Salient. Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 41 No. 15. July 3 1978
Pension Payments Stopped
Pension Payments Stopped
On 1st February the pension fund, which had been making payments to 82,000 retired miners, "ran out of funds". This only angered the workers further, as some of their statements (quoted in the Detroit News) show.
"If they don't take care of the retired miners, the river will run red again," said one. "I put in 37 years in the coal mines. I've got silicosis and I've had two heart attacks, I don't have that much to lose. I can still shoot, and I'm willing to give my life if I have to."
The workers began organising the pensioners and disabled miners. "We figure two-thirds of that 82,000 are still able to picket the mines and fight if they have to. Hell, some of them have told me they'll be out there on crutches or in wheelchairs."