It's Wednesday, July 14th. I'm Ekkila Hughes.

And I'm getting a rest of my time. This is what a day where we believe that everyone who

is nominated for an ME yesterday also deserves to win.

Yeah, straight up, it was a hard year. So let's just give tons of MEs per category this year

so everyone feels special.

Yeah, I mean, I'm also pushing for free MEs to just be strewn about on the street.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's just first come first serve whoever wants one come get it.

On today's show, we'll have some headlines, but first we're going to tell you about a

coal miner strike in Alabama that is now in its fourth month.

And the goal is to get a better contract, to get a fair contract, to get what we deserve.

That's the goal. And we're going to stay out here until we get it.

That was Michael Wright, a union official being interviewed by WVUATV a few months back.

So on April 1st, about 1100 miners at Warrior Met Cole in Brookwood, Alabama walked off the job.

It has been called one of the largest strikes in recent history in Alabama, which is a right to work state.

And it's also on the heels of a recent failed union drive at an Amazon facility in nearby Bessamer.

So we wanted to make sure that our listeners knew about this effort since it hasn't gotten quite as much attention.

Yeah, and so what are workers at this mine actually striking over?

Yeah, so they want better pay, more paid holidays off, better health insurance coverage,

among many other things. In five years ago, the company Warrior Met bought the mines due to the

prior owner's bankruptcy and their layoffs at first. When workers were rehired, they agreed to a

contract that drastically cut back on wages and benefits. I talked with Hayden Wright, who's the

wife of a striking miner and leader at an auxiliary of the union united mine workers of America.

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