
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 29, 1990                   TAG: 9004300450
SECTION: THUNDER IN THE COALFIELDS                    PAGE: 12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

# 11 PHOTOS BY DON PETERSEN

On Sept. 17, the UMW staged its most daring act of civil disobedience, when 98 miners and one preacher seized Moss 3, Pittston's largest coal-cleaning plant. Strike leader Eddie Burke (leading, above) plotted the action secretly; UMW President Richard Trumka didn't find out about it until after the men had walked in, their hands in the air to show their peaceful intent.

Once inside, the men settled down in the control room for a four-day stay (left). On the final night, the men went out on the roof (below) to salute the 3,000 people who camped outside the plant, creating a human shield against the state police they expected to storm the building. Edna Sauls (top photo, at right) and another woman wave to their husbands inside the plant. color.

by CNB