The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Today's Front Page

July 5, 2010

Miners who speak up targeted for protection

By Mannix Porterfield Register-Herald Reporter

Whistleblowing miners could speak up more freely about unsafe working conditions in reforms offered last week by House Democrats in the wake of the Upper Big Branch disaster that killed 29 workers.

A July 13 hearing is set by the House Education and Labor Committee on the legislation, which also is aimed at providing stronger tools to guarantee mines with shabby records improve safety and help the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration enhance conditions.

Back in May, the House panel conducted a hearing in Beckley after the April 5 explosion at the Massey Energy subsidiary, and several miners told members that workers were under pressure to keep quiet about safety violations.

Some testified miners who spoke out faced the loss of their jobs as retaliation.

“In this year, when so many miners and others have lost their lives in workplace accidents, it is more important than ever to extend protections to those brave miners and workers who want to speak out against unsafe conditions,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., chair of the Workforce Protections subcommittee.

“This will save lives in a number of ways, but none more important than by strengthening whistleblower and other worker protection provisions.”

The committee’s chairman, Rep. George Miller, also D-Calif., said some mine operators “game the system” to push production.

“Too many families have suffered a great loss recently as the result of callous mine operators, ineffective protections and outdated laws,” Miller said.

“It is time to provide effective protections to ensure that every miner be able to return home safely to their families at the end of their shift. Congress has an obligation to make sure that is the case.”

Miller said the legislation would revise criteria for “pattern of violations” sanctions to make sure chronic safety flaws in mines are corrected.

Once such a pattern is established, he said, MSHA would be able to close a mine and it couldn’t reopen until compliance with a remediation plan.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis called the Miller proposal “a historic step” in beefing up safety laws for the nation’s miners.

“There is a tremendous need for swift action on this legislation ...,” she said.

“We cannot and must not take safety for granted. Mine operators must prioritize worker safety, and this bill will compel them to so that every miner can return home safe after his or her shift.”

MSHA could subpoena documents and testimony, and the bill also attempts to prevent miners from losing pay for calling attention to unsafe conditions.

State and federal regulators are scouring the explosion-scarred mine in Montcoal in an effort to determine the cause of the blast. Gov. Joe Manchin says he has been advised the investigation will be completed by the end of August.

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

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