"Ruby, come on in here." "How ya doin' Aunt Melva?" "I can't even spit, my bones are so tired." "It's backbreaking." "So what'll it be this morning?" "Deuteronomy or the swap meet?" "What do you feel like?" "I ain't doin' this for my health." "Well..." "I have been lookin' for a deal on a toaster." "All righty." "Let's see here." "Here's a chicken coop for sale." "Twenty-five dollars." "Is that with or without chickens I wonder?" "I ain't got room for no more chickens." "A four-poster bed with only one post, okay shape, $40." "Now, there's a deal for you and Silas." "Ain't your ten years comin' up?" "I don't have room for other post in my bedroom." "One's more 'n enough." "Oh Lord." "What would I do without you, Ruby?" "Uh, dance a jig on the table, die of sheer boredom I suppose." "Let me see my boy!" "My husband's workin' down there..." "Silas Kincaid." "My daddy's Tug Jones, he's number 105." "I need to talk to Silas." "What you want?" "We'll take it easy on you tomorrow." "Give you outside jobs." "'Cause you are one of our best." "Gilly I'm pretty god damn shook up." "Don't wanna lose no time buddy." "You need to show folks it's best is to climb right back on." "Don't let no fear demons get in the way of doing a good job." "You all have a good night now." "Silas!" "Silas!" "Help me!" "Silas." "Silas." "It's okay." "Hey Kincaid." "Hey." "Hey you're on company property." "I wanna talk to you." "You hear about a UMWA mine worker tryin' to organize 'round here?" "Yeah I heard it." "Mining ain't took all my hearin' yet." "Well then I'll speak plainly." "We hear you've been handin' out union cards on your shift." "Yes sir." "I got some ri'cheer in my bucket." "Want one?" "Here, one for..." "You know just because we told you we needed you... doesn't mean you can do whatever the fuck you want." "Look-it, I come back to work the day after..." "I nearly got killed." "Alright, I watched that boy Dewey die." "Keep it up and you don't work here no more." "Ranger troops today surrounded the Macon Delta..." "Buddy eat your supper." "You mind me." "You wanna be a pencil neck all your life?" "Come on." "Silas." "You spare some fatback?" "Right in there." "I'm gonna buy that compressor." "I can sand blast..." "I can spray paint." "I can do body work on the side." "What you think you're gonna buy?" "Will you?" "I give ya a side job..." "Thanks Ruby." "Bye-bye." "Fix the hot plate." "It cooled on me again." "You okay Daddy?" "Come on to bed, Ruby." "Ruby come on." "Don't that machine drive you crazy?" "Nothin' ever bothers me." "Hey, try this on." "Come on now, you're about the Darnell boy's size." "You are a sorry lookin' man in a uniform." "That union organizer's fixin' to come down here." "He'll be here in a couple of days." "We could move to Detroit any time and you could work in a factory." "No." "I thought we agreed to drop that?" "Besides I get homesick for misery, muddy water and low coal." "You wouldn't like city life neither." "I can walk down to the store 10 o'clock at night and buy... me a beer and read a movie magazine if I wanted to." "And that's your idea of high living?" "You can go to the KMart get yourself a seventeen-cent hot fudge sundae." "Come on." "Lookin' at your X-rays, my examination, my best advice is... that you should quit mining." "You don't need me to tell you, you have shortness of breath." "You wake up at night with difficulty breathing." "These are all symptoms of second stage black lung." "I've seen 15 miners this month with the exact same condition." "If you keep working pneumonoconiosis will progress more rapidly." "You have the right to work in a dust-free area without loss of pay." "How long will it take to get my disability?" "I'm not a lawyer, Tug." "I can refer you to a professional." "Sometimes initial consultation..." "Just tell me how long, Doc." "A year." "Two years maybe." "During which time you wouldn't be able to work of course." "I can't afford that." "Not if my lungs is black, pink, or polka dot." "Meeting tonight, discuss a contract... and the tragedy that happened last week." "Come to the union meeting." "Meeting tonight." "Discuss a contract." "There's a meeting tonight." "Discuss a contract." "'Bout time you got here, Bud." "I'm Warren Jakopovich." "Organizer for the UMWA." "Yes sir, UMWA's back in Harlan." "I'm Tug Jones." "This is my boy Floyd." "Good to meet ya." "Son-in-law Silas Kincaid." "He's been tryin' to organize Brookside." "Very good." "Good to see ya." "You got you a place to stay?" "Yeah I'm at the motel." "Thank you very much." "Escort this gentleman off our property." "Who are you, sir?" "Nelms Hatton." "Mine foreman." "You're on company property, and this ain't no communist property." "You better get on outta here." "Don't let 'em intimidate you." "See you men tonight." "Well let's see here." "Silas made a $147 this week." "His wages is droppin'." "You keepin' him awake all night, Ruby?" "Wouldn't you like to know all about it." "Nothin' to put down?" "Let's see..." "Buddy got doctored." "It took all our money." "Silas told me he worked six hours overtime." "Huh." "Where?" "Hm." "It ain't here on his card." "And they had to shut down for half a day when them fellas died." "Lost a little time there." "You got rent, electric groceries." "Y'all oughta catch up some." "You just see about that overtime." "Afternoon, m'am." "I'm from the UMWA." "My daddy and my husband's off over there workin' their shift now." "Well you got a minute?" "I'm not doing my job unless I speak to at least one new person a day." "Mrs..." "Kincaid." "Any chance of you getting involved in the union yourself, Mrs. Kincaid?" "I'm sure not in no hurry to." "What are you, dizzy?" "Last union rep we had over around here his name was Clarence." "d he used to sit his fancy suited rear on the courthouse steps with his gold plated watch and diamond ring." "Yup, that was a corrupt crowd." "Corrupt's a nice word for him." "He took payments up in the mountains to keep the unions off the mines." "Well we kicked that crowd out." "The