So this coal mining company, Black Jewel, declared bankruptcy on July 1st, and that left

over a thousand coal miners in Central Appalachia out of work.

Workers got a paycheck on June 28th.

A lot of them spent money on rent, on utilities, beginning of the month expenses, only to find

out a few days later that those checks bounced, and they were some of them thousands of dollars

in the red with their banks.

They should have gotten a second paycheck a few weeks later, but that didn't come through.

They were told not to come back to work, but they weren't officially laid off.

It was just this kind of ongoing mess for, you know, over a thousand coal miners, and very

little information for them about what was going on.

We were at work, and they just said, hey, Black Jewel is kind of bankruptcy, but everything's

okay, blah blah blah.

Don't worry, everyone's thinking paid.

On Monday, July 29th, this woman who lived right near the railroad tracks saw a train being

loaded up with coal.

So she sends a text around to people that she knows that worked at this mine, saying,

wait a minute, this company is bankrupt, how are they moving this coal?

Chris Sexton caught me on my phone at my house and said, hey, wiggle their load in this

train up.

Let's stop this train.

I said, sure, I'll fever right up here right now.

And about five Black Jewel miners go up and decide they're going to block this train.

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