November
1, 2007
Saving Lives in the Mines
Remember Crandall Canyon? That’s the
terrible mining accident in August which took the lives of six
miners and three rescuers in a Utah coal mine. In 2006, another coal
mine accident killed 12 miners at the Sago Mine in West Virginia.
You might think that there’s a big
safety problem in coal mining. And you’d be right. But
there’s also a big a problem in other mines – the kind of mines
where USW members work.
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USW Members at Risk
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In fact, more miners have died this
year in “metal/nonmetal” mines – the government’s term for non-coal
mines – than died in coal mines. That’s true most years.
Miners face health hazards as well,
and some of the health standards of the Mine Safety and Health
Administration (MSHA) are even weaker than the standards enforced
for other workers by the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA). For example, miners in surface operations
face asbestos hazards similar to those in other industries, but the
MSHA asbestos standard is 20 times higher than the OSHA standard.
Mining companies can even withhold important information about toxic
chemicals – information that other companies have to give their
employees.
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Safety Legislation Moving
in House
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Legislation is pending in Congress
that would strengthen MSHA enforcement and standards. The mining
companies are trying to stop it. If they can’t do that, they will
try to strip out all the parts that protect metal/nonmetal miners –
our union brothers and sisters.
The legislation – HR 2768, the
Supplemental Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2007
(S-MINER Act) – was just passed at the committee level in the House
and has also been introduced in the Senate (S. 1655). Rapid Response
will be tracking this important legislation. Please stay tuned for
developments on the bill.
UNITED
STEELWORKERS