Jewell Smokeless Coal recognizes longtime employees, safety

When Carl Blankenship started working underground at the age of 19 in 1972, he was given a shovel and told to get to work, he said.

“It was rough going is all I can say,” he said Tuesday, 39 years later. “They have come a long way since I first started.”

Back then, he said, explosives were used to mine the coal; today high-tech machines do much of the work. When he first started, there was a lot less equipment and a lot more shoveling by hand.

But he said the biggest change has been in safety, both in the attitude and in how mining is done day-to-day. When he began working underground, he said, it seemed like every week he heard about another death or serious injury in the mines.

On Tuesday, safety was one of several things recognized by Jewell Smokeless Coal & Coke and its parent company, SunCoke Energy, in what was probably the local company’s first-ever news conference.

Jewell’s Dominion 26 Mine was recognized for its safety record of nearly five years without a lost-time accident.

“I guess there’s some people out there who say you can’t have zero accidents in the mining industry,” said Jim Mullins, vice president of coal operations for Jewell. “[This mine demonstrates that] you can mine coal without getting people hurt.”

Blankenship was one of 20 longtime employees that the company recognized with loyalty bonuses at a Valentine’s Day event; each received $250 for each year of service.

Mullins said the event was publicized because the company wants to get the word out that it is hiring. Jewell has also blanketed the region with billboards and newspaper ads seeking experienced miners.

“There’s a shortage of experienced miners in Appalachia, underground miners,” Mullins said. “We have to hire employees to replace the generation that’s retiring, and the second thing that’s going on is there’s a big uptick in metallurgical coal markets in the last three years.”

Part of the problem, he said, is that a downturn in the industry during the 1980s meant no new miners were hired for a generation – meaning a significant gap between those who are now nearing retirement age and those who could replace them.

And now, extensive training is required for new miners. It takes six months of work for a trainee to graduate from a “red hat” requiring constant supervision to a miner’s black hard hat. He must work at least five years before he can work as a foreman.

“You can’t just pull these guys in off the street,” Mullins said. “They have to be brought in and trained here.”

While the advertising has brought in a lot of new miners, he said, there’s a need to balance that hiring with experienced miners to mentor them. It’s an issue faced industry-wide, resulting in stiff competition among coal companies to attract and retain experienced workers.

While the companies compete with wages, benefits and bonuses, Jewell’s pitch is the stability that Mullins said it offers after some 60 years of operation in Southwest Virginia.

For some of the company’s long-term employees – like 75-year-old Keaster Dawson – the bonus awarded Tuesday was more than $10,000.

“It’s been an experience,” said Dawson of all the changes he’s seen over the years working for Jewell, not working underground but operating equipment in just about every other aspect of the company’s operation.

He said he started with the company in 1965 at the age of 26 – though, with five months spent as a contractor in between, he was recognized Tuesday for a mere 42 years of service.

“I have the health,” Dawson said when asked why he continues to work. He said he plans to keep working “as long as health permits.”

Jewell also honored its first female employee to be certified as an underground electrician in Virginia: Tammy Ray.

Ray, a 47-year-old mechanic who previously worked at Washington County school system’s bus garage, started working for Jewell in 2010. She says she wishes she’d made the career change sooner.

“It’s awesome,” she said of a job that she said pays triple her old salary – and has come with the added bonus of helping her lose weight.

While she knows only a handful of women who work in the mines, Ray said it’s something women should consider as a career option.

“They need to give it a shot,” she said. “Women can do it. They think they can’t, but they can.”

dmccown@bristolnews.com
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