Mine Furor

In the aftermath of the Sago coal mine disaster in West Virginia earlier this month, some of the miners of this right-to-work-shop mine asked for advice from the United Mine Workers union on how to deal with the safety conditions and company negligence there. The International Coal Group angrily denounced the union's intervention, accusing the UMW of trying to organize the workers, even as the majority of miners said they will represent themselves in the ongoing probe. The contentious atmosphere pretty much underscores the hostility major corporations have toward organized labor, not just in coal mining but in many other professions too. Organized or not, workers ought to be given more of a fair shake when safety is involved.

Meanwhile, two more miners have since died in another West Virginia mine after yet another accident. As the West Virginia state legislature has passed more stringent safety legislation regulating the mines, the sole survivor of the Sago disaster came out of his coma today, but but the extent of the damage done to Randal McCloy by carbon monoxide poisoning is not known.