Meanwhile, miners and other workers have been expressing outrage as more coal miners have been dying on the job across this region, with many pointing out that it is the bosses’ profit drive that’s killing workers.

On July 30 Jermey Heckler, a welder at a West Virginia coal preparation facility, became the 37th coal miner in the United States to die on the job this year, compared to 22 in all of 2005.

Earlier in July two other miners died on the job in eastern Kentucky, bringing the toll in the state to 13—already five more than in all of 2005, according to the state Office of Mine Safety.

United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) president Cecil Roberts is scheduled to speak in Harlan, Kentucky, on August 19 at a memorial for miners killed in Harlan County.  
 
Drug and alcohol testing
The seven miners whose licenses were recently suspended for alleged drug-test failures have 30 days to appeal or can reapply for certification if they pass a drug test within 30 days prior to reapplication.

While many miners the Militant interviewed said they supported drug testing, most opposed taking away a miner’s certification to work. “It’s not fair to take a miner’s papers away,” said Jack Colbert, a roof bolter at the Consol mine in Letcher County. “If a fella gets in a program and cleans himself up he should be allowed to work again.”

“This is very difficult work,” said James Hollan, a mine electrician. “You are deep down in a hole for long hours. I can see how it could drive somebody to drink or worse.”

Jeffery Nelson, a mechanic at the Elkhorn Mine, said he supports the random drug testing. “They need to get them out,” he said. “They are a danger to themselves and other miners.”

The new drug- and alcohol-testing law requires applicants for mining certification, including mine emergency medical personnel, to “demonstrate that they are drug and alcohol free,” according to a summary posted on the state’s web site.

It includes the use of breathalyzer tests. A reading at a level of .04 or greater results in denial or suspension of certification.

The law also authorizes the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing to conduct post-accident drug and alcohol testing, including of people working in the immediate area of the accident and “those that reasonably may have contributed to the accident.”  
 
Bosses’ profit drive causes deaths
Jermey Heckler, 30, was killed when a pressurized tire blew up while he was welding a grinding on the tire rim, according to press reports. Heckler worked for Circle M Enterprises, a contractor that operates a truck garage for the Star Bridge Preparation Plant in Mill Creek, West Virginia.

During a recent inspection, the Mine Safety and Health Agency (MSHA) cited the contractor for four safety violations, including one for performing maintenance on raised equipment that had not been securely locked out, reported the Charleston Gazette.

Many miners and other workers interviewed said it is the bosses’ profit drive, including speedup and cutting corners on safety, which is resulting in more injuries and deaths on the job.

John May was killed July 20 when a grader he was operating ran over him at Central Appalachian Mining’s Slate Branch Mine in Freeburn, Kentucky. Authorities investigating the accident have given conflicting initial reports, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. A state police report said May was behind the grader. A state mine safety agency report said he was alongside it. And a federal mine safety agency report said he was attempting to remount the machine.

“The bosses were always pushing us to work extra hours at the end of our scheduled shift. We will never know what really caused John May’s death,” said Tommy Daniels, a friend of May who worked for 13 years at a nearby Massey coal mine as a grade operator.  
 
‘I just blame the boss’
Connie Short said the company was responsible for the death of her son, Jason Mosley. “I just blame the boss,” she told the Militant August 4 in Hindman, Kentucky.

Mosley, a drill operator at the Hendrickson Equipment’s Smith Branch No. 1 surface mine, was killed July 18 when material fell from a highwall and crushed the covered cab of his drilling machine, the Herald-Leader reported.

The mine has been open since October 2005. According to AP, MSHA has cited the mine 10 times, most recently in June for equipment violations and for allowing loose, hazardous material to accumulate on top of pits and highwalls.

These deaths have come on top of the May 20 disaster at the Darby Mine No. 1 in Holmes Mill, Harlan County, where five miners died after a blast underground. All the mines in that county, and virtually all in eastern Kentucky, are nonunion.

UMWA president Roberts will be a featured speaker at a memorial for miners killed in Harlan County in the last year. Family members of the five miners killed May 20 are organizing the event, which will be held at 4:00 p.m., August 19, at the Harlan Center in Harlan. Speakers will include elected officials and relatives of the fallen miners.

Dan Fein from New York contributed to this article.
 
 
Related articles:
Serious injuries increase along with deaths in mines
Kentucky, W. Virginia miners snap up ‘Militant’
No to drug testing! Unionize the mines!  
 
 
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