Union County African American citizens who attended the permit conference seemed relieved that their loved ones resting in the Uniontown Black Cemetery will remain there at least for the foreseeable future, as River View Coal has no intentions for the property, but many are still worried that the company is not doing their due diligence to hire an appropriate number of African American workers.
During discussion at the permit conference at the Herron Tech Center Thursday, several voiced concerns about River View’s hiring practices.
Jerome Foster, Ricky Garnett and Thomas Jones were three individuals who asserted they had applied for jobs with River View to no avail.
“When I first heard about moving those people (in the cemetery), my first thought was ‘How Dare Them?’,” Foster stated. “I helped build those mines out there. I worked hard with the intent to be hired there.” Foster pleaded with General Manager Health Lovell to look deeply into their hiring process and give African Americans a chance to obtain employment.
“I don’t want to make this a race issue. I want to see that African Americans are given the opportunity to get hired.”
While Thomas Jones wasn't outright against the removal of the deceased at the Uniontown cemetery “as long as (the community) comes to an agreement and does it the right way,” he too felt shortchanged by the company for an adequate number of minority jobs.
Jones said he was among the first at the River View job fairs, and has tried to get on at the mines for 3 to 4 years. “I pay taxes. I own a home here, they want to move my people, and I can’t get a job,” he said.
After all 56 in attendance at the conference had the opportunity to be heard, and there were no further questions about the current permit which excluded the cemetery land, the state facilitator closed discussion.
Lovell said little about hiring practices during the conference, except to say that no one had been hired at River View Coal this year.
