The Kentucky Cycle

by Robert Schenkkan

  JOSHUA: All right.

  FRANKLIN: So, we all in agreement then?

  JAMES: I’m gonna need one more thing.

  FRANKLIN: What?

  JAMES: I’m gonna need a little more leeway from the district on this safety issue.

  JOSHUA: You were supposed to hose down your mines two weeks ago!

  JAMES: I cannot stop production right now.

  JOSHUA: You got a dust problem, James, and we’re in the middle of the fuckin’ explosion season, for chrissakes!

  JAMES: And I’m in the middle of contract negotiations with the TVA, and if they think I can’t deliver, they’ll go somewhere else and we’ll all be outta work!

  JOSHUA: I’ve given you way too much slack as is—safety is not on the table.

  JAMES: “Nothin’ is nonnegotiable.”

  JOSHUA: Forget it!

  JAMES: I just need another six weeks, Joshua.

  JOSHUA: I am not gonna endanger my men!

  JAMES: No, you’re just gonna put’em all outta work! Forget it, Franklin—forget the whole damn thing!

  FRANKLIN: All right, let’s all just hold on a minute. Now there’s gotta be some middle ground for you two.

  JAMES: Hey, I’m not the problem here. I’m ready to deal.

  FRANKLIN: Come on, Josh, there’s gotta be some way to make this thing work, all right! It’s just six weeks—what does it matter?

  JOSHUA: You got people down there, Franklin—you willin’ to take that risk?

  FRANKLIN: What choice’ve we got, Josh?

  JAMES: Six weeks. What’s that in the great scheme of things? Gimme those piddlin’ six weeks and you guarantee your membership a job for the next three years.

  Beat.

  JOSHUA: I’ll give you three weeks, that’s it

  JAMES: Oh, come on, Joshua, you know I can’t—

  JOSHUA: That’s it!

  JAMES: Okay.

  JOSHUA: But I want extra ventilation equipment in those mines this week.

  JAMES: It’s on order from Louisville—soon as I get it, it goes in.

  JOSHUA: It goes in this week if you have to rent a flatbed from U-Haul and drive it down here yourself. This week!

  JAMES: Okay.

  JOSHUA: I’m not done. That land of yours between County Roads 27 and 35 just outside of Morgan? Blue Star’s gonna donate a hundred-and-fifty-acre parcel for that hospital.

  JAMES: A hundred and fifty . . . you’re not serious?!

  JOSHUA: I thought you were ready to deal, James? Come on, I’ll make you a goddamn deal.

  FRANKLIN: Come on.

  JAMES: “Come on,” my ass. It’s no skin off your nose, is it!

  JOSHUA: Franklin, I’m gonna start a fund-raising drive for the endowment and I wanta see a ten-thousand-dollar contribution from Biggs and Son.

  FRANKLIN: Ten thousand!

  JAMES: “Come on,” Franklin!

  FRANKLIN: This hospital gonna be open to the East Side?

  JOSHUA: All the people of Howsen County.

  JAMES: Well, hell, Joshua, while you’re playin’ Abe Lincoln why don’t you put the colored in our schools!

  FRANKLIN: Don’t worry, Jim—my people are too smart to think that Fourteenth Amendment stuff applies to Howsen County!

  JOSHUA: We have a deal, or are you two gonna refight the Civil War?

  Beat.

  FRANKLIN: When that hospital’s up and runnin’, you gonna be lettin’ all kind of service contracts: food, laundry, janitorial. Biggs and Son gets that.

  JOSHUA: I thought Biggs and Son was strictly liquor?

  FRANKLIN: We’re “expanding.”

  JOSHUA: All right.

  FRANKLIN: I’m in. Jim?

  JAMES: When you build that hospital, you gonna need to lease a lotta heavy equipment. Blue Star gets that.

  JOSHUA: Okay. We gotta deal?

  Scotty walks in.

  SCOTTY: Dad?

  JOSHUA: Hey, Scotty . . . what’s up?

  SCOTTY: I thought we were gonna . . . get a drink or somethin’.

  JOSHUA: I thought that was tomorrow.

  SCOTTY: Tonight. You want me to wait?

  JOSHUA: Oh, hell, I’m sorry, I fucked up. . . . Look . . . how ’bout tomorrow?

  SCOTTY: I gotta be in Perry and Breathitt the next coupla days. Remember?

  JOSHUA: Right. How ’bout next week? Tuesday night?

