It is nice to come to work and have protections against threats, unsafe working conditions and arbitrary firings but we should always remember as in the past few weeks (Upper Big Branch mine: 29 dead; Deepwater Horizon oil rig: 11 dead; Dotiki Mine: 2 dead) workers are still not safe from dangers in the work place. I am posting some information on the recent workplace disasters along with old newsreels of how we got some of the protections we have.
It was people fighting for our rights that we have today and it will be us continuing to fight for safer working conditions to prevent anymore workplace deaths. It is unimaginable that there were no early warning systems in any of the incidents that occurred in the past few weeks. Even more disturbing is some of the reports from these worksites is that there were multiple safety citations in the past but continued to be in operation putting workers in harms way.
There needs to be more than just legislation and litigation to protect workers but direct action to stop the abuses of employers that endanger the lives of their employees.
What do the newsreels have to do with the current workplace deaths? Only direct action against corruptive practices is the answer to stopping employers who believe they are above the law. If there is no direct action by the public and other workers then the employers will continue operating with impunity.
As witnessed by the recent deaths of hard working blue collar workers in mines and on oil platforms.
May they rest in peace.
2 dead after Ky. mine's roof collapses
The bodies of two coal miners were found Thursday after they had been crushed in a roof collapse at a large Kentucky underground coal mine with a history of such roof falls.
Justin Travis, 27, and Michael Carter, 28, were found about 4 miles inside the Dotiki Mine near Providence in eastern Kentucky, according to Eb Davis, general counsel for mine operator Webster County Coal.
MSHA cited the Dotiki Mine 17 times since January 2009 for failing to adequately secure roofs and walls against falling rock and coal, agency records show. The fines total $15,700, and $4,500 has been paid.
The mine has experienced about a dozen roof falls a year on average since Webster took over in 1996, MSHA records show. Only three injuries resulted from those incidents.
Dotiki received 840 citations since January 2009, with 323 for "significant and substantial" violations. Webster Coal has paid just more than half the citations, or about $140,000, and is contesting 250 of the fines, which are worth $400,000.
http://www.usatoday.com/...
Rig had history of spills, fires
Deepwater Horizon's lasting legacy will undoubtedly be the environmental damage it caused after it exploded and sank, killing 11 crew members
During its nine years at sea, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by BP suffered a series of spills, fires....
Feb. 2002 » Just months after the rig was launched from a South Korean shipyard, it spilled 267 barrels of oil into the Gulf after a hose failed
June 2003 » The rig floated off course in high seas, resulting in the release of 944 barrels of oil. MMS blamed bad weather and poor judgment by the captain. A month later, equipment failure and high currents led to the loss of 74 barrels of oil.
January 2005 » Human error caused another accident. A crane operator forgot he was in the midst of refueling a crane, and 15 gallons of overflowing diesel fuel sparked a fire.
From 2000 to 2010, the Coast Guard issued six enforcement warnings, a civil penalty and a notice of violation
http://www.sltrib.com/...
Massey Mine under FBI investigation for possible negligence
The FBI is investigating whether criminal negligence led to an April 5 explosion at a West Virginia mine that killed 29 miners
National Public Radio reported the FBI was looking into allegations Massey bribed federal mine inspectors. A Justice Department official speaking on condition of anonymity said no such investigation is taking place. The company issued its statement to shareholders, saying it was responding to the NPR report and "unsubstantiated rumors relating to (a) criminal investigation."
After the Jan. 19, 2006, conveyor belt fire at Massey's Aracoma Alma No. 1 mine in Logan County, W.Va., the Aracoma Coal Co., a Massey subsidiary, pleaded guilty to willful violations of mandatory safety standards and making a false statement. The company paid a $2.5 million criminal fine and $1.7 million in civil penalties for safety violations at the mine.
An offshoot of the investigation brought the conviction of an Aracoma mine foreman, David R. Runyon of Logan, for failing to conduct a federally required safety drill in the months before the fire. A judge sentenced Runyon on July 9 to one year of probation. Federal prosecutors said Runyon's conduct was unrelated to the fire.
In March 2007, Robert Dennison, a former foreman at International Coal Group's Sago mine near Buckhannon, W.Va., was sentenced to five years of probation for his guilty plea to charges of repeatedly faking reports of pre-shift mine examinations between May and August of 2004. The plea occurred five months after 12 miners died in an explosion at Sago in January 2006.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/...
Massey faces criminal probe for mine blast: sources
Organized labor has charged that Massey's safety record is inferior to that of most other major coal companies. "The big truth is that 52 people have been killed on Massey property since 2000," United Mine Workers of America spokesman Phil Smith told Reuters. "No other coal company has had even half that."
One investor, CtW, has called on shareholders to vote for removal of three directors because the Upper Big Branch blast "destroyed $1.1 billion in shareholder value, was preventable and occurred at a mine with an alarming record of serious violations."
http://www.reuters.com/...
So how do we prevent these types of incidents? When people get together and demand changes as a united front against corrupt and illegal business practices, that's how.
An injury to one is an injury to all!
Union workers in San Francisco stage a general strike,
shutting down the city to support striking longshoremen.
San Francisco General Strike (Part I) (1934)
San Francisco General Strike (Part II) (1934)
This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives
http://www.archive.org/...