Tim Kaine: “I thank my colleague from West Virginia because this is a matter of the heart for him. He has worked so hard on this as…”

“I thank my colleague from West Virginia because this is a matter of the heart for him. He has worked so hard on this as a Governor of West Virginia and as a U.S. Senator. It has been my honor to work together with him on this and so many other issues. I will begin with a little bit of history. We are right in the midst of Virginia's 30th anniversary of the Pittston Coal strike. It began on April 5, 1989, in Southwest Virginia. The Pittston Coal Company, which was headquartered in Pennsylvania, terminated all healthcare benefits for approximately 1,500 retirees, widows, and disabled miners. That anniversary is being celebrated right now. When these healthcare benefits were terminated, it led to a strike. It lasted from April of 1989 until February 20 of 1990--nearly 10 months. Then-president of the United Mine Workers Union, Rich Trumka, who is now the president of AFL-CIO, was asked during this time period as the miners and their families and the retirees made great sacrifices for striking: How long can you hold out? They were seeing the benefits they were getting as strikers--instead of a $600-a-week strike benefit, which was the original plan, the funds had dwindled down, and they were getting $200 a week. That was all they were getting during the strike, and when Rich Trumka was asked ``How long can the miners hold out?'' he said: We can hold out one day longer than the Pittston Coal Company. That is, in fact, what happened.…”