of American.

[@leelamgan1934]

I love WVA, I grew up there. It's the most beautiful place you can imagine. I moved away when I was fourteen, and have longed to go back since, I am now 80. It breaks my heart to see what has happened to the beauty that I remember. God bless WVA.

[@michaelburness5183]

Let em dig the way they have been for generations. They obviously know what there doing.

[@exploringabandonedmines]

Good film love the underground footage and seeing the men ride the skip car. This story is not unique to the mining industry it has happened in other industries like trucking , logging and sawmilling times change.

[@joshuanorris5860]

They couldent just let them be...

[@rokuthedog]

@@joshuanorris5860 of course not the gubberment wants their tithe

[@nureyevhaas1299]

I was hoping you'd watched this. I grew up in this region, it brought back a lot of memories.

[@jacobrzeszewski6527]

It’s truly sick just how payed off many politicians and authorities are. Wealth inequality is the biggest epidemic we have to deal with today. A huge company can kill hundreds and be penalized with a slap on the wrist, and an independen will be shut down out of spite. It’s just sad.

[@mobiletech6289]

Yup politicians using laws and more laws to steal push the working man out , I’ve personal run in with these msha clowns , working for a small excavator , has a small retail stone pit , they consider it a mine , guy wrote me up for walking on the “mined” flag stone to approach operator on a cat 325 to weld the hand rail , the he proceeded to tell me that I have to be “tied off “ and that my fire extinguisher wasn’t “big enough “ sick to death of these government agencies “keeping it safe for us “ running people outta business ,

[@ivyandroses4373]

These guys are Baddasses. Truly tough and hard core MEN

[@johnblecker4206]

My grand father a Austria miner was killed by the fall of the top rock while working a on Aug 26 1916 and was living at Kultmont Pennsylvania a few years later one of his sons died in mine. Many people from the mine area told me that those same coal mines brought the needed prosperity to the area and some miners used unsafe practices to bring out more coal during the days. As a kid I had a good time checking out those old mines.I was told that during the depression most locals borrowed the coal from mines and that coal even made it to NewYork.

[@stephenmitchell3569]

That's a true never cry "uncle" man!!! God Bless that American Spirit!!!

[@TreeLBollingTreeMan]

@Nobody Knows Man you sure do troll a lot!!! Why don't you crawl back under the rock you came from.

[@hairbackglow]

Nobody Knows is that what you took away from this? Do you know anything about this topic other than this video? Obviously not. Your insight is as bogus and mythical as the ghost you believe gave them the right.

[@stephenmitchell3569]

@@hairbackglow Nice to see you have a different opinion! Guess you don't hang with the bluegrass families. That's okay for you and I'm happy with what I know. Hoping one day you will enjoy the same type people I have. Sorry if you felt wronged by my comment. Just consider if your wrong and what that means. Have a good labor day!

[@stephenmitchell3569]

@Nobody Knows They work and you troll...lol! Maybe need to give up your skinny jeans!!! Guess your dream is a government job....lol!!!

[@toddayres7298]

Great film. Very sad for the hard working people of this country. My great grandfather and his brothers were miners in southern Ohio.

[@searsbootcamp]

A powerful, moving film, which stirs up emotions. Causing great interest in this subject which little is known. Thank you for your efforts in showing everyone the adversity placed by MSHA 😒

[@VernonChitlen]

@Nobody Knows As opposed to the 110 million receiving welfare in usa? Not doing a fing thing? As if every miner will get black lung?

[@MrThenry1988]

@Nobody Knows Don't pay no attention to someone that won't even use a real name. Troll

[@VernonChitlen]

@Nobody Knows Google welfare recipients, wade thru all the break down. I included Medicaid. 110 million get some welfare someway or another.

[@VernonChitlen]

@Nobody KnowsI don't think you need to be lecturing me bub. You don't know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid. Your not counting free abortions and aids assistance and other things. None the less the mooches out burden the independent coal miners who even some pay some net taxes by a heck of a ways... I've worked all my life and have paid my share of net income taxes and I didn't get to keep my Dr. or health ins. plan. Given only one choice, Kaiser.

[@TreeLBollingTreeMan]

@Nobody Knows TROLL!!!!

