Matewan is a fictionalized version of the real events of the Battle of Matewan in West Virginia in 1920. In those days The Stone Mountain Coal Company ran the town: they owned the mine, which was the only source of work in the area, setting hours and wages; they owned the homes all the workers lived in; and they ran the company store, where the workers (paid in scrip) were forced to buy all of their food and supplies at prices the Company set. When the workers start organizing, the Company responds by bringing in African-American and Italian workers by train, and replacing them — and in so doing, hoping to starve the townspeople out. But Joe Kenehan (Chris Cooper), an organizer for the United Mine Workers sees what’s happening. Rather than letting the Company pit natives against newcomers, he sets out to get all of the new arrivals to join the union as well. The Company escalates the conflict, using spies and trying to encourage violence, but the burgeoning union resists.