President Obama appointed a former United Mine Workers of America official to lead the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Mine owners are NOT happy.
More below:
As reported on the McClathcy newspapers website: Joseph Main, a safety and health administrator (retired) for the United Mine Workers of America, was chosen to head the Mine Safety and Health Aministration. Mr. Main began working in coal mines in 1967. He is currently a mine safety consultant.
As could easily be predicted, pro-labor people are very happy about this. From the article by Halimah Abdullah:
"I don't think Obama could have chosen anyone better for the job," said Tony Oppegard, a Lexington, Ky., lawyer and mine-safety advocate. "Joe has done more for mine safety in the U.S. than anyone in the past 25 to 30 years."
Oppegard said Main's nomination "signals a change of direction in terms of mine safety in this country. It's a 180 degree shift from the policies of the Bush administration and its favoring of coal industry executives."
Just as predictably, there was wailing and gnashing of teeth from management. Those poor dears are looking at this calamity and preparing themselves for horrible times ahead. From the same article:
"It's going to be frustrating having somebody with an agenda that is pro-union," said Bill Caylor, the president of the Kentucky Coal Association. "We're not looking forward to it."
For myself, as a wife of a former union member, daughter-in-law of the president of a local union (I will write about my late father-in-law sometime, if there is interest), and someone who would join a union in a heartbeat if I could, this is great news!
One of the reasons that I vote Democratic is the pro-union stance of the Democratic party. We are the people who care about the regular working person. We are the people who want everyone to have a fair deal in life. We are the ones who care about health and safety and just plain dignity on the job. We are the ones who push through things like the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Can we all give President Obama a cheer for a good pick?
Then, once again, we can ask him to also look to curtail "mountain top removal" style mines. And remind him that his base is labor, environmentalists, and civil rights activists.