[@jasonmarkowitz5397]

I know a few folks from this area through my Jeep and off-road stuff, these are fine, hardworking people that have gotten a raw deal for 150 years.

[@zing913945]

God bless these hard working miners !!

[@flapwheat]

Great documentary. None of the oversight these miners were subject to had anything to do with safety. Like everything in this country, it had to do with corporate greed.

[@mountainmetalhead15]

These mines were everywhere here in wv when I was growing up . Now just abandoned holes in the ground !!

[@577buttfan]

Go explore em!!

[@unfortunately_fortunate2000]

"I hoist'em in and out of the moine!" omfg I l O V E this guys accent and colloquialism(s)!!!

[@royhoco5748]

my living motto is Laisse Faire which is French for "no government interference" and it darn sure applies to this hard working miners, dog gone it leave these people alone and let them do what they live to do.

[@karengallagher1959]

STFU.

[@AndyMascuch]

I'm very proud to have grown up with all these independent miners. They are the hardest working folks that ive ever met!

[@nottodaybuddy370]

I watch this and can't help but think that the land of the free that Americans proudly boast, is no longer.

[@hairbackglow]

Not Today Buddy very easy to research and find it never was anything more than words....research the moonshine wars of Appalachia.

[@reallyhappenings5597]

You are deeply mistaken. The great experiment of American democracy continues. But it's up to us.

[@cdoublejj]

wait till learn about the internet monopoly and the control and price hiking of internet in the US.

[@x0thorn0x]

It’s a constitutional republic, not a democracy. Look this up to learn the truth: “A Republic. If you can keep it.”

[@BKJones]

@@reallyhappenings5597 we are a Republic you fucking moron

[@curtvona4891]

Excellent Doc. I was a bituminous coal miner in western PA. I really respect these people.

[@chrise3801]

It's not so simple for a man to just up n change from a job he's done his whole life,not that easy to do smn else

[@TreeLBollingTreeMan]

@Nobody Knows Man you sure do troll a lot!!! Why don't you crawl back under the rock you came from.

[@joshuanorris5860]

@Nobody Knows fuck off douche

[@COIcultist]

@Shattered DreamsIt depends on what you are doing whether you need a respirator or not. How much dust does the process raise? I'm no expert but the (proud) son of a miner, I also worked for the nationalised UK coal industry till that was destroyed and a national economic resource despoiled for political spite. The NCB/British Coal used respirators but kept their use to a minimum by using water spays when machine cutting coal. 1) A man describes his blasting and loading process talking about coming to the surface after blasting, then loading later. Because of the nature of the face (of the coal seam) the process appears to be more blasting and loading, not machine cutting. If he took a break after blasting the dust will have fallen. 2) My fathers experience and my meagre experience (I only went underground a few times and not as part of my employment) were all with bituminous coal. Bituminous coal and anthracite are two very different substances. Not that bituminous coal is one homogeneous substance, it can vary greatly. Anthracite is a much harder fuel and when you burn it the blue flame that comes off the burn is carbon monoxide. Bituminous coal is much higher in volatiles. If you watch the film there are shots of older film with the miners using carbide (acetylene [ethyne]) flame lamps to see. In 1815 Sir Humphry Davy invented the Miners Safety Lamp for use in coal mines. If you had ever seen the miserable flame of a Davy Lamp compared to a carbide lamp you would obviously want to use a carbide lamp. Except if you used a carbide lamp in a bituminous coal mine it would probably be only the once. Death has a way of stopping you doing something again. Davy lamps can also be used to test for the presence of explosive gasses. Bituminous and anthracite are very different fuels mined differently. Even the same coal can be mined in different ways, unless you know the mine conditions you can't give men grief for not wearing respirators. Never mind face and cutting work, I've been in haulage tunnels where you could do with a respirator. Yes they shouldn't be like that but shouldn't isn't, isn't and is certainly not can't be. Unless you know the conditions intimately don't be giving a miner grief for how he does his job. I know nothing but even I know that. Respect and love to all current and former miners. Oh, shit that was a bit of a tome.

[@shawtatl]

This was so educational. I had no idea, so enlightening. What o don't understand is why aren't brave men like these so full of courage and determined to take their families, why aren't they mentioned in our history books?

