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This article originally provided by
Wordpress.com
A group of state legislators in West Virginia introduced a bill
earlier this year to strengthen the State’s laws to protect mine
workers who raise concerns about unsafe working conditions. The
lead sponsors were Delegate Bill Hamilton (R) who represents the
region where the now-abandoned Sago mine and State Senators Jon
Blair Hunter (D) and Randy White (D). (I wrote earlier about their
effort here.)
Several weeks have now passed, and are any of us surprised to learn
that the bill was killed in the WV legislative committee?
Nathan Fetty of Mine Safety Project of the Appalachian Center for
the Economy and Environment names names of the State Senators who
killed the bill.
“Senators Don Caruth, Clark Barnes, Frank Deem, Mike Hall,
Ron Stollings, Joe Minard, Erik Wells and John Yoder killed a
bill pending before their legislative committee that would have
better protected West Virginia coal miners who would like to
speak up about unsafe work conditions. Remarkably, these
senators seem to believe that current West Virginia law provides
coal miners with enough protection from the powerful coal
operators for whom they work. These senators made up the
majority vote when the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to kill
SB166.”
In an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette entitled “Senate
Committee Bows to King Coal,” Fetty explains why whistleblower
protections are critically important to an effective worker safety
protection system.
“Anyone with any experience with West Virginia’s coal
industry knows that miners who speak up about workplace safety
have a legitimate fear of retaliation from many mine operators.
It’s an unspoken understanding among coal miners that you’d best
keep your head down if you see health and safety problems. If
you rock the boat about these things, it makes the operators
angry. You risk getting put on the worst jobs on the worst
shifts until they drive you from the workforce. You risk
trumped-up charges of insubordination, followed by unwarranted
discipline. You risk getting fired outright. You risk getting
labeled as a “troublemaker” and being blacklisted from working
at other mines.”
“The coal mine tragedies of recent years show that we have a
long way to go if coal mining is to be a safe occupation. Coal
miners can play a key role in making sure that the mines are
safe, and they should be protected when they speak up about
problems. After all, miners know their workplace better than
anyone, and have every reason to want to make it safe and
healthy. Plus, government mine inspectors can’t be everywhere at
once, so miners can serve as watchdogs when problems arise.”
Read Nathan Fetty’s full op-ed here,
including his final concluding remark:
“Chalk up another victory for King Coal.”
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