Considering its current definition (see below) and the wish to be politically correct, I wonder whether the word has come to acquire any racist overtone.
What is a coal miner hewer-Ask.com. Coal miner hewer is a person who hews or cuts the coal from its natural situation. The hewer is the actual coal-digger removing it from the coal face.
Definition of 'hew'. hew (hjuË ) If you hew stone or wood, you cut it, for example with an axe. He felled, peeled and hewed his own timber. If something is hewn from stone or wood, it is cut from stone or wood. ...the rock from which the lower chambers and subterranean passageways have been hewn. ...medieval monasteries hewn out of the rockface.