OT A CASE FOR STRONG UNIONS: SAFETY VIOLATIONS AT WEST VIRGINIA MINE

Why do workers need strong unions, even today? Read on:

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Nation/World
HAZARDOUS WORKING CONDITIONS: Safety a problem at mine

January 5, 2006

Labor Department officials in Washington said Wednesday that West
Virginia's Sago Coal Mine has had an above-average number of
potentially fatal safety violations in recent years.

And they denied that budget cuts and staff reductions have hindered the
ability of the department's Mine Safety and Health Administration to
ensure coal mine safety.

Agency records indicate the mine was cited for 180 safety violations
last year; inspectors designated 91 of them as "significant and
substantial," meaning they could contribute to an immediate safety or
health hazard.

"The number of citations in 2005 would be quite a bit higher than
normal for a mine that size," said Ray McKinney, head of the agency's
mine-safety inspection.

He said federal inspectors had spent 744 man-hours in the mine last
year, nearly twice as much time as in the previous year, a reflection
of concern about safety conditions.

The mine is about 13,000 feet deep and has 141 employees, McKinney
said.

During a telephone news conference, McKinney and Robert Friend, acting
deputy director of the MSHA, would not respond directly to charges from
labor unions and mine industry critics that the number of "substantial
and serious" violations in the mine have been growing for several
years.

Citations issued by mine inspectors last month at the end of the mine's
most recent scheduled inspection ranged from problems such as faulty
roof supports to inadequate ventilation and violations of regulations
governing insulation of electric power cables, records show.

Company officials have said they addressed all safety violations as
they came to light.

Most of the fines were for less than $200.

Union officials said low fines failed to compel the company to correct
dangerous conditions.

The White House said the MSHA would conduct an investigation into the
mine accident.

"As we've done in the past, we hope to piece together how this accident
happened, so we can take steps to prevent such a tragedy from ever
occurring again," Friend said.

He wouldn't say how the investigation would be conducted or whether the
government would compel sworn testimony by officials of International
Coal Group, the company that has operated the mine for about a year.

.

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