Massey Energy to workers: "If you attend the funeral of your co-workers, you're fired"

Massey Energy told employees that if they miss work to attend the funerals they would be fired, workers said. A Massey worker, who did not give his name because he is afraid of losing his job, said that his coworkers were outraged that they were not given time off to mourn their friends and brothers.

The WSWS spoke to workers and relatives outside a local market. Chuck Smith, an unemployed miner with seven years work underground, said Massey’s decision to force miners to work during the funerals was a calculated move. “What would it look like if a bunch of people wearing Massey uniforms showed up to the funeral yelling ‘damn Massey?’”

Smith said another factor was Massey’s profits. “Is a lump of coal that valuable to you that you can’t even give the miners a day off to mourn their friends?” he asked.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/apr2010/mine-a12.shtml

This is the only site that is reporting this story. I've tried to find other sources and so far searches have led to this site.

and their testicles removed forcibily with a rusty machete.

They need to learn Caring 101. Apparently the Massey management is not human.

Oh, and the entire Massey workforce is unionized.

More reason to pass EFCA - and hold Massey accountable for the murder of 29 workers.

Hawkeye-X

That would be a start.

the death penalty.

I didn't even know I owned stock in Massey until after the disaster (inherited from a relative of my husband's). I also think the CEO should be indicted for negligent homicide, and I'm willing to take a hit on my stock price. Now, can you tell me how I'm culpable for this accident?

to implement strong safety measures b/c the fines etc. are too high (in their opinion.) TThe verdict/pleas have NOZT Been implemented and were tied up in appeals for ages.

I have never heard of shareholders suing the co they OWN for such a thing. Says a LOT about Massey, huh?

Murder in the name of profit.

all the politicians that Massey bribed with political contributions. If Siegelman can go to prison for no more than he did, what about some of these Republicans who take bribes, then fail to enforce safety regulations or weaken safety regulations and thereby cause the deaths of workers? Turn about's fair play.

What's good for one politician should be good for them all. Don't these Republicans value human life?

that Blankenship bought.

that use their product. Utilities ARE very sensitive to PR & public pressure.

This is what greed does to people...as long as they get (theirs) the hell with the employees...

That area has a long history of labor violence (Molly Maguires, Matewan, Harlan Co,). This is a powder keg situation. Although many will joke about our Appalachian brothers and sisters, one cannot help but admire their close-knit communities that stand up for each other when push comes to shove vis a vis Big Coal.

I don't think they're going to take this lying down.

And the "entire" workforce is NOT Unionized Blakenship is a union buster
http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=13922&news_iv_ctrl=1261

The sad reality of life in places like WV is there's hardly any jobs to be had and if the company were shutdown it would also hurt the workers because there's nothing else there. The government should brutally enforce the rules and the sites should be inspected daily. Also, people like Blankenship shouldn't be allowed to appeal the fines indefinitely.

and protected by corporate-loving "right to work" laws.

Can this possibly be true? Or is this some kind of trial balloon to see if they will garner enough public outrage to force them to do the right thing?

to shut down the plant and attend the funerals even if you had no intention of going before that asinine order.

Sounds more like a challenge. I hope his workers call his bluff en masse.

There are enough unemployed coal miners in West Virginia that Blankenship could fire his entire crew at one whack, hire a new crew and not miss more than a couple days' production--if any; nothing is preventing this shifty fucker from hiring a new crew while the old one's still mining, and on Friday afternoon inform them all "your services are no longer required." And he'd do it, too.

And invite all the press to cover it(and make sure everybody has cel-cams going if the press is barred and the company goons try to break up the funerals).

Massey would have to have an epiphany.

They do it because they know they will get away with it.

Time for 'cogs' to start slipping wooden shoes into the machines again ;)

The OP clearly states no other source could be found. Knock yourself out.

nt

Massey has proven itself time and time again to be beneath contempt and has proven itself devoid of humanity, with little respect for actual humans and human life. I have no trouble believing this to be real, given their past actions and track record.

It's time to administer the corporate death penalty.

