Coal Mine, Poland

Since the fall of communism in Poland, the workforce at the Piast Coalmine has shrank 50% from 14, 000 to less than 7,000 miners and support staff. Coalmining used to be the biggest industry in Poland but is in jeopardy of being downsized into extinction. These images are a look at Polish coal mining in 2002, before Poland's membership in the European Union.