Women in the Mines and the Age Old Story of Sexual Misconduct in the Workplace

I am standing at my desk in my new home office pondering what to write about. There are boxes all around me: returns to Best Buy and Amazon for the office technology that didn’t quite fit; thank you notes to send out; and an open box of books to return to a kind inn owner who lent them to me during my stay in West Virginia.

A photo of a grime covered face with a hard hat and pig tails smiled up at me. She was holding a fresh faced curly haired young child in her arms. The cover of “Women in the Mines: Stories of Life and Work” by Marat Moore caught my eye, mind and heart. 

There is probably no moment more pertinent to this book than today. Flip to any news source and you'll hear stories of sexual misconduct in the workplace, and public figures resigning and being fired for inappropriate and illegal acts. In wake of the number of cases of sexual harassment that have come into the public light, and the rise of the #MeToo movement, I realized now is exactly the time to write about women in the mines. Women who endured, persevered and disrupted. Misconduct is rampant, in nearly every workplace, and so too, in the mines.  

Moore writes about the 1970s coal boom, and an increase of good paying jobs accompanied by affirmative action policies which led to an insurgence of women in the mines over the next decade. According to West Virginia records of new hires, women represented .0015% of new coal miners hired in 1973. In 1989, they represented 8.1% of new hires, a growth of nearly 5400% in 16 years (Moore, 331).

Moore relays oral histories from those women who worked in the mines. There are varied stories of different attitudes that women experienced, but sexual harassment at a minimum was consistent. Talk about workplace conduct-  Can you imagine what it must have felt like to be in an underground mine, literally trapped beneath the earth in soot and fume filled conditions for hours on end? Underground coal mining is laborious, dangerous work in particularly unsound working conditions. Unwanted sexual advances or abuse is horrific in any work place. Combine the two and the situation looks bleak. Sexual advances in the coal seam, a male dominated, tightly constrained environment, presents a new perspective of workplace challenges that are multifaceted, pervasive and, in some cases, as suffocating as the seams themselves.

A Men’s club, reinforced

Men behaved poorly and blatantly crossed boundaries, and women were on the receiving end. One woman recounted how her superiors had drilled holes in the women's bathhouse to watch the women as they changed clothing. This was after they fought to get a bathhouse and portable potties in the first place.

On any given night many women would stay up in the evening to be with their children, drive sometimes hours to get to the mine and work the overnight shift.  One woman recounts how men drew images of her in the underground coal mine, and how she suddenly became aware of her big bust which she had never been aware of before. Another woman recalls how moved to the community and was excited to work in the mines. However, she was taken aback by the stigma of being a woman coal miner, and the outright hate that she faced. Even the local priest spouted a sermon directed at her to reinforce a sense of shame and immorality around women in the mines. The women of the mines became a common scapegoat-  men and non-mining women would spew rhetoric we still hear today.  "They’re taking our jobs," the jobs of fathers, brothers and husbands.  There were accidents in the mines that were  intentional acts (see photo with quote below from an African American female miner), but reported as accidents. There was a double standard for women who chose to take legal action. If women reported claims to the union,  all of a sudden they were considered a "union sister," who betrayed the institution. They continued to be shamed, harassed or attacked for reporting on a fellow “union brother." 

"They would take my bucket, or my jacket, and they would put them in a hangman's noose, to give me a message. ....I found out later he was planning to run me down and make it look like an accident" (Moore 131).

The Good fight- Mechanisms & getting crafty

There were some really bad stories. 

Still, one woman saw the overnight mining shift as a better option to support her family compared to working two or three jobs to barely make ends meet. While many women didn’t last very long in the mines, either due to serious injuries from accidents (unintentional or intentional), there were some women who worked up to 15 years underground. And they found some mechanisms for fighting harassment.

Some of the women miners found utility in women outside of the mines, women that did have an impact on the men’s lives: their colleague's wives. One woman threatened to tell a fellow miner's wife they were having an affair if the harassment continued, which was effective at shutting him up. Another called a wife directly who got through to her husband about the harassment and he ultimately refrained.

 Allies-

1.     Friends in the Mines- Supporters on the Job

Some men were protective and served as kind, true friends. At one mine whenever images were drawn of a woman miner, one African American male miner would rush to get down first and erase them before she arrived. I can only guess his actions were driven by a true understanding of what it meant to be a victim of hate and discrimination, but he was still in a position to help. Today he would be what we would consider an ally.

Another woman recalls:

“’I was surprised, because the old-timers took care of me and I had trouble with the young ones. Everybody told me it would be the old-timers who would give me a rough time because they didn’t want women in the mine. But they put me under their wing and took care of me. I think they were raised to take care of women.’”

2.    Family- male relatives that also worked in the mines

Having a brother, father or cousin working at the same mine helped to stop or minimize harassment. In some cases fights broke out when a miner would come to a woman's defense. 