union is now run by..." "They took our hospital card when my Mamma got sick." "My daddy's got the black lung." "See, you're not alone." "We can help with that." "It's political." "We gotta deal..." "with what's going on at Brookside..." "They voted the union in and you're gonna take the money and skedaddle..." "Well it seems to me like you're talkin' the company line, m'am." "You watch what you say." "I hate that company." "But you can't never change the way things is done here." "So you're just gonna sit around, let the company do what they want?" "Sit around?" "I got fifteen jars of beans to put up today... laundry to wash... 20 buckets of water to haul from that little ol' spigot down the hill." "Got to clean a house that don't never get cleaned" "Cook up our supper, keep my youngins from falling down a mine pit." "And it'd tickle the heck outta me if you'd let me work." "Can I get you some water?" "No." "You can get off my porch." "It's like they say in the song." ""You gotta stand for something... or you fall for anything."" "I understand, it takes a lot of guts to fight." "You got your work." "I got mine." "Some day you're gonna ask yourself if you could've done something." "Instead of sweeping this saggy porch hauling water the rest of your life." "They was both crushed under the same rock." "Mickey and that boy Dewey." "Dewey was alive for about twenty minutes." "If they took that rock pile off of him, he would've bled to death." "All he asked for was a cigarette and to say goodbye to his girl... 'cause they was fixin'to get married." "She must be done in." "The inspectors ain't shut the mine, they must've thought it was safe." "Company cleaned up that rock pile before mine inspectors got there." "Well I ain't heard that." "It's a shame about them two boys." "There ain't much you can say... is there?" "'Cept they're with the Lord." "Or it was their hour." "You're worried about this here union, Ruby?" "Nah, I ain't worried." "Everybody knows you either work for their companies or you don't work." "I sure hope they don't go out on strike." "You think the dang union's gonna keep you alive." "I'd have hell a lot of better odds being dead down there." "I'd get a ton of rock over treaty." "I get a ton of rock on my chest." "You wouldn't get nothin'." "But with the union, you'd get a pension... 'til you met the next damn fool." "How much is the pension if you die?" "It's US$ 3,000 plus medical." "Huh, might be worth it." "But if you didn't die and just got mashed up, how much would I get... for havin' to keep your oxygen tank turned on?" "Why're you so damn bothered, woman?" "Nothin' never bothers me." "Will this union meeting come to order?" "This meeting needs to come to order." "Y'all need to shut up so we can start!" "Damn!" "Can I have your attention, please?" "My name is Warren Jakopovich." "I'm an organizer for... the United Mine Workers of America." "The company's made it clear they're not willing to negotiate... for a contract." "As a starting place, I'd like to put a motion on the floor... to call a strike, to force them to negotiate." "Aren't we going to discuss this first?" "Thought this was a democratic union." "It is." "Shut up and sit down Floyd." "What's your name and your job?" "Floyd Jones, roof bolter." "If we go out on strike and we lose our houses, trucks, we're gonna... lose everything." "They got all the money in the world to fight us." "Floyd, why don't you shut up and let the man speak." "Somebody tries to steal food from my kid's mouth, I'd kill 'em." "My boy's got a right to speak!" "I'm all right, all right." "Keep them mitts to yourself." "You all right, son?" "Yeah." "It's nothin'." "Is this the way you normally conduct union business in Harlan?" "From now on, it's gonna change." "Save your anger to fight the company." "Everybody, could you move a little closer please?" "I don't wanna shout." "Let's talk about that roof fall... and those two fellow workers who died." "I told the boss, man, that the top was bad." "He said it'd been inspected." "Inspected my ass." "It's so bad even the rats stay away." "They knew it weren't safe." "And they worked all day long." "I told 'em we oughta shut it down and see if it ain't broke up there." "And that thirteen-karat asshole Leroy Gilly told me I better shut... my mouth, get back to work or get my bucket and get on home." "It ain't right them men died." "There weren't enough roof bolts to hold up that roof." "They don't give a damn about us." "As long as they got coal comin' fast out of that mountain." "They're sayin' now it's Mother Nature caused that fall." "It's money what done it." "With the union you'll have a safety committee." "You'll have say when it's unsafe." "And you'll have to say... when to shut it down to make it safe." "That's when you get drunken miners shutting' everything down 'cause... they're hung over or in a bad mood that day." "You shut it down you don't get paid, you'd better have a good reason." "You men want what every miner wants:" "Safety, decent wage, job security." "Portal to portal pay." "It's good that you're used to hard work because this won't be easy." "You're 180 men against the 6th largest utility company... in this country." "Alfred Ramsay the president of Duke Power... reported 90 million in profits last year." "Did they pass any of this vast wealth down to you?" "Do they even pay taxes here in Eastern Kentucky... so you can have decent schools for your kids?" "Hell no." "They'd rather kill you than do it right." "And they sure as hell don't want a union down here... looking out for your interests." "They've got a leg up here in Harlan." "They've been bustin' the union since the thirties." "How're we gonna beat Duke Power?" "I mean let's be realistic." "We strike, Pennington'll blackball asses, hire scabs throw us in jail." "They got the courts, police, newspapers." "Thing's bad now, it could be a lot worse." "He's paid to be a rabble rouser." "That's right." "I am a rabble rouser." "I'm here to fight... the status quo that I think