The song was released in 1970, but she was singing about her childhood, so the 1930s and 1940s. And I’ll take your points that for some professions, wages did improve, and unionization played a role.

However, that’s missing the point. Unions have greatly declined since their heyday. We still have industries that exploit labor... despite huge profits. The myth this article is addressing isn’t the particular industry, but the mentality that low rung workers deserve the wage they get.

You have a lot more experience/knowledge of extractive industries, but I did a quick search of miners pay in Kentucky. At indeed.com the average was about $25 and hour. I make about that sitting in a desk chair. That’s about 50K a year.

Always appreciate the comments!