Latinos Sought as Mining's Next Generation

Despite the inherent hazards of being a miner, Mullins and others in the area consider it the best job opportunity available to them -- and are proud of the work they do.

"All we have is coal mining," Mullins said. "But the companies don't want to hire local -- not when they can get the Hispanics to work cheaper." The local mine company here, Sidney Coal Co., is seeking to change Kentucky mining legislation so it can hire non-English-speaking Latino workers.

Kentucky law requires that miners be fluent in English for safety reasons, but Sidney Coal, a subsidiary of Massey Energy Inc., has claimed that it cannot find enough local workers.

"It is common knowledge that the work ethic of the eastern Kentucky worker has declined from where it once was," the president of Sidney Coal, Charlie Bearse, wrote to the Kentucky Mining Board. "Attitudes have changed among the existing workforce, which affects attendance, drug use and, ultimately, productivity."

Bearse's comments have unsettled many in this region of steep mountains and thin hollows, where the descendants of English, German and Scotch-Irish settlers have struggled as the coal industry has declined in recent years.

"It's insulting to the men and women who want to work here and stay here," said Kentucky state Rep. Robin Webb, a former miner. "Mining is their way of life." Although migrant workers are already a presence in Kentucky's tobacco fields and thoroughbred horse farms, they scarcely penetrated the Appalachian coal fields.

Many eastern Kentucky miners worry that bringing non-English-speaking Latinos underground would force them to accept lower wages and lead to a decline in mine safety.

Already, there have been 19 deaths in Appalachian mines this year. In January, an explosion that killed 12 miners at the Sago Mine in West Virginia sparked a national debate about mine safety reform.

"I wouldn't want my son working with a bunch of Hispanics who couldn't understand him," said Mullins, who was huddled next to a gas heater in the local Citgo gas station, smoking Marlboro cigarettes. "It's dangerous enough down there."