  SCOTTY: Okay. Sure. Sorry to interrupt.

  JAMES: No problem.

  FRANKLIN: Scotty, Jefferson said to tell you hello.

  SCOTTY: When’s he ship out?

  FRANKLIN: Wednesday.

  SCOTTY: “Semper fi,” huh? I wish he’d talked to me ’fore he signed up.

  FRANKLIN: I bet you coulda given him some good advice, huh?

  SCOTTY: I’da told him to keep his ass at home.

  To Joshua:

  See ya next week.

  Scotty exits. James turns to Joshua.

  JAMES: I’m gonna assume our conversation this evenin’ was private. You pretty much thinkin’ along those lines, Joshua?

  Joshua stares coolly back at James. Franklin steps in quickly.

  FRANKLIN: I think we all understand each other.

  JOSHUA: I’ll take this contract to the local presidents in two weeks. If they think the men’ll go for it now, fine. But if they don’t, all bets are off.

  Lights shift.

  SCENE FOUR

  One week later. A bar. A jukebox plays in the background. Scotty waits. Joshua walks in and nods to the other men. Scotty waves to him.

  SCOTTY: Dad?

  JOSHUA: Sorry I’m late.

  Scotty hands him a beer.

  SCOTTY: Beer okay?

  JOSHUA: Better’n okay. You gonna let me pay for that, aren’t ya?

  SCOTTY: No.

  JOSHUA: Okay. I’ll get the next round then. So, how you doin’?

  SCOTTY: All right. I . . . uh . . . I was just wonderin’ if we were all . . . you know, what kinda plans there were for all of us to get together for the holiday.

  JOSHUA: Hey, there’s nothin’ I’d like better, but the way things are . . .

  SCOTTY: I mean, we haven’t spent that much time together since I got back.

  JOSHUA: I know, I’m sorry, but I just don’t know about Thanksgivin’. I gotta see how this contract turns out. I may have to go up to Washington or work the district.

  SCOTTY: I think it’d mean a lot to Mama.

  JOSHUA: Well, I think Margaret’ll understand.

  SCOTTY: Are you and Mom . . . you ’n Mom okay?

  JOSHUA: Scotty, what’s between your mama and me is just that, all right? I don’t want you to worry about it. (Beat.) How’s the job workin’ out?

  SCOTTY (hesitates): The men seem pretty unhappy, Dad, what with these layoffs and all.

  JOSHUA: Yeah, I know. It seems like this recession just goes on ’n’ on ’n’ on, and it’s gotta bottom out at some point, but when? Meanwhile, we got our fuckin’ backs to the wall.

  SCOTTY: Everybody’s really worried about what the new contract’ll do.

  JOSHUA: It ain’t gonna be no cakewalk, I’ll tell you that. It used to be when contract time rolled around we’d call a strike. Now, some guy with a briefcase comes in and tears down twenty years of work like that.

  SCOTTY: I’m also . . . findin’ a lotta stuff here that doesn’t seem to add up.

  JOSHUA: Like what?

  SCOTTY: Well, for one thing, I got all these calls from guys about their pensions. Sam Jaspar, Steve Collins, Bob Colt . . .

  JOSHUA: Oh, that’s probably just some bureaucratic fuck-up.

  SCOTTY: Dad, I gotta whole list here—it goes district-wide.

  JOSHUA: Look, Scotty, don’t worry a
bout it.

  SCOTTY: What do you mean, “don’t worry about it”? This is my job!

  JOSHUA: Hey. Relax. Your job is to collect grievances and report ’em to the district president. That’s it. You’ve done it.

  SCOTTY: What am I, some kinda “sugarwater medicine” like those coal camp doctors used to hand out?

  JOSHUA: Look, Scotty, I know how frustrating the job is, all right? I been a field rep. You go in there and you look these poor guys in the eye and you wanta fix everythin’—but you can’t, and it’ll make you crazy if you try.

  SCOTTY: Dad, Silus Howard got turned down. Silus. He marched with you and Mary Anne on the tipple. He was there. And they told him “he been outta the mines too long for a pension.” What the hell is goin’ on?

  Beat.

  JOSHUA: Okay. I’ll tell you, but this doesn’t go any further’n here. The truth is . . . the pension plan is underfunded. The National had to tighten up the requirements or watch the whole thing fold.

  SCOTTY: You mean they’re trimmin’ the rolls.

  JOSHUA: That’s right.