Sid

For crying out loud, I'm so tired of hearing this song and dance about "I'll only believe it if there's another source" (i.e., the M$M). That's such a ridiculous cop-out. OF COURSE it's not all over the M$M yet. The M$M didn't ask such indelicate questions. Hell, it spent 8 years avoiding asking ANY indelicate questions about the Bush power grab, the wars in Iraq, etc. - it wasn't until Obama was elected that any moderately critical stories about BushCo were published.

Hell, nobody in the press was willing to talk about Nixon's attempted power grab and assertion that the executive branch had unlimited power to wiretap (among other things) until Arthur Kinoy won U.S. vs. U.S. District Court in front of SCOTUS, and Nixon was tipped off as to the decision coming out the next AM and sent out the Watergate burglars on an emergency de-bugging mission. But of course, none of that would count - because there was no "second source" either.

Good journalists, real journalists, break stories. You don't get a "second source" story until either a M$M editor somewhere says "HOLY CRAP - this is HUGE! We HAVE to cover this!" (and then promptly quotes the original source rather than verifying the story independently, much of the time), or the story gets enough play and outrage that a M$M editor cautiously decides to see if maybe there's some truth to it... then pretends to "break" the story days later.

They are like the Newsmax of the Far Left.

By all means, if it was Daily Kos or Talkingpointsmemo or Salon, then I'd be inclined to take it seriously, and they are not MSM.

But we have been taken to town all too many times by crank, nutjob websites in the past peddling bogus, BS stories. Among them:

- A story from Tom Flocco's "news" site that Katherine Harris had been killed in a plane crash.

- Jason Leopold (truthout) and his "24 business hours" until Karl Rove's imminent indictment.

- A real beauty a few years back on Rawstory that because one of Dick Cheney's aides "left the country" and that that was therefore evidence of some grand conspiracy.

None of them refer to WSWS. You're just trying to lump them in with other sites you don't like.

Spare me. Two sources on the entire goddamned Internet isn't too much to ask.

I'll post the headline once it's up. :sarcasm:

How many times was Massey Energy quoted in this "article"? And if they refused to answer any questions, why didn't WSWS make a mention of that fact? Journalists do that all the time--"XXX did not return our calls requesting comment" or some such.

Color me less than convinced.

would admit it if it were true? I wouldn't trust Massey management as far as I could pitch Don Blankenship. By the way, I'm 4'10" and weigh about 125.

Either they will lie, evade the question, or offer no comment--assuming, of course, that this is true. Do you actually think not asking Massey questions is better than forcing them to avoid commenting on it? And if WSWS did try to ask and were rebuffed, why would they not say so?

If this doesn't piss people off nothing will.

It's one thing when you can commit your crimes while no one is watching, but right now the world is watching. His ego will be his undoing.

Your children will live to be ashamed of you.



http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/is_massey_ceo_don_blankenship_pure_evil.php

The Man Behind the West Virginia Coal Mine Tragedy?
With all of the information that continues to be revealed after the tragic accident at the mine killed 25, it's hard not to start pointing fingers at the man in charge. And in this case, it's easier than usual to do so--Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey Energy, the company that owns the coal mine, seems to have modeled his job after the very caricature of a villainous corporate tycoon. After finally facing some overdue scrutiny, it's been revealed that Blankenship has a long history of ignoring dangerous violations in his mines, putting profit before worker safety, and being flat-out rude to the families of his deceased employees.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/is_massey_ceo_don_blankenship_pure_evil.php

for this guy, involving one of his mines?

Maybe if we put a cask of amontillado down there?

Just use Jack Daniels or Jim Beam.

Use the product of the nearest illegal still.

Goodbye, Wifes and Daughters by Susan Kushner Resnick. It is a sensitive telling of how company greed distroyed lives in Bear Creek, Montana. That disaster, back during WWII led to some serious considerations regarding mine safety and regulation.

Times have brought us nearly back to the conditions that took out the Smith Mine in Bear Creek: lip service to safety, greed and disregard for human life on the part of owners.... Oh, times change but people don't seem to change much. Sure we have laws, regulators, new safety equipment, partly BECAUSE of the Smith Mine disaster in Bear Creek, but companies seem to have bought their way out of obeying the laws. Regulation? Fines mean nothing anymore.