Legal mechanisms & Support- 

I was excited to see legal action discussed and taken through multiple channels. Women miners joined the union, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and took up proceedings against fellow union members. This had mixed success.

Women also bound together to start supporting each other. Some miners gained the confidence to take ownership of their positions in the mines and speak up. Betty Jean Hall founded and directed the Coal Employment Project (CEP).  A 1978 NYTimes article entitled "Feminist Group Assails Coal Industry" discuss how Appalachian women sought out coal mining jobs, and found solace in the CEP support group. 

“At CEP conferences, women miners found emotional support and developed concrete strategies to combat the problem.  Coal Employment Project CEP surveyed women on their experiences of harassment and successful ways to respond, ad published guidelines for legal and contractual remedies” (Moore, xliii)

In one account a woman describes her behavior transformation. She described herself as a "nice girl"  who was likable and hard working in the mines for the first five years of the job.  During that time she was taken advantage of, given the shitty jobs, and generally speaking "walked all over." And then she decided to start saying how she felt, thinking for herself, and showing them up in exams. She used her knowledge instead of hiding it and gained credentials to back the "newfound outspokenness." Her outspokenness, conviction and sense of self enabled her to survive mentally in the position. She was able to put in her decades in the mines, working 15 underground.

today

We still have work to do on changing attitudes and creating an inclusive supportive culture in workplaces. A culture in which men respect women, and are not threatened by them. Where men enable and support women where they can, especially in situations where are they powerful and entitled. 

Women are writing their own workplace guides, both aimed at behavior by women and men.  The NYtimes now has a gender editor, Jessica Bennett, who is author of  "Feminist Fightclub: A Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace." (Buy it here; A percentage of your purchase will support Electric America). 

This topic has been the theme of conversations among all my closest friends. And I've started talking to both the  men and women in my life about how gender norms such as the idea that the male is the aggressor, and even outright sexism, is learned and embodied.  That conversation is a starting point for how we can unlearn it, and adopt and act on different principles. 

Compared to the 1980s,  there are probably more allies and stronger legal mechanisms today on the whole. But not in all places. You better believe that an environment with predominantly one race or gender can feel as stifling as a coal mine.  The oil and gas industries have been reported as less diverse the tech industry. Blaire Briody shares crude realities of her time as a reporter in a North Dakota oil boom town in 2017.  Yet others  have persevered and felt  as the Women in the Mines did- that the economic opportunity outweighs the negatives.

Do you consciously think that your office is sexist? Probably not. We're not really conditioned to recognize and discuss it. But often times when diversity is lacking, prejudice finds space to breed.   Even if you don't think it's a sexist work place, if there too many men and not enough women or other voices, especially in positions of power, it probably has those tendencies. A mentor once said to me “Diversity is extremely important in every scenario: in your boardroom, your investment portfolio, and in your energy basket." 

Talking about and seeing energy field- coal mines, oil or gas wells, rooftops or wind farms, is a good place to start.

Finding allies, legal mechanisms, and cultivating diversity, and then letting those support systems give people the conviction to have hard conversations is how we move forward.

To read the complete stories of the Women in the Mines, and gain some new perspective on an age old theme, pick up a copy of Women in the Mines: Stories of Life and Work here (A percentage of your purchase will support Electric America).

I leave you with this from the inside cover of the book:

Coal Mining woman – a song by Hazel Dickens, an activist for miners’ rights.

“I’ve got the woman coal miner blues

Just like you, I’ve got the right to choose

A job with decent pay, a better chance to make my way

And if you can’t stand by me, don’t stand in way.”

We must work together to change the things that’s wrong.

For better conditions, we’ve waited much too long.

Health and Safety have to be a first priority,

And the change can only come through you and me.

Yes the change can only come through you and me.”

What are your thoughts? Are there stronger protections today? Is sexism emboldened?  Comment below.  Also.. did anyone see this?

What's Going on with Coal?!

Some say it’s down for the count. The current presidential administration stands firmly behind the industry. But all roads point to the neon sign- the coal heyday is behind us.

“From the Ashes,” a film distributed by National Geographic Documentary Films, and produced by Radical Media with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival Wednesday, April 26, 2017. It turns a spotlight toward the American coal industry and current trends at a time when coal is at the center of a national debate about how to manage America’s industrial decline. The film weaves together the tales of coal miners, community members affected by toxic air and water from coal pollution, and on-the-ground activists. It portrays a comprehensive portrait of the industry’s effect on local economic and environmental conditions.

One of the central questions in the debate is addressed upfront- why the decline? And it was a quick answer- it’s not economical to produce power using coal; natural gas is cheaper.  The greatest “attack” on the coal industry is the natural gas industry. The competition from gas with the advent of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), and increasingly efficient rigs, challenged the coal industry, and moved natural gas to the number one fuel for producing electricity in U.S.  Coupled with increasing awareness of the public health effects, and leadership from government , environmental groups, and even energy companies, the landscape of how electricity is produced in the United States has changed drastically in the last five years. 

