Marchers compare deadly coal battle to Manchin’s wage stance

By JOHN RABY
Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A grassroots group is using the centennial of a deadly fight to organize West Virginia coal miners to urge Sen. Joe Manchin to support higher wages and better voting protections. Members of the Poor People’s Campaign invoked the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain after traveling by motorcade Thursday to the state Capitol in Charleston. A century ago, the fight for miners’ rights ended in surrender to federal troops. But their struggle has lived on as a rallying cry for workers’ rights. Manchin favors an $11 federal minimum wage and not the $15 one others want. He’s also opposed to a voting rights bill known as the For the People Act.