In West Virginia and Kentucky, the heart of coal mining in America, companies are claiming the rebound of the coal industry has reopened job opportunities but they are finding a shortage of willing and able Appalachian miners. A proposal, which has yet to be approved by state and federal mining officials, seeks to import miners from Ukraine to fill the mining positions. While industry officials praise the ‘work ethic’ of Ukrainian mine workers, local miners are more skeptical.
See "Cannelton Journal: Waiting for Extraterrestrials to Land in the Mines", Francis X. Clines, The New York Times, June 18, 2001