Miners Die Due to Safety Violations

May 23, 2011

Dear Editor:

Open Letter to the Republican Party and the Tea Party Movement:

A little more than a year ago, 29 miners died needlessly in the Upper Big Branch coal mine accident in West Virginia. At that time, Massey Energy, owner of the mine, claimed that it maintained adequate safety standards, despite numerous previous citations for safety violations. Massey Energy was paying lip service to the safety of the miners, while maximizing its profits.

In the aftermath of this tragedy, the state of West Virginia commissioned a report to determine the reasons for the disaster. It names poor and unsafe working conditions and a lack of maintenance of safety equipment and machinery as major contributing factors in causing the deaths of these men. Again, Massey Energy was sacrificing worker safety, while protecting its corporate profits.

During the George W. Bush administration, the federal Mine Safety Administration chose lax inspection and enforcement of safety standards at the Upper Big Branch and other mines. The administration came down on the side of the company, allowing it to build up its profits. This was as inexcusable as the corporation’s perpetrating its violations. Once again, Massey made out like bandits. Safety laws and regulations must be enforced to protect the well-being and lives of workers.

Recently, our congressional delegation has given support for an amendment to the Constitution, which would allow states to pick and choose which federal laws and regulations they could nullify, if enough states choose to do so. Senator Enzi spoke disparagingly of “unelected bureaucrats,” enforcing so-called unnecessary regulations and statutes. Since when did those in agencies charged with enforcing statutes passed by Congress become “unelected bureaucrats?” What a phony argument!

The Republican Party and the Tea Party Movement show contempt for government – no matter what size. Oddly enough, they are constantly acting contrary to freedom and the free enterprise system.

It’s time to ask, “What is more important, the safety and lives of working people or corporate profits?”

Enough is enough! Instead of believing the hysterical reactions and false claims of “encroachment by the feds,” each thinking person must ask these groups, “When, where, and how will you put first the rights and safety of working people to earn a decent living?”

Tom Davis

2563 Hanway Avenue

Casper, WY 82604

266-3015