everyone agrees stinks." "The UMWA will be backing you men up with strike checks every week... as long as you pull picket duty." "A hundred week per family." "For how long?" "As long as it takes." "Now I think we all need to pull together now, trust each other." "You have to trust each other." "Trust each other... like you have to down in the mine." "Don't quit 'til every ton of coal that come out that ground... is union coal." "That's right." "The union ain't gonna sell us down the river like they done before?" "'Cause this is a different union." "This is the first true rank and file union in this country." "And what matters is not what happens in Washington, but out here." "You don't have to work under any contract that you don't vote on... and ratify." "Well who's gonna be here to fight alongside of us?" "Me." "Who the hell are you?" "I'm a third generation miner." "My father and grandfather worked... in the deep mines in Poland, and in Coal City, Illinois." "And right behind me are 120,000 miners across this country... backing me up, and backing you up!" "I put a motion on the floor to call a strike." "All in favor say aye." "Aye." "Against?" "Nay." "The ayes carry it." "We can start handing out strike benefits as soon as you sign up... for picket duty and elect some picket captains." "Y'all!" "Y'all!" "We're takin' up a collection here by the door... for Micky Bogg's widow and Dewey Pillion's kin, all right?" "By the door on your way out." "Want some paper money in here." "Hey Jakopovich, this here's my brother Kermit." "He was four years a miner before he got mashed up." "He run a grocery store now." "You got a piece, Jakopovich?" "If I was you, I'd keep my gun in my pocket... so everyone can see it." "That's the deal." "Now see here what comes from drinkin'." "Anyone could do whatever... they wanted to your daddy and papaw." "Even pee on 'em?" "No we can't pee on 'em." "Now you go get dressed or else." "Daddy, Silas!" "Time to get up." "Come on out this mornin', support the miners gettin' a union contract." "Don't let's go back to the way it was." "Let's show... the company we're standing here on two feet here in Harlan." "Support the miners at Brookside gettin' a union contract." "You're Ford or Chevy man?" "Chevy." "Here they come!" "Let's turn 'em back for Mickey and Dewey." "Get them scabs outta here!" "I picked you some mushmelons." "Come on in Ruby." "Can't hardly move today." "My rheumatism's got such a bad hold of me." "I'll fix you up some cherry bark tea, Aunt Melva." "So how y'all doin'?" "Meaner than a red-headed stepchil'." "The men are fixin' to stay out... 'til they get theirselves a contract." "All the coal operators in Eastern Kentucky is agin 'em." "How are they gonna win?" "What are we gonna live on?" "Strike benefits?" "I got my man's pension." "You could eat here." "Hell, we're family, ain't we?" "You won't be sayin' that... when we eat ya out of house and home." "Some union organizer come a-knockin' on my door... tryin' to get me involved in the strike." "Can you believe that?" "Oh he looked just like some ol' skunk dragging' hisself... across our yard." "Snufflin' around in the bushes." "We ain't got a chance to win this thing." "With this latest report, let's go now to..." "Give me my gum!" "Sh-sh." "Hang on, hang- ho." "...Brookside Mining Company's refusal to honor... their request for a union contract." "All right, all right!" "Baby, we're on the TV!" "Round this time of year your mamma'd climb the hollers... pickin' wild greens." "When time's lean we used to pick coal off the slagheap... carry it home on our backs." "Boy, that was a rough sonofabitch." "I know, Daddy." "You and Silas are awaiting' me to come on down... to the picket line I ain't goin'." "I don't want no part of it." "Don't you get it, Ruby?" "The union's the good guys." "If the union done right by us..." "Mamma'd be with her grandkids today, right now." "They was sheep-killin' dogs." "And Boyle was a dictator." "I spoke out against him, he took away the hospital card to punish me." "Boyle and his henchmen, they all sittin'in jail." "This is a brand new deal." "Maybe." "Maybe the new boss will screw us and treat us bad, win or lose." "You know we've been coal miners in this family since way back yonder." "Pretty good life." "Get a contract, it'll be better." "What's really gonna change, Daddy?" "Your mamma, she felt like me, she's real strong for the union." "Well I guess I ain't as good as Mamma." "You're a good girl, Ruby." "Yeah he was there." "He was pretty aggressive that first day." "Who's that, Newell?" "Yeah." "I want you to cut 'em off and evict 'em." "Hire anybody who'll work." "Keep production up." "Make these union people see they haven't got a chance." "Sorry Ruby, no goods today." "I'm cut off?" "That's right." "$3,75 for Aunt Jemima." "I'm sure gonna be missin' me the bargains in here." "Silas is makin' a mistake." "He's gonna lose his job." "Where're you gonna live?" "You know I'm gonna have to evict ya." "You try it, Udell, so I can use that eviction notice for toilet paper." "Mrs. Kincaid, could you come here a minute please?" "You know, if Silas was smart... he'd come on back to work and the rest of the men would follow." "Why would they do that?" "He ain't no different than the rest... just a poor workin' man." "Tell you what." "I'll make him a supervisor at a dollar more an hour." "Now that's good money." "You tell him, I'll take good care of him." "Now I know he cares about you and the kids, Ruby." "Why is Silas makin' such a foolish choice?" "Mr. Pennington, I guess my husband took just about all he could take." "That's why God give us tongues. lf it don't taste right, spit it out." "I'm real sorry to hear about his attitude, m'am." "You can... give your husband this." "This is the first time I can remember the belts is stopped." "Thought you wasn't gonna come down here." "I just come on over to deliver this." "Set awhile, Ruby." "I'm too mad to set." "What you mad for?" "Company's threatening' to push us off this hill