Those miners in West Virginia should never have gone into that deathtrap mine, and they wouldn't have if the Bush Administration weren't interested ONLY in the corporate management, not the workers. Labor unions are not as strong as they once were, and so these workers had very little protection from corporate greed and carelessness. And they paid with their lives.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/06/opinion/06fri2.html?th&emc=thEditorial
Coal's Power Over Politicians
Published: January 6, 2006
As inspectors delve into the deadly mine disaster in Sago, W.Va., their starting premise must be that the explosion that choked off 12 workers' lives would never have happened if all the safety rules now on the books had been properly enforced. Mining regulations born of decades of death and disaster dictate in detail the most basic protections for survival, like adequate ventilation and roof supports.
Yet full enforcement was clearly lacking at the Sago mine, with its long record of chronic violations and an injury rate almost triple the average for similar mines. Federal officials claim that the mine was adequately monitored.
But in accounting for the deaths, inspectors should look as well into the budget cutbacks and staff attrition that have marked the Bush administration's management of its own ranks in the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The latest budget imposes a $4.9 million cut for the safety agency, according to Congressional critics who estimate that the agency has suffered a reduction of 170 positions in the past five years.
The ensuing government laxity - and the increasing risks that miners take to get their hard-earned wages - were underlined three years ago by the Government Accountability Office in a study of 10 years of work by the mine safety administration, a period covering the management records of both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It warned of the looming retirements of qualified inspectors, and the failure to follow up adequately on nearly half of the violations found. Rather than turning this around, the Bush administration's main attention to the coal industry has been to appoint a raft of political appointees directly from energy corporations to critical regulatory posts.(snip)
Along the same lines, don't miss the interview of James Spadaro, Former director of National Mine Academy, who blames Bush admin. over the Sago Mine disaster. Sean Hannity got more than he bargained for, because this guy told the truth about the reasons why that mine was running with major life-threatening safety and health violations, and he refused to back down:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/01/05.html#a6586I see a parallel with the Katrina disaster here. Yes, the hurricane could not have been stopped, but in fact a New York Times study has showed that most Katrina victiims did NOT die during the storm but after it, and those deaths could have been prevented by an alert, prepared, involved government that did its job:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5632930thread title (11/19 GD):
NYT reports study of Katrina dead - MOST DIED AFTER THE STORM Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to urge media-blasting and Congress-writing in support of enabling stronger labor unions.From a post at Progressive Independent (
http://www.progressiveindependent.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=128&topic_id=184):
Employee Free Choice Act (S.842/H.R.1696)
http://seiuaction.org/campaign/EFCA2005 Some 57 million U.S. workers say they would join a union if they could. But when workers try to gain a union voice on the job, employers respond with intimidation, harassment and retaliation. And our labor laws have become too weak to stop them.
The Employee Free Choice Act would ensure that when a majority of employees in a workplace decide to form a union, they can do so without the obstacles employers use to block their right to have a voice at work.
Please send a message to Congress urging them to co-sponsor the Employee Free Choice Act.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.01696 :
H.R.1696
Title: To amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an efficient system to enable employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to provide for mandatory injunctions for unfair labor practices during organizing efforts, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Miller, George (introduced 4/19/2005) Cosponsors (207)
Related Bills: S.842
Latest Major Action: 5/9/2005 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SN00842 :
S.842
Title: A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an efficient system to enable employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to provide for mandatory injunctions for unfair labor practices during organizing efforts, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen Kennedy, Edward M. (introduced 4/19/2005) Cosponsors (41)
Related Bills: H.R.1696
Latest Major Action: 4/19/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.