A young coal miner returns home from the second World War to the unchanged, harsh reality of life in a company town. Unionization has the town divided and thoroughly at war with itself. Still, the miners toil away in the depths of the mountains, harvesting the company's black gold. Jim struggles to support his family, and in his darkest hour, he and the other miners summon the will to act. They strike back against the company, sending structures crashing to the ground in a heap of fiery rubble.