The U.S. Department of Labor has asked a judge to stop a train filled with $1 million worth of coal from leaving a remote mine in Southeastern Kentucky until the non-union workers who produced it are paid for their efforts.
The emergency motion was filed in federal court on Monday, one week after coal miners began occupying a set of railroad tracks to block the shipment. Their former employer, Blackjewel LLC, had issued bad checks to hundreds of miners in Harlan County before abruptly declaring bankruptcy on July 1. Now out of work, many are owed more than three weeks in back pay.
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