Most energy companies have decided that the investment required to update coal plants to meet air quality standards is better spent converting the plants to natural gas power plants. Other coal plants have simply been decommissioned altogether. Natural gas is cheaper, cleaner burning, and on the rise for electricity production.

Coal still provides around 30% of the country’s power, according to 2016 EIA data, behind natural gas at 33%. But if we’re talking about rapid decline, many industries have been hit by competitive technology and mechanization of production. The retail sector has lost 18 times as many jobs as the coal industry since 2001. So why so much attention?

1.     Poignant, Historic American story

Well, for starters, retailers did not work in dangerous, dirty coal mines to electrify the country for a century, and they certainly did not die trying. The social, economic and historical legacy is strong, and the country, and coal companies, owe the miners. Michael Bloomberg has stated the “profits have been privatized and the costs socialized,” in reference to the coal industry. A string of coal giants have declared bankruptcy and have attempted to relieve themselves of their obligations to the workers. The miners are often left without pensions, healthcare, and jobs. And we, as energy consumers are “connected through the plug.”

2.     Coal Central, a Singular Economy

The areas that are most affected by the decline in coal mining and plant shutdowns are concentrated areas of coal and only coal. There is no diversity of industry. Coal companies intentionally became the only game in town. For decades the coal companies convinced miners and local governments that it was best this way, and to be grateful for the jobs and economic activity. Coal was proudly, and intentionally, the only industry. With plant closures and layoffs, the workers are left to face the financial and health challenges of being embedded in the coal economy.

3.     All or Nothing, Deep Roots

Similar to a farming town, there is family tradition, pride, community, and an entire social fabric around coal and the electricity it produces.  In the town of Sunbury Pennsylvania, instead of a ball, they drop a light bulb on NYE. To coal miners who have been working in the mines for 30 years, it doesn’t matter that there are 800,000 jobs in the low carbon economy (and growing- solar employment grew by 25% in 2016 and wind by 32%), and far more economic and healthful opportunity. Coal-powered electricity and associated jobs are what they have known, and for good and for bad, everything is wrapped up in it.  The water sources and the air are affected by it. Coal-related health problems are particularly prevalent in those areas. And the cultural symbols and traditions, demographics, daily schedule, and general way of life were built around the coal boom. Roots are hard to pull up when the center of your economic life is also the center of your life.

4.     A Transition is a Transition, and Nobody Likes Change

Despite all the talk, transitions are costly and these communities are not getting the resources they need. There are some amazing organizations that are providing jobs and training to former coal miners. A West Virginia native, Brandon Dennison, is incubating small businesses in the Appalachia region with the Coalfield Development Corporation. President Obama had designated funding for diversification and workforce transition programs through Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative (which Trump's proposed budget would cut). But they are still fundamentally underfunded.

Coal isn’t the first industry to experience a decline, however. In the case of tobacco, the government, using fees levied on tobacco companies, paid tobacco workers as the industry transitioned back to the free market after decades of government quotas. The paper and timber industries have slowed. Technology is replacing jobs in all spheres- on assembly lines, in grocery stores, and in print houses. But the fact that the communities are suffering and it’s a life-altering transition for them warrants, or at least helps to explain, the outcry.

The coal community is an affected and vulnerable population, which is why President Trump focused on garnering a support base there. His promises to “bring back” the coal industry and put coal miners “back to work,” draw attention to a small group of people who were critical to the country’s progress, who have been by and large unsupported during the industry’s decline, and who would like to hold on to what they know for as long as they can.

Moving on from Coal

But the truth of the matter is that coal is a “20th century fuel.” It is no longer financially sensible to produce electricity using coal, with or without increased regulations. Lawsuits using the Clean Air Act have affected what types of coal we get from which mines and which plants remain operable (the most egregious offenders with outdated technology are more easily shutdown). But market forces ultimately have contributed the fuel’s decline. Solar and wind, along with battery technology, are advancing. Electricity demand in the U.S. is relatively stagnant. Natural gas put a pin in it.

When you hear talk about coal, know there are deep rooted economic and environmental forces and legacies at play. Today it’s a small industry, a shell of what it was.  Coal miners need the support of the people who have consumed the power for decades. 

But also recognize the shift away from coal is a shift forward.

There are 20 deaths from coal pollution each day, and fewer coal plants and mines means a more healthy population.  As Mary Anne Hitt, Director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, states “There has not been a more exciting time to watch how electricity is produced in America since the industrial revolution.”  Empathizing and supporting affected communities, diversifying local economies and power supply, and adapting with changing circumstances is how we progress and is how we build a truly Electric America.  

