I keep hearing, guys become miners 'cause the $$ is so good.

Anyone have any idea how much these miners earn? I lived in Pa. most of my life, and I've been through a lot of small mining towns. I've NEVER seen any indications of "lots of money"!

Miners could make about $40K a year, and that was at least 15 years ago. And in areas where teachers are making less than $25K, that was a huge sum.

(I'm from W. PA originally).

There are few job choices in a mining town, or even nearby a mining town. So when the choice is no job, a minimum wage job, or the mine. I guess the choice is easy.

I heard that a person with over 20 years experience in the mines could make $17-18 per hour.

...but not by much...

Welcome to Bush's Small Town America!

He's making about $60,000/yr with mandatory 10 hr days. The non-union guys aren't making that much money. And it's surely not enough for such a dangerous job.

Including the one where the 12 miners just died.

In the part of Pa. Im from (southwestern, coal country) 35 or 40k a year would be a lot of money.

As a roof bolter, he made something like $18/hr. As a miner operator, he made like $25/hr, with as much overtime as he wanted. He made about 60-65k. Plus, full benefits, you always get to stay on the panel, even if your mine closes, the UMWA paid my way through college, and my parents have lifetime medical cards, and will also probably get some money from a black lung suit, even though my dad doesn't have it in any kind of life-threatening capacity. Not a bad gig.

Of course, it was dangerous, unstable -- lots of mines shut down, and there were times my dad was out of work -- strikes, and the company was always trying to screw them over. I find it incredibly romantic, though, and I think miners do to -- kind of in the way that those crab fishermen on the Discovery Channel do. Danger bonds people -- I've seen many a coal miner get misty-eyed about his time in the mines -- in some places it's a family tradition.

of money for a mostly labor-type job, and it is probably the best pay in those coal mining areas. It's probably pretty hard to get good coal miners, also, because it takes a certain kind of person (courageous) to work a mile or two from the surface of the earth.

I remember going to, I believe, Luray Caverns in Virginia many years ago. For a part of the experience, they had us stand in a group and turned off the lights. The kept them off long enough for our eyes to adjust to the darkness and everything was total blackness. If you've never experienced it, you cannot imagine. Then the guide lit a match. The entire large cavern we were standing in became visible with that one tiny flame. It really gave me an appreciation of the courage it takes to be a coal miner or a spelunker.

not sure if it was that particular mine or average for industry. They said the average pay was $18.00 pr hour..gave 3 different annual salaries 35,000-38,000 depending on job description. I think it was on CNN..but DH was channel surfing..

40-55,000 per year

:grr:

Mining has always been such a dangerous job, I was just curious about what the companies had to pay to motivate people to risk their lives every day. I guess if you grew up with most of your relatives in mining, it doesn't seem as fightening to you as it does to everyone else.

God bless them.

He's got about six months in--still a redhat. He's not union and is not employed by the mine but by a private contractor who provides labor to the mine. He makes $10.00 and can get some basic health insurance for himself fairly cheap. If he had a family, his health-insurance costs would eat most of his paycheck. After a year he'll make $15.00 an hour. If he gets hired on by a mine, he'll get in the neighborhood of $22.00 an hour.

They have to dig a bit deeper but at the wages they pay the chinese, it's worth it...

Go Union. Saves lives, saves money, makes sense.