[@kewlmanable]

Makes me proud to be from that area. The people of Schuylkill county are the hardest working, toughest people on this planet.

[@skipjack5964]

So sad to see hard workers lose their way of life I can relate I worked for Bethlehem steel and it was shut down because of our government

[@tectalabyss]

Damn dirty tricks these hard working people have and may still be suffering . The fed needs to lay off people like this. People have to eat !

[@TreeLBollingTreeMan]

@Nobody Knows Man you sure do troll a lot!!! Why don't you crawl back under the rock you came from.

[@afriedli]

@AstronomyToday Did you even watch the documentary?

[@jasong9502]

Most of that coal goes through the Great Lakes to be made into steel in Pittsburgh and Hamilton... Coal helped make the Steel towns!

[@michaelburness5183]

"I do what needs to be done,I'm just a worker here" I wish my workmates had that attitude.

[@neilminer3099]

I WORKED IN THE MINES MY WHOLE LIFE,BASE METALS AND NOT COAL.....THESE BOYS ACTUALLY REALLY PUT THEIR LIVES AT RISK MINING THAT.....AND THE COAL GETS YA IN THE END ,BREATHING THAT DUST....LOOK AT THEIR FACES,YA CANT WASH IT OFF YOUR LUNGS.....LOT OF RESPECT FOR THESE BOYS

[@HardRockMiner]

I've mined a lot of things in a lot of places but I won't do what you do, Bill. You're a hero, Sir!

[@sshumkaer]

this was good stuff, how many of these people are still around mining? Also is this the only place in the country with this type of coal?

[@josh656]

Hard working, patriotic Americans, hats off.

[@MrThenry1988]

The government just can't let anyone alone. Gotta be in your shit all day, every day. Anyone still at it?

[@stephen12264]

@@CCookBCB MAGA 2020

[@nojhampton]

@@CCookBCB With a attitude like yourself, it's easy to see why the world is going to hell in a hand cart . You sir, are an arse.

[@shanerr7252]

What a boss 67 years old mining his own mine by himself

[@douglascasey3486]

When I was young my Daddy started in the mining business bootlegging. That's until the Feds shut him down. The coal seem wasn't like this slope which lays on a edge. I'm curious about the market. Where did they sell the coal? House coal, or was there a bootleg market? I know for my Dad, he sold through the back door to a legit buyer, dealing in cash.

[@rippitallout149]

Nothing says you didn't buy large quantities of coal for re-sell 😉...

[@spidykat7188]

My hat is off to that man, last of the real working-class

[@Chocolate_dragon]

i have been a coal miner for over 20 years. After watching this I don't think I'm a coal miner anymore. 6 foot seams, tons of equipment to do the hardest work for us. The mines I work in look like a resort compared to these ones! Gotta respect these guys! I will say though the laws and regulations from MSHA are to protect miners. There is a reason these laws exist!

[@oldchunkofcoal2774]

MSHA is just there to protect people, huh? Lmao! Sounds like someone who has only worked for large mining companies. Use your head.

[@anashomestead5919]

My deepest regard for these people who made this video, they did an excellent job. I am only at Minute 53. But I recently a few minutes back paused to read a document it showed.. that stated only 11 mines were still open.. that this govt entity had shut down over 200 & something mines.. blew me away.. Loved it when they said they did not feel the government's initial intention when that agency was created was to shut down nearly every single mine since 1969. Especially considering that many of these mines shown had no accidents since 1983, nearly 40 years ago.. Just phenomenal.

[@anashomestead5919]

I finished watching this.. It must have touched me at some depth of core being, because I felt physical pain in the area of my heart by that time concerning so many various outcomes of individuals & small private companies. Perhaps I didn't see my life much different from many of their experiences, even though I have never worked in or around the coal industries.

[@anashomestead5919]

@Nobody Knows Actually I barely knew my parents.. My father fought in ww2, he was 50 when I was born, he died when I just turned 9. My mother was younger but she was in a nursing home by the time I was 12 years old. I did meet one living grandparent one time when I was 9, we went on a plane to Kansas to visit her. I have never had "family." I had some siblings but I was never around them, they were either in the service or married living across the united states. I didn't know them, most are already dead too.

