05-2-06,8:50am
Feb. 2—Two more West Virginia coal miners were killed on the job Feb. 1—a total of 16 miners have been killed in state in the past month—and Gov. Joe Manchin (D) called for a voluntary Feb. 2 shutdown of all the state’s mines for safety reviews before resuming production. Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts ordered UMWA safety committees at all union mines in the state to begin immediate and meticulous safety inspections.
Meanwhile, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) called for a national “Stand Down for Safety” Feb. 6. The stand down doesn’t require thorough safety inspections in the mines, but instead calls for a pre-shift safety talk by mine operators.
The two deaths bring to 18 the total number of coal miners killed in the nation since the first of the year. A Jan. 3 explosion killed 12 miners and two others died in a Jan. 20 underground fire. A miner in Kentucky and a Utah miner also were killed on the job. In his Jan. 31 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush did not mention the recent coal mine disasters.
“We must take all steps necessary to look at the condition of the coal mines right now, so as to identify any potential problems and act on them before they cause an accident that could add to this tragic toll,” says Roberts.
At UMWA mines, bargaining agreements give union safety committees a wide range of rights to help ensure miners’ health and safety. Seventeen of the 18 deaths have occurred at nonunion operations.
Bush Mine Safety Appointee Says Safety Laws Are Just Fine Despite the clear need for stepped-up mine safety, the Bush administration’s latest choice to run MSHA, Richard Stickler—a former mining company executive at a subsidiary of Massey Energy in West Virginia—told a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing Jan. 31 that he believes the nation’s mine safety laws are adequate.
The Massey Aracoma Coal’s Alma Mine was the site of a Jan. 19 mine fire that killed two mine workers.
He also declined to endorse moves to strengthen federal mine safety laws similar to West Virginia’s newly passed laws that require all miners to be equipped with tracking devices to give rescuers a better chance of finding missing miners and that mandate additional supplies of oxygen in mines.
Similar federal legislation was introduced Feb. 1 by all members of the West Virginia congressional delegation.
Courts Support Mine Workers Union Participation in Sago Safety Inspection
At International Coal Group’s (ICG’s) nonunion Sago Mine in Upshur County where the 12 miners died, the company barred UMWA safety experts from accompanying state and federal inspectors investigating the blast Jan. 25. Federal mine safety laws allow the union to take part in safety investigations at nonunion mines if miners there ask for UMWA help. Two federal courts rejected ICG’s request to ban the UMWA safety inspectors and ordered the company to comply with the law.
Along with the UMWA’s safety blitz, Manchin says state inspectors will begin a sweep of all West Virginia coal mines. He vowed to shut any mine found to have unsafe conditions.
“We are not going to put people in harm’s way,” Manchin says.
After the Bush administration took over MSHA, union health and safety experts have denounced MSHA officials’ close connections to the coal industry, the administration’s lack of safety enforcement and its budget and staffing cuts.
A Jan. 31 report from the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee Democratic staff shows that eight of the top positions at the two federal mine safety agencies—MSHA and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission—have been filled by Bush appointees with tight coal industry connections. One post is vacant and a former UMWA attorney fills another.
“The death toll must stop. This is scandalous. We must put an end to this continued nightmare,” says Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.).News for Working Families
