Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 14, 1993 TAG: 9302140102
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRDALE, W.VA. LENGTH: Medium
COAL-MINING COUPLE NOT SPLIT EVEN BY STRIKE
First Ed and Virginia Lusk marched down the aisle together. Then she followed him into the coal mines. Now they're marching the picket lines in tandem.The Lusks, of Fairdale, were working together in Peabody Coal Co.'s Harris No. 1 mine when the United Mine Workers called a selective strike against selected subsidiaries of Peabody's parent company, Peabody Holding Co. The Lusks have picket duty from 4 p.m. to midnight twice a week.
Up to 7,000 union members have walked out in West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. Meanwhile, thousands of other union miners have been working without a contract since the old one with the Bituminous Coal Operators Association expired this month. Peabody Holding Co. is a member of the BCOA.
Negotiations for a new contract apparently broke down in mid-December over job security and other issues. Talks between the two sides have not resumed.
"I would rather be out on the picket line together than being on separate picket lines," Ed Lusk said. "That way, I can keep an eye on her.
"They could break us up at any time, but I'm hoping they won't," he said.
Virginia Lusk also is worried the strike, which started Feb. 2, could escalate into violence.
"You'd be a fool if it didn't scare you," she said.
Safety also is an issue for the Lusks when they're on the job.
The two have a pact that each will head to the nearest exit in a mine disaster.
"I was always terrified that he would try to find me, and we'd both end up getting killed," Virginia Lusk said. "We decided that if we're on different sides of the mine, you save yourself."
Ed Lusk, 46, is a third-generation miner and a 21-year veteran of his trade. Virginia Lusk, 44, began mining 14 years ago.
"My stepfather-in-law bet me $500 that I wouldn't last a week," she said. "I can't stand for anybody to tell me I can't do something."
There still are few women miners in the coalfields. At Harris No. 1, for example, women make up about 1 percent of the 300-person work force.
In developments concerning the strike:
Tom Hoffman, a spokesman for the BCOA's negotiating team, said the two sides are far apart.
"We're a long way from the end, even if the selective strike ends soon," Hoffman said. "We haven't been able to find a set of conditions so both sides can get back to the negotiating table."
The spokesman for West Virginia State Police says the strike has continued to be relatively peaceful.
There have been dozens of tires flattened in the area, with many apparently strike-related, and there have been reports of fireworks explosions, Cpl. Ric Robinson said.
In a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board, Peabody subsidiary Eastern Associated Coal Corp. claimed shots were fired at its Wells Complex.