Peak coal was around 2008, but jobs started declining way back in 1925 and have steadily declined ever since. It's nothing to do with the union either. It's all

Peak coal was around 2008, but jobs started declining way back in 1925 and have steadily declined ever since. It's nothing to do with the union either. It's all continued improvement of automation through ever better machines. The slow production decline is more related to veins that are getting too deep to mine or running out and there was also the Obama era moratorium and leasing federal lands for coal mining.