  SCOTTY: Why didn’t you tell me that up front?

  JOSHUA: We gotta “need to know” rule here.

  SCOTTY: So, what—you were just gonna lie to me?

  JOSHUA: Look, it’s a . . . it’s a complicated situation, and most of the men aren’t gonna understand it.

  SCOTTY: So don’t tell’em?

  JOSHUA: Scotty, I do a lotta things I don’t like. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t do it this way, but that’s what the National wants. I’m just followin’ orders.

  SCOTTY: I thought I left all that “followin’ orders” stuff back in Korea. What’s Silus Howard, Dad—just an “acceptable casualty”?

  JOSHUA: That’s not fair.

  SCOTTY: What’s not “fair” is makin’ a promise to those men and then lyin’ to ’em. I won’t do it, Dad.

  JOSHUA: Look, Scotty, you’re makin’ this sound a lot worse’n—

  SCOTTY: I made myself a promise over there that I was not gonna go through this shit again.

  JOSHUA: What’re you talkin’ about? This is completely different.

  SCOTTY: No, it’s the same thing.

  JOSHUA: Scotty, whatever happened over there, I’m sure you had your reasons. You don’t have to defend yourself.

  SCOTTY: I can’t defend myself! That’s the . . . Look, I got ordered to . . . take this village, see, and I knew it was a mistake but I went ahead ’cause those were my orders, and so I marched my men in there and they fuckin’ cut us to pieces.

  Beat.

  JOSHUA: Did you get the village?

  SCOTTY: Yeah.

  JOSHUA: Then you did your job, Scotty. It was worth it.

  SCOTTY: Two days later, they ordered us to pull out. The men just looked at me like . . . What was the point, Dad? What is the point? Why’d you make me field rep if you don’t want me to look after my men?

  JOSHUA: I made you field rep ’cause I thought I could depend on you.

  SCOTTY: “Depend on,” or just rubber stamp?

  JOSHUA: Scotty, it’s real easy down here to lose sight of the big picture. . . .

  SCOTTY: Since when did the men stop bein’ part of the big picture?

  JOSHUA: Scotty, I know we’re cuttin’ some corners here, but we haven’t got any choice. Look, we meet with the local presidents in one week. Just help me get this contract through, okay? That’ll settle us for the next three years, and maybe by then the recession’ll be over and we can fix all these things. Make it right. Okay?

  SCOTTY: I don’t know if I can do that.

  JOSHUA: Please, Scotty, stay with me, all right? I need you. Christ almighty, you got doubts about what we’re doin’, about me—okay, I’ve got my doubts too! But don’t just up and quit on me!

  SCOTTY: I just . . . I just need you to tell me the truth, Dad, that’s all. Whatever it is.

  JOSHUA: Okay. (Beat.) You got anything else I oughta know about?

  SCOTTY: I gotta lotta complaints about safety: poor ventilation, improperly spliced cables, high-voltage lines lyin’ next to the tracks, dust. . . .

  JOSHUA: Where is this?

  Scotty checks his notes. Beat.

  SCOTTY: Hightower.

  JOSHUA: That’s Don Siegert’s operation. That son of a bitch. There’s no excuse for that shit—I’ll tear his fuckin’ nuts off! Okay?

  SCOTTY (laughing): Okay.

  Joshua laugbs. He raises his glass.

  JOSHUA: Here’s to better days! And a new contract.

  Lights shift.

  SCENE FIVE

  The Union Hall. One week later. Joshua paces nervously, contract in hand. Lana enters.

  LANA: Any word yet from the other districts?

  JOSHUA: It’s not good. What’s the time?

  LANA: Almost ten.

  JOSHUA: Where the hell is everybody?

  LANA: They oughta be here in a coupla minutes.

  JOSHUA: You seen Scotty today?

  LANA: No.

  JOSHUA: He seem okay to you?

  LANA (looking at Joshua): How do you mean?

  JOSHUA: I don’t know . . . just . . . I don’t know.

  Beat.

  LANA: Josh . . . about Thanksgivin’. I may have to go see my sister in Atlanta.

  JOSHUA: Is there some kinda problem?

  LANA: Just haven’t seen her in a while.

  JOSHUA: I wasn’t talkin’ about Atlanta.

  LANA: No. I just been thinkin’ that mebbe—

  Scotty enters.

  SCOTTY: Dad.

  JOSHUA: Hey, Scotty. You all set?