The book gives you a peek into the lives of miners' families, then breaks your heart with the deaths of over 70 men and how the attempt of rescue, then recovery, involved all the towns people and many more from other communities. It will help give a really solid understanding of how mining companies kill more than just the unlucky workers who may die from greed and inept management. Good background for this current situation.

Thanks for the reference. Do you know of any good books written about oilfield families? That's another industry where many workers lose their lives and are injured. The press covers it only if there is some huge explosion or a blowout well.

Will PM you if I find something though

.

Fitting.

He's also ordered 200 mines to be inspected starting Friday. Details here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4344083

Production can cease, but one will still have to go to work.

You make a very good point, though.

In the rest of the article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100414/ap_on_bi_ge/us_mine_explosion

No coal produced and all the workers checking for safety violations instead, quite possibly Blankenship's worst nightmare. There'll be quite a few stories coming out this weekend about what they find on Friday, no doubt.

What a bunch of assholes. Or more specifically, ONE asshole. Blankenship.

He's asking the miners to work that day anyway. See the second article below.





What an asshole. I'm surprised he doesn't expect them to work for free inspecting the facilities that should have been safer all along.

Interesting to see what the miners actually do.

Are they going to honor their fallen colleagues or toe the company line... again?

And even in good times, there are few jobs in West Virginia. I wonder what the mines would do if ALL the miners in the area attended the funerals of those who died? And then all went to the mines to detail safety problems on the designated day? But not just give the lists of problems to the mine management, give them to the regulators and the media. Hell, drag the media into the damn mines and make them video the stuff up close and personal.

If Manchin wants safety violations found, make it as public as possible.

Make it as public as possible.

reporting safety violations. Understood.

To document the safety issues. Obviously, we cannot trust the mine inspectors to make sure they are reported and remedied or trust the agency who should be responsible for the miners retaining their jobs (I don't know who that would be) to prevent firings when the miners report safety problems.

But of course, we know the M$M will never take a chance on sending crews down into the mines. They would rather stay in their offices, in nice suits, and report the disasters long distance.

Even a media presence won't protect the miners from retaliation.

In a Democratic Republic government investigators would be doing this job.

And what good does it do when the company appeals - to a judge that the company has bought?

I have no idea if the system is supposed to protect the identity of people who report violations. But it is clear there are no enough government inspectors, or maybe enough objective inspectors, to do the job properly. If there were, those twenty nine miners would not be dead.

But only if the people running the country valued enforcing civil safety and environmental regulations.

And assurances that reports of unsafe conditions will be fully anonymous. But the Reopublicans will complain about "big government" and "government intrusion into private business". They don't give a shit how many miners die, as long as companies like Massey can rake in maximum profits.

We need to make sure that unsafe conditions are too expensive to allow to continue - make the companies pay the fines BEFORE any appeals - the money can be refunded if they win their appeal. Make sure the judges that hear the appeals are independent and unbiased. Make the companies insure the miners for high amounts so if they are killed the families have money to live on - and if the conditions are unsafe the insurance companies can make the mine companies pay through the nose.

And hire inspectors and whoever it takes to enforce those things.

Make Blankenship testify under oath. Then, even if he's protected from criminal negligence under corporate rules, he can be thrown in jail for perjury. If it's good enough for Martha Stewart (who didn't hurt anybody), it's good enough for Blankenship.

I wouldn't be surprised to find the OP verified at all, but look at what we CAN verify. Bringing in people on the day off because they need to focus on safety.

Because after all it's the worker's fault for NOT attending to safety! That's the implied message here!

This Blankenship fellow needs to go searching for Jimmy Hoffa.

ETA: Sorry, this was Governor Machin guilting the workers. Well, both of them can go fuck themselves.

Massey Energy, the largest coal mine operator in central Appalachia and the owner of the Upper Big Branch mine, said it would comply with Manchin's request. "We agree with the Governor's request and believe it is an appropriate way to honor the miners we lost," the company said in a statement. "Massey will use this as an opportunity to reflect on the events of April 5th and will focus our attention on safety and training."

Because, you know, if the miners had been trained better they'd be alive even though the mine itself is unsafe. Yeah. This guy is a real prince.

In the first place.

