'Our paychecks bounced': workers face uncertainty after mines shut down

Blackjewel files for Chapter 11 in a move critics say is increasingly used to avoid paying workers what they are owed On 1 July, Missy Cole was notified by her bank that her husband’s most recent paycheck had bounced, leaving their account more than $1,000 in the red. Her husband had worked as a coal miner for nearly three years at one of the eastern Kentucky mines operated by Revelation Energy affiliate Blackjewel mining. But both companies had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a financial move that has implications far beyond just laying off staff as the ex-workers now wait for the bankruptcy proceedings to play out. Critics say the move is a ploy increasingly used in the struggling industry to avoid paying workers what they are owed. Continue reading...