The Nation - News from June 14, 1989

An estimated 10,000 wildcat strikers--98% of the mine work force in the heart of southern West Virginia’s coal country--were ordered back to work. U.S. District Judge Dennis Knapp in Charleston, W. Va., issued his ruling as about 250 other United Mine Workers members ignored a similar, earlier order. The walkout is in support of a strike that began April 5 against Pittston Coal Group, the nation’s largest coal exporter, by about 1,600 workers in Virginia and West Virginia. The wildcat strike began after a weekend rally of about 10,000 people, mostly union members, at the state Capitol. Some workers said they will stay off the job until three union officials are released from jail in Roanoke, Va., where they are being held for violating a circuit judge’s order limiting picket-line activity at Pittston mines.