and they cut us off at the store." "They cut us off?" "Go on down to Boxley's place." "He'll give you credit." "So what's this?" "First Pennington offered you a suck job and a raise." "And what'd you tell him?" "I told him we weren't for sale." "And this here says you're fired." "Union ain't gonna let him get away with that kind of deal." "Where's all the shootin'?" "Well, it's right over there." "Well show 'em your pearlies." "We are preparing, in a nonviolent, peaceful manner, to get jobs back." "Y'all work here?" "Or used to." "Well, yeah." "We used to." "What we gonna do this summer, Mamma?" "Can we go down the pickle line?" "The pickle line?" "I'm gonna pickle you and eat you alive." "Come on, let's go see Aunt Melva." "See who gets there first." "You still got them hogs?" "Where you keep 'em penned at?" "ln a holler a little further up the creek." "My hogs, when they root, they're rootin' for the UMWA." "Here they come." "Come on boys." "Let's turn these scabs around!" "All right, folks step aside now." "Let these boys through." "Get on back there!" "Move on!" "Go!" "Gilly's in there!" "Let's get him!" "Get the hell away from my truck." "The next man touches it, I'm gonna hammer back on." "Well you ain't gonna hammer on me you scab son of a bitch." "Fuck you." "I ain't no scab." "You transporting' scabs... that makes you a scab." "Come on out that truck." "You better back off." "Son of a bitch." "No storm trooper's gonna bulldog me!" "That's my daddy!" "That is my daddy!" "You leave him alone!" "Son of a bitch." "Let's send these scabs home!" "You are enjoined from carrying a weapon... obstructing the entrance or exit to the Brookside property... trespassing and harassing', assaulting, cursing or otherwise... threatening violence." "Subject to the above restraints, you may not have... more than three men at the Brookside entrance." "These men shall be sober, good behavior and mind." "Don't you think you got yourself a little conflict of interest here..." "Judge Harris?" "I mean, We now worked for your coal mine." "And this here is obviously coal operated justice." "You know it." "Sir, if you're all gonna be crackin' my people in the head..." "I'm gonna by God carry my gun." "And in the State of Kentucky... it is my right to carry a gun in my pocket if I want to." "Silence in the court." "If I see any of you in violation of this court order... you're going to jail with a stiff fine." "Court's adjourned." "Papaw, aren't you afraid of goin' back to that picket line?" "I ain't scared of nothin' Lucinda." "What if they shoot you dead?" "Well... they can kill you but they can't eat you." "You know next time it's not gonna be a little misdemeanor charge... for disturbing the peace, it's gonna be a full-on felony." "The law's handed down for the rich ones with money, not for workin men." "Now us ol' heads remember when the state patrols, the National Guard... and company gun thugs come up here in the thirties." "We won our battle then, we'll win it now." "I'm gonna violate the injunction." "lnjunction were made to be violated." "Is n't that right Mr. Organizer?" "Well, everybody knows you can't win a strike... if you can't shut the mine down." "Three men on the picket line isn't gonna stop anything." "Hey, Warren, I'd like you to meet my wife." "This is Ruby." "Warren Jakopovich." "It must be hard sittin' on the sidelines... watching your men get worked over by the company, huh?" "I didn't see you in there trading' swings." "I can't get busted hitting' a cop or doin' anything illegal." "What makes you so special?" "They'll go after the union treasury for millions when the strike's over." "Huh." "Just for bustin' the law in the head?" "Yep, just for bustin' the law in the head." "Give a damn!" "Do the dishes and put kids to bed?" "You told him just like that?" "Just like that." "Dillard'd drop his dentures if I said that." "I'm just borrowing' some pinto beans from you, right?" "Right-right." "Now what?" "I don't know." "You know I think I better go." "I can't do this by myself." "Are you with me or not Mary?" "I've never done anything like this." "Me neither." "You know what we look like here?" "Andrew Sisters?" "A pair of damn floozies." "Speak for yourself." "If Dillard saw me here..." "I'm goin'." "Go 'head, I'll do it myself." "Okay, all right." "I can't do it on my own, Mary." "Hi Ruby." "Mary isn't it?" "What can I do for you?" "You can open up the door to your motel room for starters." "Part of an organizer's job is accept a certain amount of disorganization." "We don't give a darn about your mess." "You can't win this strike with three men on the picket line." "Did you not say that at the birthday party?" "That's right." "But that injunction don't say nothin' about us." "Who?" "Us, Brookside women." "On the picket line." "We ain't union members." "Women on the picket line?" "There're not never been just women on the picket line." "That's a great idea." "Every coal miner's wife, daughter..." "We'll organize." "Got to speak out." "Lord they'll throw you in jail if you speak out." "Can you rent us a hall for tomorrow night, Jakopovich?" "Sure." "And don't you go sayin' you thought this up you li'l ol' self." "You hear?" "Well I hope there's enough seats for everybody." "We don't have too many of us here tonight." "And you know what?" "I can understand that because last union people... who come through here was a corrupt bunch." "But now they're a-settin' in jail." "This here is a whole new deal." "And if each of you pairs up and goes and brings another... to the picket line, all of us women... we could win this strike." "Now I know we've never done nothin' like this before." "It's always been men on the picket line." "With us standing' by." "But now we can stand instead of 'em." "Heck, I mean, we could make up our own club." "We've just not never done nothin' like this before." "I ain't personally sayin' the union's a direct gift from God... but I watched the company force my husband back to work... the day after he buried in that rock pile." "I