[@KowboyUSA]

For what it's worth, fellers, you got my deepest respect. Salute!

[@packingten]

The government killed that man!!.

[@captokey1]

MSHA should be required to make public all details of any and all enforcement actions and reasoning behind any and all actions. As is usual the little guy is swept up by regulation in this and many other businesses It also demonstrates the downside of big union influence and interference. Government agencies many times operate outside their legal authority. Criminal laws constitutionally should be created by elected officials, and not by appointed individuals who can and do accept gratuities in one way or another. A revolution is coming eventually one way or another. More and more people are becoming fed up !

[@jacksons1010]

MSHA already is required to do that. It's called the Freedom of Information Act, and has been in place for decades now. Not knowing how our government works is what leads to people thinking "they" are the enemy and we need a revolution. What we need is educated people who know a thing or two before they vote.

[@nowake]

MSHA does make these public, just that some people don't want to / care to / know how to read

[@nolankirkwood9655]

It was a revolution that created MSHA. You know why? Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster. Because a mining company who knew of the sever dangers of silica sent a thousand men into that tunnel without respiratory protection to inevitably die of silicosis. When they got sick they were fired and sent home to die. We have MSHA because the American people demanded that companies quit killing people by the hundreds and thousands every year.

[@sevenscounty409]

@@nolankirkwood9655 its one thing a big multinational corporation doing that, and a bunch of communists from the miners union taking their vendetta to these honest, hardworking people and shutting their mines during Christmas in order to interfere with their business. STFU

[@nolankirkwood9655]

@@sevenscounty409 union taking their vendetta to these hard working people? Do you just spout off random soundbites in successive order? Unions are funded by hard working people, and operated by people elected by those same hard working people. They exist for the sole purpose of looking out for the best interest of those they represent via safety rules, decent wages and working conditions. What reason do they have for targeting these guys. Are these guys affected by regulations advocated by Unions to keep the mainstream miners safe? That's possible, but I'd rather have thousands of people be safer and better off and a few go out of business than the few stay in business and the thousands face unnecessary dangers.

[@jeffreyatkinson663]

I worked in coal for 30 years in north central Wv .we had a family owned business and I can attest to the fact that msha put me out of business. The umwa tried to organize my mine and msha put the hammer on me

[@Joshua-zw7jl]

Amazing information. My father told me about a time when he was a child in England U.K where is father took home lumps of coal in leu of pay. This coal was used to heat their home and keep his family warm. It's amazing how much we take electricity and modern power grids for granted..

[@oBseSsIoNPC]

well here is the thing. Not everybody is onboard with the people that go on strike and I fully understand when you want to work and provide for your family and someone is disrupting your day, by telling you you have to go on strike with them. So if you are able and willing, you just continue to work. The fact that these men do what they do shows a HUGE backbone and should not be punished at all. They provide coal, they make a living and as long as they pay some taxes, the state should be happy. Lobbyists really do need....

[@AngryHybridApe]

Nobody knows coal mining safety more than the people in the business. Theyre all family. Nobody is going to jeopardize lives, especially family if they thought it was dangerous. Its just another way of the federal government optimizing their own income by creating and implementing regulations.

[@willywipper]

Thanks for giving us a teaser version! But where can we buy a full copy? Snagfilms no longer lists it.Seems a shame to put so much effort into making a film that nobody can buy.

[@paulzimmerman1227]

It was only intended on a story for the miners there, My dad was one of the 12, and they only made it because of the accident in 2006

[@paulzimmerman1227]

but they now published it, usually find it on Amazon movies

[@jonmills4687]

I thank you for this video. Very informative.

[@pureengineering3438]

Top notch doco, deserves way more views.

[@fsctrucking]

Government is our biggest enemy. They are killing many other industries as well. Trucking is mine.

[@lengabella857]

My family were coal miners in Pennsylvania in the early 1900s. I would listen to my Uncles tell stories of what it was like back in those days.My grandpa lost an eye from from dynamite in them their mines and glad that all they lost counting my Uncles. The mining is easier now but still hard work.Ive worked some hard jobs in my life and when I would start feeling sorry for myself I would remember the stories my folks told me and realize how good I have it making much more money than they did. Its true you owed your life to the company store. Those companies owned everything. God Bless Coal Miners. President Trump is behind you.