 To support affected populations, visit https://www.crowdrise.com/fromtheashesfilm.

 “From the Ashes,” premieres on National Geographic on June 25th, 2017.

www.fromtheashesfilm.com

Additional Information:

Coal Transition &  Bankruptcies:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/nations-largest-coal-mining-company-files-for-bankruptcy-protection 

https://thinkprogress.org/coal-communities-trump-budget-6b74acddaa46

http://www.coalfield-development.org

https://thinkprogress.org/coal-communities-trump-budget-6b74acddaa46

Tobacco Transition

http://info.ncagr.gov/blog/2013/12/31/todays-topic-tobacco-transition-payment-program-coming-to-an-end/

Decline in Jobs & Power Production

https://www.eia.gov/coal/annual/

https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/17/opinion/why-dont-all-jobs-matter.html?_r=0

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/31/8-surprisingly-small-industries-that-employ-more-people-than-coal/?utm_term=.915b3fdc62dc

Shut the Front Door- For Businesses in NYC, it’s Illegal Not To

It is a sunny day in early April, warm enough to work up a sweat walking up the subway stairs.  I strolled into the local McDonald’s by the Essex Street station to get a vanilla ice cream cone. As I opened the door, I came across something I hadn’t seen before, let alone at a McDonald’s- a notice from NYC to keep the door shut while the AC is running. McDonald’s promoting energy efficiency and conservation?! I was stunned.  After reading the notice, I realized that in NYC per Local Law 38 businesses with active cooling systems must close their windows and doors, and it’s been the case since 2008. (see photo of sticker below).

When Local Law 38 was enacted in 2008, it applied to businesses over 4,000 SF running an AC or space cooling system; in 2015, that law was updated to apply to all commercial establishments.

Like many other laws, it counts on NYC residents to enforce rather than actual city officials, and this sticker told me how to do so; I can call 311 number to report a case.  If only this applied at the household level - I’m sure my dad would have a field day reporting me.   I immediately called him to share what I had found.

I was excited by the educational tidbit. The Long Island Power Authority  has estimated that open doors lead to between 20-25% increase in  energy demand, which as discussed in my post, The Simple Energy Story- 7 Things You Don't Think About When You Turn on The Lights , leads to higher peaks and more power plants to provide that peak power. Letting in warm air and out cold air means higher spikes and a grid that is strapped for resources. It also increases energy bills for the businesses.

 Many stores have cited that the AC blowing out into the sidewalks encourages shoppers to stroll in, and promotes a welcoming, open environment. The law creates an even playing field for pulling in customers to their conditioned spaces. We all know it’s going to be cool inside, just not how cool exactly. Without the refreshing sidewalk breeze to immediately entice us to the specific store it’s coming from, we can make out own decisions of where we want to shop. Estimates showing the value of luring in customers with the cold air versus shelling out the money in energy costs are difficult to calculate because you don’t know who was actually enticed by the AC. However, Steve Winters Associates, a building consulting firm, has stated that for a 5,000 SF store, it could mean an extra $1,000 on their energy bill.  That’s a high price for some additional foot traffic.

The jury is still out on how effective the law is. The Natural Resources Defense Council conducted a survey in 2015, NYC Businesses Still Blasting Their Air Conditioners with Doors Open, after the first round ofstores were subject to the law but before the law’s extension. It found that 1 in 5 of the buildings left their doors open during the summer and ran their AC.  I haven’t seen an updated survey updated; data will likely come out this summer. In the meantime, I’ll continue to look out for the stickers.

I would be remiss not to mention just how much electricity we use for cooling. Buildings are cooled year-round, even in the winter because of server rooms and other equipment that cannot get too hot. The Huffington Post quoted Indian Prime Minister Modi on New York energy use: “Midtown Manhattan has more energy use than the whole country of Kenya, and New York state uses more energy than all of sub-Saharan Africa” (New York City Energy: Interactive Map Shows Appetite for Power).  That speaks both to the demand in NYC, including commercial buildings, individual apartments with AC units per person and per space,  and to level of electrification and industrialization in Africa.  One thing’s for certain- we have become extremely reliant on mechanical climate control. The shift from outdoor to indoor, from passive to active, natural to mechanical is everywhere.  No one discusses this better than Ana Swanson in How America fell in love with crazy amounts of air conditioning.

I don’t foresee this changing. Even if we have started eating with the seasons, dressing for the seasons and lowering our AC is a different beast and unlikely. At least we have McDonald’s and the City of New York to remind us to use these mechanical systems and associated natural resources wisely. After all, we can’t always have ice cream to keep us cool.

Good reads:

Bill de Blasio just banned all businesses from blasting A/C on New York's sidewalks

90 Degrees + A.C. + Open Doors = Hamptons Energy Policy?

Council Would Fine Stores if They Cool the Sidewalks