Any minute now, GWB will weigh in and tell them to go shoppping.

if he had known about the violations at the mine. He claimed he did not. Sorry, but that's just not believable. If people on this blog knew about them, who don't even live in WV, he had to have known. He cannot have missed the news of the various law-suits and allegations and complaints about that company. And he certainly could not be a politician in WV without knowing Blankenship or Massey.

They either bought off politicians and judges, or threatened those who went after them with launching huge campaigns against them when they were up for re-election.

They are all responsible to some extent for turning a blind to that company. If every Democrat at least, had stood up for the miners, it would have been harder to go after them.

I can't find this story anywhere else, or anything like it. And sorry, but I do not trust WSWS as a primary source.

I didn't check into it before posting it, but I decided to leave it up as it is. People can judge for themselves.

Seriously, WTF? The biggest stories of the last decade have been broken by independent and activist media. WSWS is no less reliable than CNN or ABC or any number of city papers. It's certainly more trustworthy than the WSJ, and orders of magnitude more authoritative than Faux News. So hey, enjoy your M$M... whose biggest stories have been "broken" after reading the work of journalists who haven't been muzzled.

Thank you.

:thumbsup:

.

The site is notorious for printing hearsay and unconfirmed "rumors" as truth, which is why many here don't give it much credence.

WSWS makes Indymedia look like a bastion of honest and neutral journalism.

I appreciate the OP bringing this to our attention but this has no legs as long as its primary source is WSWS.

:mad:

They don't get paid enough as far as I'm concerned.

We can get it now, and I just can't justify not paying for it. The horrors of the mine, the devastation of land, and the FACT that the CO2 from burning coal is contributing to raising the planet's average temp--just can't do it.

And I will say that it was deregulation that brought wind energy to Texas. We would all still be burning coal to get electricity here if we hadn't deregged.

It was government subsidies for building infrastructure. They couldn't finish facilities fast enough to beat the funding deadline, and work has stopped on many projects now that we're past it.

Wind power (good) was all about corporate welfare (ugh).

I'm not sure why, but I do.

The mutherfuckers are already on the hot seat.

That would be the worst thing they could do right now, if they want to save their sorry butts, which I'm sure is all they care about.

They can't possibly be so stupid as to draw that sort of negative publicity. :wtf:

I honestly thought the selfish greedheads of KKKorporate America could sink no lower. Think again.

They have an ADDICTION to profit, money and material possessions. I've seen people that emulate their way of thinking...one was a former friend of mine that I told off a few months ago. People that are addicted to mammon/material possessions are every bit as bad as meth addicts or alcoholics.

I don't think the MSM would report this because they aren't talking to the workers.


Just me.

Every media outlet has reported extensively on the history of safety violations etc., but they are all united by a conspiracy of silence over this? Don't be such a sucker. I bet the funeral takes place, is thronged with mine workers, and WSWS never mentions it again.

Single-source stories are never reliable. That's media studies 101.

to help check for safety:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100414/ap_on_bi_ge/us_mine_explosion


<snip> Manchin wants the miners to show up for work, but to help check on safety instead of producing coal. <snip>

There's a single source until another reporter brings it to an editor, and that editor has the guts to tell the reporter to look into it rather than killing it.

Watch the media - you'll see the biggest stories break in small, single-sources... until CNN, MSNBC, NPR, et al look into it days later and claim they broke the story.

...and while a single source may break a story, if it's verifiable it will be quickly confirmed by others. Another basic rule I learned was that you don't go to your editor with less than 2 sources for anything. this story has been floating around for ~2 days now and no other news outlet has confirmed it, even though it would be front-page material if it were true. I say it's bunk.

I don't know whether to be mad or to be sad.





:mad:




.

by admin was published on April 14th, 2010

As the community around the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia mourns its dead and papers report that miners are not being allowed to attend their friends' funerals, S&P Equity Research upgraded the company's stock from a "hold" to a "buy."

http://www.grittv.org/2010/04/14/jeff-biggers-dawn-johnsens-nomination-and-andy-stern/

All search results so far go back to this single article. It disturbs me that so many people are willing to take it at face value.

... no if its going to turn out these asshole CEOs are the victims in all this.

