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Court OKs Mine Workers Union to Represent Sago Workers |
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Despite coal company objections, two miners at the nonunion Sago Mine in Upshur County, W.Va., can be represented in safety investigations by the Mine Workers (UMWA), a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.
Under federal law, two or more miners at a nonunion mine may request the UMWA be designated their representative in a safety investigation. After the explosion that killed 12 miners Jan. 2, two miners requested the union represent their interests during the follow-up investigation.
According to the appeals court, the two miners who requested union representation did so anonymously because they feared the company would retaliate against them.
The mine’s owner, International Coal Group Inc., refused to allow UMWA safety experts to join Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) inspectors Jan. 25 in an inspection of the mine.
A federal district court judge ordered the company to allow the union inspectors in the
mine. Yesterday’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld that decision and allows the union to continue its participation into the investigation on behalf of the two miners.
Similarly, after a May 20 explosion that killed five coal miners in the Darby Mine No 1, Harlan County, Ky., miners asked for the UMWA to be their official representative in the investigation of the blast. The MSHA certified the UMWA’s participation and the company did not object.
A report on the cause of the Sago blast is expected later this summer.
The Sago explosion was the first of several mine explosions, fires and other deadly incidents that have claimed the lives of 33 coal miners so far this year—the highest number killed in any single year since 2001.
The soaring death toll spurred Congress to pass legislation to improve mine safety and to block President Bush’s nomination of Richard Stickler to head MSHA. Stickler is a former coal industry executive, and mine safety experts say the Bush administration’s appointments of coal industry insiders to top mine safety posts has lead to a decrease in safety enforcement activities and a lack of tough new safety regulations.
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