WEST VIRGINIA -USA
|
 |
This is a coal mine in West Virginia. Before the miners organized their unions in the 1930's they weren't paid with money. They were paid with special coins or "script" that could only be spent at a store run by the company. These company stores charged whatever they wanted, almost always too much. But because the miners had no other money they couldn't shop anywhere else. They quickly found themselves in debt to the store and weren't allowed to leave their jobs until the debt was paid. The miners were like slaves of the company. It was very unfair, so the miners formed unions and went on strike shutting down the mining company's business.Most of the earth's coal was formed 70 million years ago. Coal comes from huge prehistoric swamps which rotted and compacted. These swamps were then covered by the oceans and sand and silt covered them. Then the oceans subsided and the land was pushed up into mountains. It is really this pressure and heat that combine to turn the plants into coal. Coal is burned to generate electricity.
