Canaries in the coal mine

The United Mine Workers refuse to accept bullshit.

Appalachia is supposed to be a one of Barack Obama’s biggest weak spots. But judging from a surprise work stoppage at the Blacksville No. 2 coal mine in West Virginia, Mr. Obama evidently has some pockets of support there.

Last Monday more than 440 members of the United Mine Workers of America took the day off, halting production at the Blacksville mine. The union declared it a Memorial Day, largely to protest what union officials said was an anti-Obama ad that the National Rifle Association was filming at the mine.

Phil Smith, the union’s communications director, said that the mine’s owner, Consol Energy, allowed the film crew to go on the property, and that the crew asked several miners: “How do you feel about having your Second Amendment rights taken away if Obama becomes president.”

Word spread to several miners who supported Senator Obama, someone called union headquarters in Virginia, and soon Cecil Roberts, the president of the parent union, declared a Memorial Day (which is allowed under the contract) to protest the NRA’s filming (and to show support for Mr. Obama).

“This was a surprise visit,” said Eric Greathouse, safety chairman of UMWA Local 1702, in an interview on WBOY, a television station in Clarksburg W.Va. “A lot of the miners felt that this was a direct slap in the face of the union because they were trying to coerce our people into saying things against Barack Obama.”

The parent union has endorsed Mr. Obama, asserting that he would be better than Senator John McCain for the nation’s workers and labor unions.