Portal:Organized Labour/Labour in the Media/1
Matewan is a 1987 drama by John Sayles, illustrating the events of a coal mine-workers' strike and attempt to unionize in 1920 in Matewan, a small town in the hills of West Virginia. As the narrator recalls, "things were tough". In response to efforts by miners to organize into a labor union, the Stone Mountain Coal Company announces it will cut the pay miners receive, and will be importing replacement workers into town to replace those who join the union. The stage is set for the Battle of Matewan.