10-12-07, 9:50 am

WASHINGTON (PAI)--The stark contrast between conditions in union and non-union coal mines showed up on Capitol Hill--again--in Oct. 3 testimony on the fatal Utah mine disasters in August.

Witnesses told the House Education and Labor Committee that union coal miners, represented by the United Mine Workers, have avenues to raise safety questions before they go underground, and protection when they do. Non-union miners, such as those killed at Utah’s Crandall Canyon mine in August, do not.


The first collapse, caused by a “bump” when the mountain shifted as miners were “retreat mining” coal pillars that held the mine roof up, trapped--and eventually killed--six workers. The second “bump” killed three rescuers, including a federal Mine Safety and Health Administration inspector.

The witnesses, led by relatives of the dead miners and the inspector, and UMWA President Cecil Roberts, painted a picture of a “retreat mining” plan that the non-union mining company should never have submitted and MSHA should never have approved -- and of workers afraid to speak up for fear of losing their jobs.

And the tragedy was compounded by misinformation and hostility from the mine owner and his supervisor, who took over communications at the disaster site in rural Utah, contrary to federal law which puts MSHA in charge. MSHA, witnesses said, stood by and let the mine owner talk, neither correcting nor contradicting him.

“There was nothing holding that mountain up,” said Steve Allred, a veteran UMWA member from Wyoming who drew the contrasts between conditions at his mine and those which killed his brother, Kerry, at Crandall Canyon.

“In March 2007, it (the mountain) ‘bounced’ so hard it ran them out” of the north face of the Crandall Canyon mine, Allred said. Yet the mine owner submitted a plan to retreat mine the south face of Crandall Canyon a few months later and MSHA approved it in 15 days, he added. Consideration should have taken at least a month, he said.

“Was this something the agency should have taken into account? Absolutely. We were not asked about the consequences of retreat mining on the south side.”

By contrast, at his own unionized mine, Trail Mountain, miners can raise safety issues before going underground--and refuse to do so if they feel conditions are unsafe.

“If UMWA had been there” at Crandall Canyon “the pillars and barriers would not have been mined, as the miners concerned about the mountain coming down would have had a voice. An unionized mine would have allowed a ‘safety withdraw’ to be called had union miners felt something was not safe. The miners would have had UMWA to back them up had they felt someone was going to get hurt or killed.”

“I’ve heard a lot of horror stories from non-union miners,” Allred added. They include stories of younger miners losing their jobs when they raised safety issues.

Wendy Black, widow of miner Dale Black, said her husband--on his day off--went into Crandall Canyon to run “the miner,” a piece of equipment that automatically digs out coal, because the man scheduled to do so “was too scared to do so.”

“He didn’t want that responsibility to fall to someone else,” Black said of her husband who the night before told her he felt the mine might not be safe.

The mining company also refused to listen to miners who felt Crandall Canyon might be unsafe, after the first “bump” on the north face, Black told lawmakers. The worriers “could express their opinion, but it wasn’t being heard. And they were being moved to the graveyard shift that nobody wanted” in retaliation, she pointed out.

“The Crandall Canyon disaster began on June 3,” when the mine owner submitted its retreat mining plan to MSHA and “MSHA’s best chance for saving the miners was on June 15” when it approved the plan, Roberts testified. By August 6, the date of the first fatal ‘bump,’ it was too late, he added.

“When MSHA approved the Crandall Canyon mining plan on June 15, that chance (to save the miners) was lost. Make no mistake about it, this disaster was not an act of God, but an act of man. It was preventable,” Roberts declared.

Steel Workers Utah staff rep Wayne Holland, a copper miner, backed the miners’ relatives, adding “so-called ‘retreat mining’ should never have been allowed.”

The committee took no action on the issue, since the hearing was to gather information. But two bills, to impose more requirements on mine owners beyond those they must meet after last year’s new coal mine safety law, have been introduced.

National Mining Association Vice President Bruce Watzman, the GOP witness, opposed further legislation. The industry is working on the improvements mandated by last year’s mine safety law, he said. He added 83% of U.S. mines had no job injuries or deaths last year--prompting Roberts to jump in and point out 17% did. In a little-noticed concession, Watzman said: “We are beginning to turn our sights to re-establish a safety culture of prevention throughout our industry.”

From Press Associates Inc. (press_associates@yahoo.com) and International Labor Communications Association