watched the gun thugs... spit on my daddy." "I watched state troopers beat him up, beat my daddy." "I watched scabs take my men's jobs." "They've been treatin' us like this ever since I was a little girl." "I'm sick to death of being pushed around." "But I'm not gonna stand for it no more." "You kick an ol' dog long enough, he might turn around and bite ya." "I come up from Knoxville 'cause Ruby called me." "I knew her Mamma." "We went through the strikes together in the thirties... when this place was known as Bloody Harlan." "I stood by my husband on the picket line every day." "I got so mad what the big companies... and the gun thugs done." "I took an ol' song and I put some new words to it." "This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine" "This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine" "Down in Harlan County You don't cross that line" "Take your sign up And make up your mind" "This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine" "Down in Harlan County You don't cross that line" "Take your sign up And make up your mind" "What business do you have here?" "Well we're president and vice president... of the Brookside Women's Club." "What're your names?" "Martha Washington and Betsy Ross." "That's right." "Let's stop these scabs!" "Come on girls." "Lay down!" "Ruby, you can't do that." "What're you doin'?" "Anybody need help?" "I'm down already." "Here, just lay down." "Right on her little rear." "That'll be good." "All right, let's go." "They'll get tired of it." "What the hell is this?" "Fried hog brains." "You're kidding?" "Ain't you never had none?" "That's the worst thing I've tasted in my life." "I made it myself, Jakopovich." "It's a delicacy in these hills." "We prize it here." "You made it?" "So you're sayin' we must be idgits for liking' it so much?" "I gotta have a beer." "It's a dry county, Jakopovich." "Here." "I can't see." "Whoa, buddy." "Come on up here." "None of that now." "All right." "What is this?" "That moonshine made me blind." "Nobody told you to drink so much." "I can't believe you went and put yourself on TV Ruby." "What, don't ya think I look good?" "and the union are schedule to meet with a federal mediator... in Washington later this week." "Mine President Claude P. spoke to reporters at press conference." "Is it true Brookside miners live in homes with no indoor plumbing?" "That is true." "There is no indoor plumbing in our miners' houses." "But, we have plans to upgrade our people and..." "He really and truly thinks he owns us." "Happy anniversary." "Hi." "I made y'all a double ring quilt for your ten years." "That's real nice you did that Mary but today ain't our anniversary." "It ain't but for two weeks, right?" "It's the thought that counts." "All right." "Hi Floyd." "Let's have us a drink." "It's Sunday, Tug." "Go on, Jakopovich, you want one?" "Go on, have some." "Oh no-no, thank you..." "No, I'll stick to water from now on." "You don't wanna drink this here water." "You strain it and that black stuff comes out." "There's sulfur in it, it will slay." "I get you some RC cola." "I would like a drink of moonshine very well." "Here ya are." "Thank you." "Well here's to ten years, just about." "Here's to the next ten years bein' an improvement on the first ten." "Hey Daddy, can I go down to the picket line tomorrow?" "But you're gonna be there, Mamma." "I don't see why you and Lucinda... can't come on down and walk alongside your Mamma." "Here's to winning' the strike." "To winning." "To winning'." "Did you know our tenth was comin' up?" "I suppose you ain't got nothin' planned as usual?" "I got some things planned." "Like what?" "I was plannin' on play my guitar for you like I used to." "Remember?" "I don't know if I can remember." "I think the guitar strings is been broke since before Buddy was born." "I'm okay." "Virginia, how ya doin'?" "Hi Ruby." "You people need to clear this roadway now... or you'll be arrested for violatin' an injunction. lnciting to riot." "We're havin' a peaceful picket line." "Better get those kids outta here." "No we ain't moving'." "You're violating' our constitutional right to free assembly." "I got a mine to run." "I got men that wanna go to work!" "Ain't no work here for scabs." "Let's go, m'am." "Stay right here with me." "Stay right here." "Stay right here with me." "Are you enjoying' yourselves today?" "Come on in close, next to my legs." "Floyd get outta there." "I said get down from there!" "Come out of that truck, ya scabbin' turncoat." "Daddy what'd the union ever do 'cept starve us and break your heart?" "You done that on your own this time, Floyd." "Now come on!" "I'm tryin' to protect my family best I can." "The Lord said, thou shalt earn thy bread by the sweat of thy brow." "You ain't no son of mine!" "You ain't no son of mine!" "It's no use talkin' to him." "I got milks for the kids." "Is everyone okay?" "We ain't afraid." "Okay Ruby?" "Other than the fact I ain't never seen the inside of a jail before." "I'm a sittin' in one with my young uns and that Judge..." "Doyle Harris done give me a $500 fine." "Well hang loose, we'll get you out of here." "Is Silas coming down?" "If he ain't went somewhere." "This is great." "We're gonna take some pictures... put them in every newspaper across the country." "Take some pictures of you and your kids." "What for?" "It's for publicity." "It's good publicity, Ruby." "I got my kids here." "Well to take pictures of you and your kids in jail is the point." "Go ahead." "Come on." "I can't be babysittin' these younguns all day." "They're your own kids." "You never get to see 'em when you're workin'." "You're supposed to be home, Mary." "I'm here supporting' you." "It won't kill ya, Dillard." "Mrs. Gaw, can these younguns go on in?" "Children is free to visit their parents any time." "I have a temporary custody order to provide supervision for children." "No damn social worker's gonna get 'hold of my kids." "M'am, look around you." "Is this a suitable environment for children?" "Well it's got