I gotta love the US, you can put profit over people, create all sorts of human tragedies, and STILL get the benefit of the doubt no matter what.

but if this allegation is grounded in fact, then I'd expect to see it reported independently before long. I'm always skeptical of a single-source news story, no matter what it concerns.

I just save my concern for those who deserve, this piece of shit CEO ain't one of those people.

It is about priorities, I guess. Unconfirmed hearsay vs. the word of a piece of shit corporation with a track record of abuses and exploitation which has led to the deaths of many people. There are no winners in this situation, and as such I am not going to lose any sleep over it nor rush to give the benefit of the doubt to a bunch of people I much rather see being frog marched to their well deserved prison sentences.

as a bad p.r. move. I'll believe it if another source reports it.

This sounds like complete bullshit. but you never know. If Massey did bar employees from the funerals, it would be the biggest PR disaster ever known.

I think this is much more likely someone putting this out on the Internet to generate outrage.

I did NOT hear Massey say they couldn't attend funerals. Perhaps the source has the story mixed up. It would be easy to believe Massey would not want their workers to show up and not do any work as some type of "memorial" even though I would agree it should be okay. Harder to believe they were threatened if they attend a funeral. Really. I don't like the company but that would be way stupid.

wildcat walkout.

According to After Downing Street

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/51337

<snip>
Blankenship, a local boy who made good and became the first non Massey family member to head the giant mining firm, has been aggressively anti-union, as has the entire company. A bitter strike by the United Mineworkers in 1984-85, in which the company, backed by the Reagan administration, brought in scab workers and hired private armed guards backed by West Virginia State Troopers to harass and intimidate unionized workers, lead to a breaking of the union at the company, which is now largely non-union, and across the country.
</snip>

I think they have a much better chance this time.

But that gobshite Blankenship is a union buster, and he'll take his mines and go home if the union succeeds.

Miners, organize!

The profits given to the residents of the source state. Kinda like in socialist Alaska, but all the way.

The articles from there I've read have proven to be factual.

they're propagandists- just like world nut daily.

Iran-Contra gangsters resurface in Bush administration

WSWS often covers what no one else will. That's called being brave. Sorry you don't see it.

Or maybe takes a propagandist to know another?

Oh, well...

I try to convince people to see things my way with information, not confuse them with bullshit. While I've been on to the bastards at the heart of what's wrong with America for a long fucking time, I've only posted on DU since 2001. Here's a sample of my work.

FYI: Please visit my Journal. You'll notice it's sourced.

Quick question: When are you starting a journal? I'd like to see where you stand in detail.

There is a contingent of self professed "progressives" (although some are coming up with a new act and are cutting with the pretense altogether) which seem to be far more concerned in placing under the bus any actual progressive the minute they say something remotely instigative.

It is actually rather fascinating, esp seeing their act evolve through a few iterations.

Just like clockwork.

LOL

you make over and over to me, is reliable. and typically inane.

LOL

Sid

Massey Energy Statement Regarding Governor Manchin Request for Day of Honor and Mourning
JULIAN, W.Va., April 14, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --Massey Energy Company (NYSE: MEE) issued the following statement in response to Governor Joe Manchin's request that coal companies halt underground production Friday, April 16th as a day of observance to honor and mourn fallen miners and review safety procedures:

"We agree with the Governor's request and believe it is an appropriate way to honor the miners we lost in the Upper Big Branch tragedy. Massey will use this as an opportunity to reflect on the events of April 5th and will focus our attention on safety and training."

Massey Energy Company, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, with operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia, is the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia and is included in the S&P 500 Index.

SOURCE Massey Energy

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=102864&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1413152&highlight=

Stock Quote
MEE (Common Stock)
Exchange NYSE (US Dollar)
Price $45.34
Change (%) 0.03 (0.07%)
Volume 1,176,231
Today's Open $0.00
Previous Close $45.31
Intraday High $45.60
Intraday Low $44.63
52 Week High $54.80
52 Week Low $10.58
Data as of 04/15/10 10:36 a.m. ET
Minimum 20 minute delay

------------------------------

What a complete and total fuckwad scumbag piece of shit.

What a perfect symbol of the Republican party.