  SCOTTY: I guess.

  Stucky enters.

  STUCKY: I think we’re all here, Mr. Rowen.

  JOSHUA: Send’em in.

  STUCKY: All right! All right, let’s go, fellas!

  The Local Presidents enter. Some sit, some stand. Their mood is grim. Joshua stands.

  JOSHUA: Okay, we’re in order. The new contract seems pretty straightforward to me. We gotta little salary increase, added travel time, and a coal royalty. That royalty, in combination with generous donations by local operators, should build us a hospital here in Howsen County. That’s the good news. The bad news is there’ll be a lot more layoffs. It’s not a great contract, but we could’ve done a lot worse. And that’s what we need to make clear to the men.

  CALVIN: I ain’t got no problem with the wages or this hospital stuff, and neither will my men. I gotta problem with these layoffs.

  Murmurs of agreement.

  I don’t see how we can recommend this.

  JOSHUA: Look, Calvin, we got an industry-wide recession here, ’n’ we pushed the BCOA as far as we could. The National knows what it’s doin’.

  CHUCK: I’m with Calvin—this layoff business is bullshit! Membership ain’t gonna take too much more of this, I mean it.

  JOSHUA: Hey, Chuck, we’re all onna same team here, all right?

  CHUCK: They fired my brother last week, Josh. Twenty-eight years in the mines and they just threw his ass out! Jack didn’t get nothin’. He don’t know nothin’ but coal. What’s he s’posed to do now? Huh? What’re we s’posed to tell our people, Josh?

  JOSHUA: Look, the market’ll come back, just like it always has, and when it does, there’ll still be a UMW here to look after the miners’ interests, and that’s the important thing.

  CALVIN: And what’re the men s’posed to do in the meantime? Like Chuck was sayin’ about his brother—the National’s just turnin’ its back on them. . . .

  JOSHUA: Wait a minute, Calvin, nobody’s turnin’—

  CALVIN: When the National says “layoffs,” it’s just words to them, numbers on a page—but what it comes down to is people like Jack and his family. Chuck’s right—what’s
he gonna do now? There ain’t no other kinda work around here.

  JOSHUA: Look, you’ve had your say, Calvin, more’n your say, and we’ve all heard you. Now it’s time to close ranks ’n’ move on. The National is aware of the problem and they’ll take care of it.

  CALVIN (sitting down): Well, let’s hope they do a better job with this’n they do with safety.

  SCOTTY: You gotta problem at Blue Star?

  CALVIN: Oh, has the district field rep decided to pay attention? I been complainin’ about the dust down there for months.

  SCOTTY: Not to me, you haven’t.

  JOSHUA: We’re wanderin’ here, fellas.

  SCOTTY: Who’d you talk to?

  CALVIN: Joshua said he’d take care of it personally.

  JOSHUA: Let’s get back to the business at hand.

  SCOTTY (standing up, to Joshua): Why didn’t you tell me this?

  JOSHUA: Because it’s bein’ taken care of.

  SCOTTY: You heard Calvin—it’s not bein’ taken care of. Why didn’t you tell me?!

  JOSHUA: Because I didn’t want a three-hour argument about it.

  Scotty starts to leave.

  Where do you think you’re goin’?

  SCOTTY: I’m gonna go down to Blue Star and pull those men out right now. Come on, Calvin.

  JOSHUA: Sit down, Calvin! Now you listen to me—I gave my word that there would be no wildcat strikes. You pull those men out and you will kill this contract.

  SCOTTY: I don’t give a fuck about this contract!

  JOSHUA: Your feelings are not important here, Scotty—the Union needs it!

  SCOTTY: Bad enough to look the other way with the men’s safety?

  JOSHUA: Now you listen to me, god damn it—

  MIKE: All right, let’s all just hold on a minute!

  JOSHUA: Everything good in my life has been made possible by tbis Union. They got their reasons for what they do, and I don’t always agree with’em, but you try diggin’ coal without a Union!

  SCOTTY: Let’s go, Calvin.

  MIKE: Hey, wait a minute, Scotty!

  JOSHUA: Sit down, the both of you!

  SCOTTY: Let’s go.

  JOSHUA: I said, SIT DOWN!

  SCOTTY: I can’t, Dad! Why don’t you come with me and help pull those men out?

  JOSHUA: Scotty, you are either with us or against us.

  SCOTTY: Let’s march down there together like you and Mary Anne used to do.