Coal Employment Project facts for kids

The Coal Employment Project (CEP) was a special group in the United States that helped women from 1977 to 1996. Its main goal was to help women get jobs as coal miners. CEP also had local groups in different coal mining areas. They worked to make sure women miners had fair pay, safe workplaces, equal chances for training and promotions, and time off for family needs.

CEP started in Jacksboro, TN. Later, it moved its main office to Oak Ridge and opened smaller offices in places like Hazard, KY, Westernport, MD, and Denver, CO. Its last main office was in Knoxville, TN.

Why CEP Was Started

Women have always been part of coal mining communities. In the early 1900s, many miners' wives lived in mining camps. They raised children, cooked, cleaned, and even joined strikes to get better pay and conditions for their husbands. It was natural for them to want a bigger role in the mining industry.

In the mid-to-late 1900s, coal mining jobs were often the only well-paying jobs in Appalachia. A starting miner could earn about $60 a day. The U.S. government even expected many new mining jobs each year.

However, there was a common belief among male miners that women entering a mine brought bad luck. This belief led to problems. For example, a woman from two Tennessee groups, the East Tennessee Research Corporation (ETRC) and Save Our Cumberland Mountains, was stopped from joining a mine tour. The mine operator said the men would refuse to work if she went inside. So, the men went on the tour, but the woman could not.

After this, the groups realized that women were being unfairly kept out of mining jobs. They knew that women in Appalachia would not achieve financial fairness if the coal industry continued to treat women differently. The ETRC director then contacted a lawyer named Betty Jean Hall. Together, they started looking for money to create an organization that would study women's jobs in the coal industry. The first money came from a $5,000 grant from the Ms. Foundation. This was the beginning of the Coal Employment Project.

How CEP Helped Women Miners

Gathering Information

One of CEP's first jobs was to study how coal companies hired people. They found that almost all coal workers (96.8%) were men. Even more, 99.8% of actual miners were men. CEP used this information to help women and community groups. They also talked to women and men in coal mining areas. They learned that many women wanted to work in mines. They also found that most women could do the job, especially since mining was becoming more machine-based.

Taking Legal Action

CEP used a special rule called Executive Order 11246. This rule, signed by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson in 1965, stops companies with government contracts from treating people differently because of their gender. The Tennessee Valley Authority, a large power company, had contracts with many coal companies.

Based on this, CEP founder Betty Jean Hall filed a big complaint on May 11, 1978. She named 153 coal companies, including large ones like Peabody and Consolidated. These companies produced about half of the nation's coal. The complaint asked that for every three new male miners without experience, one woman should be hired. The goal was for women to make up 20% of the mining workforce.

This legal plan worked! By the end of 1979, nearly 3,000 women were hired as underground miners. In December 1978, Consolidated Coal Company was told to change its hiring practices. It also had to pay $360,000 to 78 women who had been unfairly denied jobs.

Other Ways CEP Supported Women

CEP also created a newsletter called Coalmining Women’s Support Team News. They held national meetings called the National Conference of Women Miners. These meetings helped women miners connect and share their experiences.

Working with the U.S. Women's Bureau

From 1978 to 1980, the U.S. Department of Labor's Women's Bureau worked with CEP. They created a special training program for women in five counties in Tennessee. This program was designed with help from mining officials, union leaders, and women miners themselves.

The training taught women about important topics like:

• Safety rules for mining.
• Laws against unfair treatment.
• Their rights as union members.
• Physical fitness for the job.
• How to speak up for themselves.
• Credit and social security rights.

Women miners also shared their experiences and how they solved problems.

After the training, 20 women got jobs. Here are two examples:

• A single mom with two kids started the program without proper shoes. After getting a mining job, she told her support group that she earned $244 from one paycheck.
• A young mom raising a child alone had little work experience. After training, she got a job as a parts runner for a mining company. She was very happy with her new job, especially the good pay and benefits.

Support from the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA)

The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) is the largest union for miners. At first, they were not very supportive of CEP or women miners. In 1978, CEP asked the UMWA for their official support, but the union president, Arnold Miller, did not pass it on. However, with effort from women within the UMWA, the union's board later approved the support. A year later, nine women were among the delegates at the UMWA convention.

When Sam Church became president, he was not very helpful. But when Richard Trumpka was elected president in 1982, UMWA's support for women miners changed a lot. Women miners had strongly supported Trumpka. In 1983, the union officially supported the CEP Annual Conference, and Trumpka was the main speaker. He even allowed women to miss work to attend CEP conferences and encouraged local unions to send women.

Women miners also pushed for important changes in their contracts with coal companies. At their 1979 conference, they asked for a parental leave policy. At the 1983 UMWA convention, they successfully convinced other miners to include parental leave in their demands. The coal companies worried about the cost but agreed to study it. Women miners were part of a bigger movement of women workers who wanted a federal parental leave law, which eventually led to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.

Job Loss in the 1990s

By the end of the 1980s, the number of women in coal mining reached its highest point, with about 4,000 women working as miners. This was about 4% of all miners.

However, in the 1990s, things changed. People needed less coal, and machines did more of the work in underground mines. Also, more coal was dug from surface mines. These changes led to many miners losing their jobs. At its 1990 meeting, CEP held sessions to help women miners find new options. One miner noted that companies no longer wanted to hire women. The rule "last hired, first fired" meant that thousands of women lost their jobs. By 1996, the number of women miners had dropped to about one thousand.

CEP in the Media

In 1982, a media group called Appalshop made a film called Coalmining Women. The film featured CEP staff, women miners, and the support groups CEP started. In the film, women miners talked about why they wanted these jobs and the challenges they faced once hired.

CEP Records

In August 2013, a reunion was held in Jonesborough, TN, for CEP staff, women miners (past and present), and their supporters. People came from the U.S., Canada, and England. During the reunion, they visited Eastern Tennessee State University (ETSU). The records and history of CEP are kept at the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services at ETSU.