14 arrested during Patriot Coal protest

[Teamster Jeff]

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ST. LOUIS — Fourteen people have been arrested in St. Louis after another rally in opposition to Patriot Coal's bankruptcy plan.

Hundreds of miners and supporters gathered Tuesday to plant 1,000 white crosses in Kiener Plaza to honor the memory of those who died at coal mines operated by three St. Louis coal companies — Patriot, Peabody Energy and Arch Coal.

The arrests were for sitting in the street near Peabody's corporate headquarters.

Union leaders say Peabody Energy and Arch Coal spun off assets and set up Patriot to fail in a deliberate plan to end benefit obligations to retirees.

Patriot and Peabody blame the bankruptcy on the financial crisis, environmental regulations and a reduction in metallurgical coal prices.
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http://www.courierpress.com/news/2013/apr/16/rally-protest-patriot-bankruptcy-plan/

[riqster]

1. John Prine on Peabody:

http://www.jpshrine.org/lyrics/songs/jpparadise.html

[Teamster Jeff]

2. Nice. Thanks

That really hits home with me. I have family in West Virginia and as a kid we would go there in the summer and I would hang out with my cousins having a great time. The area where they lived then has been decimated by mountaintop removal mining.