Braxton's Relationship to the Mine Workers Union

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The United Mine Workers of America has again accomplished the impossible. They've been able to gain very high wages and good benefits for their workers over time. We have made new gains. We have benefited all labor. And we have benefited all citizens who live under our flag. Braxton: I learned so much from the generation that built and started those coal mines.

For more than 500 days, coal miners in rural Alabama have been on strike. Around 900 workers walked off the job in April 2021, and they haven’t been back since.

As the strike drags on, the miners are discovering that neither political party is willing to fight for them.

For Braxton Wright, 39, a second-generation coal miner and, until recently, a Republican, the experience has altered his view of American politics.

Guest: Michael Corkery, a business reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading:

To make ends meet, some striking coal miners in Alabama have picked up work at an Amazon warehouse. It’s the same one where workers have tried to unionize.

For more information on today’s episode, visit

nytimes.com/thedaily

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