Thanks for the thread, cynatnite.

The decent people in this world will be grateful. If this shit were to happen in Venezuela, the mine would immediately be nationalized and anybody responsible for threatening the workers like this would be marched out with a gun pressed against their back.

Not sure how much I trust the source though; claims to be Trot but is very anti-Bolivarian.

I really wouldn't. Anything for a buck.

money. That's why in the Middle East, women walked in front of the donkeys so to find any land mines.

May Blankenship face his Karma soon.

Its not that I don't beleive it, but I need evidence if I'm going to share this

have already taken place:

http://www.modbee.com/2010/04/09/1121848/faith-pride-sustain-miners-families.html

http://journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/534928.html?nav=5006

Even Blankenship wouldn't be that stupid. And you can bet this would be in MSM or at least MSNBC if true. Blankenship from what I'm reading is pedaling as fast as he can to prevent lawsuits and trying to make himself look like a caring boss.

Massey Energy has established a 20-member team of company executives to attend wakes and funerals for the 29 miners who died in the Upper Big Branch Mine, said CEO Don Blankenship.

Beneficiaries will receive company life insurance payouts that amount to five times a miner's annual pay, Blankenship said in an interview with the Daily Mail.

The company is also making up the difference between the workers' compensation amount families would receive in any event and the straight pay a miner would have received had he continued working, Blankenship added.

That payout will last for the life of the widows, Blankenship said.


http://www.dailymail.com/Business/201004141027?page=1&build=cache

20 member executive team hacked to death by miners at funeral.

Massey denies miners time off to attend explosion victims' funerals.
April 15, 2010 07:50 AM EDT (Updated: April 15, 2010 07:52 AM EDT)
views: 143 | 7 people recommend this | comments: 8
Families begin to bury 29 killed in West Virginia explosion

”They used to say to the miners in the old days: ‘when the dynamite goes off, you better be sure the donkeys are far away. You can do whatever you want with yourselves. You’re replaceable, but we only have so many donkeys.’”

"In an especially vindictive move, workers said that Massey has refused to allow miners time off so that they can attend the funerals of their coworkers."

Most of the bodies have yet to be recovered, because the gas remains at dangerous levels.


Twenty-nine men died so quickly that not one got his emergency escape kit off his belt, in a massive gas-generated explosion in an enclosed space. The blast front was channeled through the galleries, and reversed exhaust fans five miles away. A shock wave that confined and that strong does terrible things to the insides of a man as it travels through them. Those men were killed by the largest blunt instrument there is... a blast front shock wave.

From what I've read here on gather, and in articles elsewhere, Massey is a less than desirable employer. If they still owned donkeys, I'm guessin' that would still be their slogan.


http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978174401

Sid

This thread's littered with reports about the funerals that mention nothing about retaliation.

should leave as a block and dare the bosses to fire everyone. Before and after (but NOT during) the funeral I would talk loudly with my coworkers about the company's antics so that EVERYONE would have a good idea of the kind of company they were looking at.

But that's just me.

Q3JR4.

:grr:

your families you have the balls and get yourselves organized. You all have the power to close it down. Get a union.

This is how things were done before unions worked so hard so everyone (including the union basher's) could have benefits including bereavement.

This is what it will be returning to for everyone once they have killed all the unions.

pass the smell test to me.



party on my red brothers and sisters :rofl:

BTW I think 3 freepers passed out just reading this post

I think you caused a minor stroke to a few people in this site. For which I commend you... well played, well played... ;-)

like they care about the soldiers in thier command is to have memorial services where all possible personel are required to attend, we have skeleton crews in all critial shops, and if not manning one of those posts your place of duty is that memorial service. Some people wouldnt attend if it wasn't mandatory, but most of us fight to be able to and stay off the detail that has to stay on duty.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/us/10victims.html

Nowhere is there any indication that the miners who attended funerals were then fired.

To ban all corporations, There is nothing more evil in the world than Corporations, These Massey Head honchos should be arrested, Tried, Convicted, than Put in Jail for life with hard labor, (Hard Labor, is they take a Sledge hammer and hit rocks for 12 straight hours and only be fed bread and water 7 days a week)

Massey Energy is a soulless corporation! :mad:

A Union would absolutely have been enforcing OSHA, demanding company violations be adhered to and looking to make sure all other safety standards & rules for it's Union workers and miners were being enforced & followed....