indoor plumbing here." "I cannot permit them to stay in jail." "I dare you to lay a hand on 'em." "Who do these children belong to?" "You're going to turn these children to the State D. of Public Welfare." "The parents is the prisoners, not the children." "I don't like to cuss in front of kids, you better god damn back off." "Buddy, come on, we're gettin' home." "The kids'll get out once I do." "If you minded me about goin' down Dialogue" "They stay with me." "Silas, we have a lawyer coming." "You back off." "I want the rest of these children outta here." "If I hear of this again they are going into foster homes." "I swore he'd never see a jailhouse." "Now you done made a liar of me!" "Come on, we'll take the Ball kids too." "Come on Junior." "Junior, come on!" "Come on." "How you girls doin'?" "Good." "Want a sandwich, Ruby?" "Put it on my leg." "Don't you worry now." "We'll settle this thing any day." "They got to sign on that dotted line." "It's lookin' kinda scarce out here today, Ruby." "We need to go knockin' on doors." "Some people could roll out of bed, they'd be on the picket line." "And they're in there sleeping'right now." "And here you come all the way off Black Mountain." "You gotta believe in somethin' to be out here at 5 A.M. like this." "How is he?" "He's smothering' pretty bad." "I'm goin' on down to the picket line, daddy." "Your momma would be real proud of you." "It's really greened up, ain't it?" "I'm gonna take me a little walk up to the hollers a little later." "God give you new lungs while you slept?" "Duke Power's made ninety million in profits... and they're paying those men $1,89 an hour." "No benefits, old men and young men alike." "No lunch break." "The most dangerous job in America." "Now if they work on their birthday they get $2,80." "If they die working on..." "I know what you're thinkin' Where's the crowds?" "Where's the action?" "I don't think you should run the story." "I know it was my dime... but it took you too long to get down here." "You know what we need out here?" "Some of the ol' timers, pensioners, hundreds of 'em." "Hey, James." "Hey, Bronce." "It's me, Ruby Kincaid." "This here's Warren Jakopovich." "Good to meet you, sir." "Bronce Breckenridge." "Warren's from the UMWA." "I'm drawin' a $20 a month union pension." "You ain't fixing' to take it away?" "No I'm not." "Are you aware of the strike for the past eight months?" "Well, I hear tell about it." "The thing is, we're at a point where it could go either way." "Company has the coal reserves to wait us out... they could even make money off a strike... by putting through a rate raise, or raise the price of coal." "We need your help." "We need people to shut that mine down." "Sorry about your daddy passing away." "He's a fine man." "Thank you." "I was raised up with Tug on Kildav Hill." "Worked with him in the mines." "When you're down in the mines... your life depends on the men you work with, right?" "This new union depends on everyone's supporting' it." "Men, women, pensioners." "Then it's gonna support miners if they stand together." "I'll let you think on it a spell." "What's that hill called?" "Tunnel Hill." "That's where the men like to hold cock fights... bet, drink, fight." "Such a beautiful place." "You ever lived anywhere else?" "Never even been nowhere's else." "Once I was on the Aggees women's softball team." "We're supposed to play a team over in Knoxville... only roads got washed out in a flood." "You'll see the world some day." "I doubt it." "That's what lights the gas." "This carburetor mixes the gas and the air together, all right?" "Now our problem is we got too much gas in there." "And I think the problem is that we got a sticky float." "Inside there's like a little boat inside this here." "And the boat, when the gas comes in here, it flips up... like this and it stops off the little valve." "And I believe the valve's stuck." "He has rid the world of the bad giant and your troubles are over." "And she told the truth." "Jack and his mother lived happily from that day on." "That's it." "Good night Lisa, good night Annie." "Oh, no, off to bed." "Love you both." "You read to your kids every night over the phone?" "I try to." "I'm so ornery by the end of the night" "I yell at my kids to get into bed or else." "Lisa and Annie is pretty names." "How come your wife and kids aren't here with ya?" "It can get pretty rough on a strike sometimes." "They ain't shot up your motel room yet." "No, not yet." "Hey, how's this sound?" "Brookside Women's Club needs your support and help." "The coal operator Judge Doyle Harris discrimina..." "How do you spell "discriminates"?" "Look it up in the dictionary." "You're the educated one." "Well, you're smarter than you think." "I don't need no man to tell me that." "I've been raising' up my kids on a dog hole miner's wage... and they ain't lost no weight yet in this strike." "You gotta be smart to do that." "So look it up." "Oh geez." "Don't tell me you're tryin' to learn me." "Duke Power's having a stockholders' meeting... in New York in a couple of weeks." "I'm thinking of taking a group of miners there to do... some fund raising and to put some pressure on the president." "Wanna come?" "More learning' me?" "No." "Using you." "I'll think it over." "What are you two still doin' up?" "Get in the bed or else!" "Quick, she said get in bed." "Well, good night." "Good night." "He woke me up, Mamma." "You kids, you stay in that bed." "That's better." "I ain't a man no more, I'm a damn housekeeper." "You don't look the worse for wear for it." "What you doin'?" "How do you mean?" "I'd rather you didn't go down there no more, Ruby." "Why?" "I'd just rather you didn't go down there." "'Cause it's gonna turn violent, people's gonna get hurt." "When they scare you from comin' down, that's when you lose." "Jakopovich ain't gonna keep you from gettin' hurt." "I want you to stop." "I want you to be proud of me." "Your Lucinda sure is turning out to be real pretty, Ruby." "You seen her picture in the paper?" "She looked