Read this article in:
3 May, 2010
On 5 April, 29 American miners were killed at the Massey Energy Company’s non-union mine of Upper Big Branch in the state of West Virginia. The catastrophe, caused by a methane gas explosion, was the worst mine tragedy to occur in the US in 40 years and it triggered a fierce debate in America over the merits of union mines versus non-union ones regarding safety.
Three weeks after the disaster, non-union miners at Massey’s Montcoal, West Virginia, colliery did what other non-union miners have done in recent times when company negligence has caused a disaster: they called on ICEM affiliate United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) to participate in the investigation.
Under US mine safety law, non-union miners can request the expertise of the UMWA in the event of a disaster, or safety occurrence. That happened at the non-union Crandall Canyon mine in the state of Utah in August 2007, following an explosion that killed six miners, and then days later, three rescue workers. It happened at West Virginia’s Sago Mine a year earlier when 12 miners perished due to an underground explosion.
UMWA President Cecil Roberts
Then, International Coal Group and its owner, New York investor Wilbur Ross, blocked UMWA safety experts from entering the mine even though miners had designated their participation. The UMWA and the US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) had to sue International Coal to gain access and uphold the law.
Despite Massey and its CEO Don Blankenship being vehemently anti-union, that recurrence did not happen when UMWA a safety expert showed up at Upper Big Branch on 23 April to investigate. He was allowed on to the property.
On 27 April, a US Senate hearing on the West Virginia tragedy heard testimony that Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine had been cited a total of 515 times for safety violations, and 124 times alone in 2009. The company was hit with fines totaling US$1.24 million, but paid less than US$180,000 because the fines were reduced through continual appeals. And those appeals generally delay the necessary safety corrections.
“It’s very easy to game the system,” said Joe Main, who heads MSHA as an Assistant US Labor Secretary. “It’s a catch me if you can mentality,” added Main, who once served as Health and Safety Director of the UMWA.
UMWA President Cecil Roberts testified, “The miners who work for Massey are scared to death. They’re intimidated. This company is run like its 1921, not the present day.”
A day after the US Senate hearings in the state of Kentucky, two coal miners were killed when an underground roof collapsed. These deaths occurred at the Dotiki mine, owned by Alliance Resource Partners.