(Unions also of course not only fight for better working conditions for it's workers, but also for better pay and benefits...republican 7 corporations despise this they want it all, all the profit).

But safety cost the corporations a little bit of profits so fuck the workers, their life is cheap, always more where they came from.

The republican asshole CEO Don Blankenship of Massey Energy insisted he'd close down all work & the mines if workers voted in a Union....

These are truly the fucking republican pigs we have to deal with daily!!

And still republicans do not want to endorse legislation to protect miners (or any workers) because it would hurt the corporations profits...It's always FUCK the worker in favor of corporate profits.

understand the power we have. If we stick together there is nothing we can't do. All the workers go to the funeral... we all refuse to work in the mines until safe...

If the M$M won't report on this, then the media is freaking heartless. Corporate greed and deregulation can even be deadly. But the American public shouldn't know that!

And I bet if he knew his loved ones were down there he'd start fixing all the shit wrong with his places of employment.

running an inaccurate story? Ever?

Or is it that scary "S" word that concerns you?

I'll wait.

or are you refusing to acknowledge that the story appears absolutely nowhere else indicates there's not much credibility?

I'll wait.

that a story appearing in only one place, or not appearing in the MSM, has any bearing on its reliability. Plenty of huge stories have been buried in small publications or never reported at all. Not to mention that you began by disparaging the source here yet you have completely failed to back your smack.

will the workers of the world realize they need each other? Collective bargaining would put an end to this Massey Energy bullshit.

We know enough people in the mining industry to check on this. The coal people in the family laughed themselves silly at the phrase "Massey uniforms."

broadcasting the sorry a$$ CE O's home address, telephone numbers and places he enjoys like restaurants, country club and such.

Just follow him around and ANNOY the corrupt, useless bastard until he commits suicide.

But, a prick like that doesn't have a conscience. He's just another greedy conservanazi prick.

Now, with this new insult, I'd say the United Mine Workers should push hard to unionize Massey and remind the media AND Congress to pass the EFCA.

If I were a Massey employee, I'd show up just to spite the bastard and then find a lawyer to sue him for wrongful dismissal.

This is an insult to the dead miners and their co-workers.

Incredible!

the White House about this atrocity. Please do the same.

"The beatings will cease when morale improves!"

:sarcasm:

:nuke:

but unfortunately, it appears that most of those commenting lack the capacity to be skeptical or await confirmation.

FWIW, the story at this link indicates that at one of the funerals, "there were plenty of miners and miners' families squeezed onto narrow chairs at the low-ceilinged Armstrong Funeral Home chapel" While it doesn't say that any or all of these miners were massey employees,but its hard to believe that, if none of them were, that point would not have been noticed and commented upon.

http://www.modbee.com/2010/04/09/1121848/faith-pride-sustain-miners-families.html

The 29 dead miners are, well, dead. They can no longer generate profit for the greedy capitalist so it's onward. This is the capitalist system as it has always been and always will be. Once you can no longer generate surplus value you are quite expendable. Moreover, consider how many days of production were lost searching for survivors. The lost profit must be regained in this quarter, not the next quarter. On another note, how many of the safety violations do you think have been corrected? Given Massey's track record no doubt he'll blame the dead for working unsafely, not that the mine itself was unsafe mind you.

...since you assured us all that this was the twoof.

was anyone fired?

Any update from WSWS?

Sid

to the funerals.

Actually he said since someone was already on vacation it would make things difficult, but the choice was mine, but he thought it best that I not take a couple days off.

I regret that decision, but it was a big part of me actually looking at the systems in place in the world, and where the value of those systems are. I quit that job a few months later.

And if anyone was to check my work history, I was a very productive hard worker, hundreds of hours off the clock, efficient, good customer service, and good employee relations.

However for them it was about profit.

It is not good to regret things, but I regret that, and do know it was my choice, but at the time, I was still in a captured mentality of thinking that the hierarchy of a system meant more then my thoughts on such issues.

Sid

this was true.