Biden suggests coal miners could learn computer coding, but retraining programs can be problematic - Entrepreneur Generations

On Dec. 30, Democratic primary presidential candidate Joe Biden said at a rally that coal miners could easily learn computer coding to begin to a new career, Alexandra Kelley reports for The Hill. "Anybody who can go down 3,000 feet in a mine can sure as hell learn to program as well," Biden said at the Derry, N.H. event. "Anybody who can throw coal into a furnace can learn how to program, for God’s sake!"

The remark was in line with Biden's campaign proposal of reducing Americans' reliance on fossil fuels while helping coal mining communities transition to other sources of revenue. Retraining programs for coal miners have received bipartisan support, but they have a "questionable record of success," Kelley reports. "Some displaced coal workers do transition into other fields or industries, but critics say that the jobs that former coal workers usually find tend to pay only $12 to $15 dollars per hour as opposed to the approximate $75,000 a year salary that coal workers had while working in the mines."

Some of the careers coal miners are retrained for don't actually have many available jobs in the area. And some coal miners refuse the retraining programs because they hope the coal industry will rebound. Some miners, especially older ones, find it too daunting to learn a complicated new trade later in life," Kelley reports.

For instance, in a Blackjewel miners' Facebook group, one miner commented on Biden's remark: "Yeah learn to program my azz. I’ll soon be 60 years old and can’t find a job. Even told at one grocery store the position was filled by a younger person." The other comments were overwhelmingly negative, and reflected general offense and a sense that Biden was disrespecting or undervaluing the contributions of coal miners.

But "the need for a solution for coal miners continues. Although the industry added 4,500 jobs from 2016 to 2018, U.S. coal production decreased by 10 percent in 2019 and jobs are at risk," Kelley reports.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2trhr50 Biden suggests coal miners could learn computer coding, but retraining programs can be problematic - Entrepreneur Generations

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