A Thousand Coal Miners Are Still On Strike After 4 Months

The miners of Warrior Met in Alabama say they're determined to win back what they lost in bankruptcy five years ago.

Michael Argo has spent 13 years working underground at a coal mine in Brookwood, Alabama, just outside Tuscaloosa. It’s the same mine his father worked at, raising Argo on good union wages and excellent health care coverage. When Argo followed in his father’s footsteps, he believed the job would get better with time and seniority. Instead, he said the job has only gotten worse. “I’m working more than I ever have, and I’m making less money,” said Argo, a 33-year-old longwall miner who logs 10- to 12-hour days, 20 miles deep in the mine. Argo estimates that he now earns $20,000 less per year than he did six years ago, before the mine emerged from bankruptcy under the ownership of a new company called Warrior Met Coal.