[@tommyhatcher3399]

Honestly I would love to do what that old man is doing. Maybe not as an old man, though. It's an adventure. What are you afraid of? Hard work. Crawl around in tight spaces. Up ladders. Get dirty. Dig, dig, dig. Yeah. Use bombs to open new holes. Wow. What a blast! I'm not kidding. Solitude and darkness. You got to be that kind of person. Kids play in the dirt with toys and have fun. That's all this old guy is doing, in his own way. The key is he works at his own pace. No one is yelling at him to work harder and eat less and get yourself killed if it speeds up the mining. He isn't working. He' playing. If you don't see how hard work can be play then you've never worked hard and did a good job.

[@melmo5218]

I've been down two mines and met the most manly of men on the planet.

[@tygreenwood472]

I found this video extremely interesting and educational at the same time about the mining industry and very sad at the same time, ashame how these families have been treated just trying to make a living for themselves and their families!

[@Gunzee]

I wish the UK would begin mining again. So many lives spoiled so much money lost. All because an old witch wanted her way.

[@flyingturtlenewworld8320]

Gunzee so true dark days

[@Gunzee]

Flying turtle New world it's one of UK's few natural resources. We have ultra clean burning coal power plants, which release near zero polluting emissions. If you go to the communities killed by the closures, all you'll see it's depressing addiction. Even decades later many towns reliant upon coal have not recovered. There should have been a referendum, or something close to democracy. They sold us out for peanuts, it's beyond a joke..

[@flyingturtlenewworld8320]

The police used so politically,the scenes of police horses mowing down the miners,I thought it was revenge for the power cuts which I think bought down ted heath,but now I reason big oil same players.stain on our history to ruin so many family’s and communities and leave them broken.for power and money

[@dangunn6961]

I mined coal in western PA for 17 years back in the 70's and 80's. I remember guys talking about some country bank mines on people's property that they mined for their own use but probably sold coal to friends and neighbors. It was dangerous work and some guys were killed in a explosion where I worked. I like working there and I hated it at the same time.

[@JimmyPopple]

Proud to be born, raised and live in coal country

[@tundrawomansays5067]

James Popple 🎶”I come from down in the valley where mister when yer young, they bring you up to do like yer daddy done...”🎵

[@f.d.miller3903]

This country has been sold out

[@joshuakuehn]

And none of us got paid for the sale

[@freebird1ification]

more times than 1

[@voiceofsilencio]

Time to start reading Thomas Paine

[@americafirst7676]

So cool seeing these guys when they were younger or still alive and seeing what my pap , uncles and dad did when they were young . So cool that I used to get coal from these guys and I know a lot of these guys to see them and personally know a couple of them and there families . I’ll tell you like the shingara’s there tuff SOB’s man !! Not only tuff workers hard as they come , these boys can fight man !!

[@johnfranklin1955]

NG from Fracking has change everything.

[@toms641]

Yup, EPA is hurting coal real bad, but so is NG from fracking. That's just honest competition.

[@toms641]

​@Sheridan Isashitstain Is what it is. Oil companies regularly loose money for a decade on almost anything. And Exxon // Chevron , etc, can easily eat loses far better than coal miners, anywhere.

[@johnfranklin1955]

You have no idea what your talking about.

[@TheMilwaukieDan]

2021…. All of this revolves around the fact that once a family has security. And life becomes ‘comfy’, the belief system that what is good today … will forever stay that way.Change is a constant in life.

[@blowinkk9396]

If MSHA came to shut down my mine on my land, He'd end up under 100 feet of coal at the bottom of my mine.

[@alanpartridge2140]

Doubt it

[@saddamdontsurf]

yep , Double doubt it . Going from honest hardworking family man to murderer is a blow hard stretch .@@alanpartridge2140

[@blowinkk9396]

​@@saddamdontsurfHahahaha

[@jacksons1010]

Following MSHA regulations just isn't that dang hard. Bullheadedness and the "we've always done it this way" mindset is what gets them in hot water. Did you see the memorial they showed early in this video? Those deaths can be avoided; that's what MSHA is all about.