pitiful." "All country's seen the picture." "She supposed to look pitiful, Ruby." "My Tilly hates it when I'm tryin' to cut her bangs." "Just seems like last week she was an angel... now all she talks about is sassin' me." "Ain't we supposed to be discussin' Brookside business?" "When's that handsome organizer gonna come over to meet with us?" "You think he's handsome?" "Not my type." "He's better 'n Silas." "You're one to talk with Dillard's bug eyes." "I'll take him anyway." "Is he married, Ruby?" "Heck yes, with two li'l ol' girls." "What's Jakopovich's first name?" "Warren." "I have to ask Warren if I can ride with him to Lexington on business." "You are a hellbound hussy." "Men are drawn to me." "I can't help that." "Silas is havin' a hard time." "He's gettin' restless." "All the men is." "Men hate it when they can't work." "What you think, if I wore this maybe the state troopers... and company won't recognize me, I won't get sent up... for violating' the injunction." "Thank you." "Bye, mamma." "Bye,mamma." "Mark McKenna." "Staffer for the union." "Ruby Kincaid, coal miner's wife." "Silas Kincaid's wife." "Pleasure to meet you." "I've been working for the UMWA three years... and never met one of the rank and file." "The closest I've come." "What do you do for the union?" "I'm a lawyer." "A very lowly one but a romantic." "I do research, write briefs." "That's romantic?" "Well, in many heart." "I aspire to be one with the worker." "But when I talk to miners over the phone... they really don't get what a labor struggle's all about." "A strike is won or lost inside the Beltway, not on the picket line." "Don't stopping' the coal win a strike?" "It's about OPEC." "Rate challenges staffers in the White House... every day petitioning the..." "Labor Department to have a heart attack... over the plight of the miner." "Corporate financing boycotts." "The rank and file haven't a clue." "Must be hard gettin' through to those thick-headed... ignorant miners, poor dumb crackers." "Nine months into a strike... can't work, drink moonshine 'til they fall down drunk." "Wow." "Moonshine, they really drink that?" "Oh yeah." "Lord." "Fight each other over nothin'." "Turn their hatred against their selves..." "Didn't you call me... some rank and fi..." "You know, tell me somethin' Mister, when you write... romantic briefs, you got a candle goin' in your bedroom, what?" "You got a flower tucked behind one ear?" "Well, no." "Forgive me." "I only meant I was looking for solidarity." "Somethin' that'll stick to my ribs 'cause my ribs stick... as far out, you can hang a coat on 'em." "Ruby, I don't understand why you're doing this." "When he said the strike's all about lawyers and courts... and OPEC and not about us... and pickets don't matter anyways." "McKenna said that?" "He'll treat you the way the system has treated you all your life?" "He tells you're useless and now you're gonna be useless?" "It's got nothin' to do with that." "Give me money for my bus ticket." "I'll get my pocketbook and get gone." "What are you so mad for, Ruby?" "I don't like being paraded in front of people... for handouts 'cause the union won't shell out." "This union has committed $20.000 a week to keep the miners." "You brung me all the way up here to tell me that?" "You look nice." "Don't make fun of me." "I'm not making fun of you." "We got to smile and stick our hands out to 'em... so they can feel good about how sorry they feel... in their big money, apartments, eatin' their big money food." "Ruby, didn't you say to me that you shouldn't judge people... for the way they live?" "You don't know anything about these people." "McKenna happens to be a good lawyer." "These are good people." "They're tryin' to help us out." "I sure enough need help, 'cause I'm just a ignorant, funny... talkin' hillbilly." "Ain't I oughta be ashamed of myself." "You're one of the strongest people I've ever met!" "My name is Alfred Ramsay." "I'm President of Duke Power." "As requested, I'll open the meeting with a few remarks... on the strike at Brookside Mine, which is now in its ninth month." "The strike has not significantly impacted... our coal reserves." "We have enough to carry us for the next three years." "The chief point of contention between our side... and the United Mine Workers Union is the absence... of a no-strike clause." "The union insists that we accept their national contract without... any modification whatsoever." "We are firm in our resolve not to bend to their will." "Now questions from the stockholders." "Limit your remarks to 3 minutes." "Yes, the gentleman in the back?" "Mr. Ramsay, I received in my mail a brochure on the..." "Brookside strike containing some disturbing descriptions... of the coal camp conditions in which these people live." "Is this accurate?" "Can you talk about that?" "That brochure is union propaganda full of lies and distortions." "I'm a stockholder, too." "I got a share right here." "My daddy was a coal miner for thirty years and was proud of it." "He even wanted coal miner put on his gravestone." "See, it was his life." "But it really was his death." "He died of black lung, Mr. Ramsay." "You do everything to get out of paying' a miner his disability... after he's done and give up his health diggin' your coal." "I can't reasonably be expected..." "You could have real safety at Brookside so miners don't... get killed in roof falls." "You could cut down... on the dust debris so they don't get black lung." "But all you care about's gettin' that coal out... as fast as you can and as cheap as you can... and if men, and women and children suffer, so be it." "You don't wanna slow down production." "That is unreasonable and untrue." "You don't wanna slow down production." "When Brookside women got together you called down... state troopers to beat us and arrest us." "You hired gun thugs to shoot at us." "With a no-strike clause you can do anything you want to us... and there would not be a damn thing we could do about it... no matter what, no way, no how." "We'd just