I don't know the facts; I'm reporting what the bereaved son said. He alleged that, without the union to protect them, the men were afraid to complain of safety violations for fear of losing their jobs.
Ahh so rather than looking for safer jobs they went into a mine they knew was unsafe?
I never had a job yet that was worth my life.
One wonders what type mindset makes a person make such a decision.
If this was the case, why didn't the men simply vote the union in?
That is a steaming pile of horse hockey. I work at a mine. The federal protection for miners' safety is amazingly strong.
If MSHA finds that an employer pressured a miner into working in a known unsafe environment or intimidated a miner into keeping his/her mouth shut about safety problems, that employer can PERSONALLY go to jail for it. MSHA regularly conducts surprise inspections based on anonymous complaints from miners. Every single one of them is addressed. We have MSHA inspectors on site about three days out of the week. Every week.
I absolutely understand this son's anguish and desire to dump blame on someone, but the union isn't saving anyone. MSHA gives miners very, very strong protection from an unsafe environment and from retaliation against whistleblowers.
It's just opportunistic union propaganda. In our area, the union is a safety liability, not asset. They protect and defend the employment of those who are blatantly unsafe to work with. They oppose surprise drug testing and termination of those who come to work drunk. One guy I personally know about was caught red-handed sucking away on a lit hash pipe -- smoking underground is very strictly prohibited -- but was defended tooth and nail by the union against termination.
What a bunch of hypocrites!
Here's a link for those who might be interested in federal mine safety laws (30 CFR): Miners' Rights
MSHA has a department which handles anonymous complaints from workers/whistleblowers.
Anyone heard from Senator Byrd yet?
I watched this God awful display of media misdeeds and malfeasance last night. The 3 hours between the time the untrue rumor was spread, and the time the rumor was corrected, should go down as the final nail in the MSM's coffin.
Because of press deadlines, print journalism's incorrect headlines are almost understandable, certainly their mistake is not unprecedented.
But what happened on scene, by cable "reporters" is despicable and disgusting. You could watch moment by moment as Anderson Cooper went into Katrina mode, resorting to cliches to fill time as he interviewed victims' families.
The wretched, emotional families can't be faulted for making fools of themselves on live television, but the vulture reporters who took advantage of them should be shamed out of their jobs.