[@irondiver292]

Jon Jackson bootlicker

[@patbradley916]

Did the same thing to the small sawmill operators in Alberta .

[@revbobmartin]

Pat Bradley it happened throughout the northwest

[@joshuanorris5860]

@Nobody Knows crawl back to your cubical bitch boy.

[@neilpuckett359]

@Nobody Knows you're an idiot.

[@joshuanorris5860]

@Guy LaDouche yeah im from newfoundland, dont be talkin...

[@joshuanorris5860]

@Guy LaDouche criminal indeed. And its on-going. We cant even shoot the seals. There is millions of them eating all the fish. Totally out of control. FUCK the gov.

[@AngryHybridApe]

When I lived in Penn, I used to go spelunking. We'd go down holes so thin, we'd have to raise our arms above our heads to fit through. It wasnt till years later that the thought of it was cause for claustrophobia. It wakes me up in the middle of the night at times thinking what if something happened? 50 -100+ feet down is not a place to get stuck.

[@steverone7623]

The UMWA guy looks like Pauly Walnuts brother, Frankie Pecan

[@karlbeyerle1857]

If you don't want to work "work"for the government screwing with small business is your job

[@thirtythreeeyes8624]

Exactly the only thing the government helps is big business.

[@lotusgoddess94]

Everyone talking about their accents....It’s scary when you’re from there and don’t hear an accent 😂

[@oldreliable303]

It aint just coal mining, its every trade. its hard just go work anymore. I hate to say it, but the way this world is going, there will never be a working man again. Who will keep the wheels turning?

[@mwilliamshs]

As a young guy putting in 16 hours, 6 days a week in 95°, 90% humidity weather, you're comment is laughably amiss. I sweat more before lunch than most people do all week but I make more money in a week than many in a month. To say there'll never be a working man again is to say I don't exist and to say my brothers and those with whom I toil aren't men. Come say that within arms' reach, I dare you.

[@oldreliable303]

@@mwilliamshs i work as a welder 12 hour days 7 days a week. I use to dredge for gold, that ended in a 5,000 doller fine, and the lost of my dredge. Every job ive done there has been some law saying i cant do, how many coal mines have our goverment shut down? Folk like us are a dieing breed, our goverment is choking us out.

[@vinniecocco9932]

@@mwilliamshs easy killa

[@tundrawomansays5067]

We’ve decimated our blue collar working class from skilled factory workers to plumbers. Once the government made it extremely lucrative to produce goods overseas by *exempting all products made offshore from any taxes* they destroyed all those previous opportunities. They tried to BS people into believing it was the lower paid workers that made the cheap labor *the* determining factor for the corporations in an effort to destroy the unions-but it wasn’t: The costs to ship all that back to the US. wiped out any alleged pay scale “advantage.” *It was the complete tax exemption on these goods that robbed US workers of jobs and opportunities.*

[@jakerinehimer1281]

Anthracite coal mining is a huge part of my heritage to many grandfathers and uncles and cousins to mention them all but two I like to talk about are my two paternal great great grandfathers the first John Bruzgulis came here from Lithuania in 1903 and worked in the mines for over 20 years to earn the money to buy his farm and Evan then he continued to work in the mines on and off as did his 8 sons and they all took pride in there work he died in 1963 when he was 83. The second is Clyde Rinehimer he went to work in the mines when he was 10 years old he was born raised lived and died in the coal region he worked with his brothers at the Wanamie Colliery first underground for many years and later on he ran the Lokee

[@cellulersweller6562]

Excellent doc.

[@conantdog]

"which side are you on boy which side are you on"

[@salvatoreshiggerino6810]

Great way to secure a (comparatively) cushy mining job, get too fat to fit down the shaft.

[@tundrawomansays5067]

Salvatore Shiggerino “FAT SHAMING!” ;-)

[@sr633]

Went to college in W.Va. 1960. Sunday in the morning the "College Lunch" was jammed with coal miners coming off the night shift. The "Cat eye shift" works tonight.