run into the night..." "I wanted to speak my piece." "And I'm hopin' your stockholders... will think it's more important than you do to treat... the people who work for ya... who risk their lives every day, with respect." "Maybe they recognize we have the right to live a decent life." "Thank you." "They're gonna do this to all these houses, sooner or later." "I don't care Mary." "It ain't much of a house at all, what we got here." "It's as thin as the skin of a wasp hive." "Ain't no laws against having' a revival here." "...right here overflown, I'm gonna say..." ""oh, hey scabs." "No more, no more."" "Ain't no law can stop me to come down the hill." "Get outta here." "Get an injunction against church." "You wanna go get somethin' to eat?" "The Brookside strike continues to grow more violent... as nineteen men and women were arrested..." "How come ain't showed company shooting' at us?" "Cause the tv is... with the company." "I'm not at all shocked that a union... would sanction lawless behavior..." "Come on." "Shootin' at us." "And they have no respect for the law and contempt." "They don't wanna work." "Union's spreading the word, dump Duke stock." "Bought full page ads in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times." "'Cause it hurts their pocketbooks." "That's right." "Quarterly profits of twenty-two million to the company." "The way to put squeeze on them is to drive down the stock price." "That's the language they'll understand." "There they come." "We stop 'em cold." "You women ready?" "Yeah." "Ready." "Kick the livin' shit out of 'em." "You move that god damn car outta the way." "Come on boys." "Move that goddamn heap, push it in the ditch." "Tryin' to make orphans out of our kids, are ya?" "Get the hell out of our way." "Now y'all go home where you belong." "Get out!" "Easy..." "Come on let's get out!" "I'm through." "I'm through grubbin' for a livin' in a hole." "We're gonna move to Detroit." "You're gonna get your wish." "No. wait." "Detroit ain't big enough... for you." "You gotta go to New York." "Look what the strike's done." "You ain't the same woman." "It's you that ain't the same." "You was passin' out union cards, tellin' me it's the only way." "Now that it's a fight..." "That's what you like about this strike is you get a... chance to fight." "You get to go on... down the picket line." "raise hell, talk real mean, raise cain all over." "Why you gotta be such a god damn wild woman?" "I'm fightin' for your job the way you used to say you wanted it." "It's strange how when I come over to your side you bail out." "We can't be on the same side at the same time?" "You're cryin' now." "I thought you were damn tough?" "I thought you were damn tough!" "You think you're god damn tough!" "You think you're tough?" "!" "You think you're tough?" "!" "Go on, say somethin'!" "You always got somethin' to say!" "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "Don't hide from me." "Don't hide from me." "Baby, sit down." "Baby I'm scared." "I'm scared I ain't never gonna work again." "I'm scared I can't feed the kids." "I'm scared too." "I'm scared you're gonna die... and I ain't never gonna see you again." "I'm scared our kids is gonna grow up without no hope." "Mamma, you a communist?" "Who said that, Buddy?" "Teacher." "Communist is just a dirty word to her." "She wouldn't know one if it fell on her head." "They say they should lower our marks 'cause of what you're doin', Mamma." "If they do that, I'll talk to 'em." "I'll take care of it, you hear?" "Mamma don't you hate that ol' Nelms Hatton?" "His daddy was a coal operator." "He don't know no better." "We're all gonna have to live together... after this strike is over, too." "But yeah, I hate him." "Lucinda!" "Here, get down." "Stay there." "Get down." "Stay there." "Stay there" "Heard you all got shot up last night." "Kids is okay?" "Take this Ruby." "You're gonna be needin' it." "Come on." "Crazy not to." "Come on." "Come on." "Get outta here." "Let's move 'em." "No work today." "Let's go." "Gilly." "Gilly, ya god damn bastard scabbin' motherfucker." "Let me buy ya a drink." "Huh?" "Here." "You damn strike buster scab." "Guess he doesn't like my coffee." "That's crazy shit." "Not crazy." "He's just a piece of scab pussin' motherfucker." "Perkins, fuck you." "Get the truck!" "Get the truck!" "Shit!" "Lawrence Perkins died at eleven-thirty this evening." "At Harlan County Hospital." "He left behind a wife, a 6 year old boy... and a baby girl." "Leroy Gilly, the man who shot him, is in custody... at an undisclosed location." "The company has called the union and they're sitting down." "They're sitting down right now to talk." "You've come a long way, and we're close to the end." "We have to stay calm." "Come here." "Come." "It's okay." "It's okay." "Go back to sleep." "I'm scared." "I was havin' a bad dream." "Go back in that dream and tell boogey man to get out, you hear?" "Ruby,they settled!" "We got a contract!" "We got a contract!" "We're back." "Baby." "I'm back to work!" "It's been a long haul." "There's been grim days." "Many of you lost your homes... and worse." "But we done what we thought was right." "They said they'd never sign." "But we fought 'em and we whipped 'em." "Didn't we?" "Yeah." "We're takin' up a collection for Lawrence Perkins' kin." "Please give somethin' on your way out." "And let's have a moment of silence... in the memory of Lawrence Perkins." "We got us a new name." "We're now Local number 1974." "Since we started this strike in June of 1973." "Buddy, here it's July of 1974." "We got a few more gray hairs... li'l ol' pot bellies... thanks to Alfred Ramsay and Claude Pennington." "But we're gonna get a chance to work them off." "Down in the pits for the next ten years." "Y'all heard every last detail of this contract." "We think it's a good contract." "I motion to accept." "I second the motion." "All those in favor." "Aye." "Against?" "Consider this contract accepted." "This strike is now over!" "Let's hear it for the Brookside Women's Club!"