[@NotSoCrazyNinja]

Anthracite coal is probably the most American heating fuel in the USA. It is labor-intensive to mine (more jobs), it is cheap to buy (saves on heating costs), it is "local" (to the USA), and it can burn very cleanly with the right equipment (more jobs in manufacturing and service). There are some misconceptions surrounding coal and other sources of heat. A lot of people use electricity or natural gas to heat their homes today. Natural gas might be "local", but it doesn't produce many jobs when compared to coal. It is a lot more dangerous to use compared to coal, and the environmental impacts are not that much different. Both suck when it comes to impacting the environment. The problem is, there are so many laws and regulations and government oversight when it comes to anything coal now. Where I live, there used to be loads of coal-burning since there is a railway right through the city. Now? You can't legally install a coal-burning stove indoors here and there are no coal suppliers. The nearest source of coal is a good 40 miles away and it's only bagged and only seasonal. The nearest bulk coal is over a hundred miles away. Walking along the tracts here (not suggested), you can still find the occasional piece of old coal from over a hundred years ago.

[@rippitallout149]

Where's that?

[@carlhorn1791]

i worked 40 years under ground

[@jrod7639]

If a mine has had no lost man hours since. 1983 maybe they should set the safety standards.

[@shawnrogers8393]

I feel for these small family companies

[@northeastrailwayproductions]

Unbelievable and unfortunate for these people. That man is right, 90% to 95% of the country doesn't want to do what they're doing... but we are damn proud that that they are doing it/did do it. This country when it ran on coal was unstoppable.

[@coloradobrad6779]

My two cents: at 55:19..."the property goes back 10 generations." In effect, literally 10 generations of poverty is what you are saying. This is a problem. How can anyone not see this - this mindset of generational poverty. I was born into generational poverty and will never forgive my family for it. I left to break the cycle and was disowned for it.I am made fun of by them for not wanting to 'work hard'. Let me reiterate: 10 generations of 'working hard' and 10 generations of poverty. Wtf? Also at 57:47 there's that idiotic statement again "50% of our energy comes from coal..." NO, it does not. It is 27%. Here's the link AGAIN: www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3 One more point at 1:00:13 ..."oil may be running out..peak oil...natural gas supplies are tight and ng prices are rising.". I was fed this BS in the 80s" "30 years left of oil before the world runs out". We have more oil now than ever. Technology keeps finding more. They all need to stop feeding the uneducated this lie we are running out of oil and nope, natural gas is the cheapest most widely used form of power referenced in the article above. I mean how do these morons believe the lies that are actually coming from their lips.

[@jesterd14]

Look at the poorest parts of WV and Kentucky, right in the middle of the coal fields.

[@1979mackdriver]

Not that I didn't find your comment interesting, but I'm more intrigued by what you did to break your cycle of inherited poverty and what made that moment when you decided to break away . I love stories like that ,it's nice to see people win a few rounds ..

[@chrise3801]

My family didn't work hard and had nothing,now I work my ass off and have made a better life for myself

[@1STGeneral]

Giving all including your health to raise your family the best you knew how is seen as bringing your children up to be poor? If you want to better yourself for the good of you go for it but since you didn't mention your route to your prosperity it's hard to identify with you what part of the government are you employed

[@karengallagher1959]

All of you asshats downing coal miners just don't get it. Just shut up and try to see what real life in the U.S. has become.

[@noahkleugh9323]

What an eye-opener!

[@zippymufo9765]

This was filmed in the early 00's, I wonder where these guys are now.

[@16dieseldon]

Coal is the past the present and the future of America!! 🇺🇸. God Bless these Miners. 🇺🇸

[@leonallen9833]

The hell with MSHA. I was working surface mines in Md for 11 years. Once I heard msha was digging through trash cans looking for food scraps I got out of the industry. They say it's a biohazard.

[@michaelgrubbs1618]

I know there are no kids watching this video, this type of man who's going to probably outlive most of the kids today and the reason this country is what it is is because of dudes like this hardcore doesn't mind working loves working. I would not want to be down there gun to the head I would but he does it cuz he loves it. That's the stuff men are made of

[@MetatronsCube23]

@Nobody Knows Are you some democrat government stooge?

[@terrydavis8451]

Im surprised they havent killed a few mine inspectors. If you kill a few of those it will send a warning to the next one.