Vol. 71/No. 33      September 10, 2007

BY DENICE WADE
AND REBECCA WILLIAMSON  
HUNTINGTON, Utah—From the first days following the collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine, Young Socialists have been joining teams of Militant supporters in solidarity with those affected by the disaster as well as helping get out the truth.

We have been meeting workers, young people, and others throughout Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, discussing the real cause of this disaster—the coal bosses’ drive for increased production and profit, cutting corners on safety and putting the lives and limbs of miners in danger.

We heard numerous stories from miners, retired miners, and family members about conditions that miners faced at Crandall Canyon, especially since coal boss Robert Murray took over the operation two years ago. A young miner who had worked for Murray told us that he quit because he was not allowed to have a meter to make checks of gas levels, which at high levels can lead to an explosion.

Young Socialists have also been learning firsthand from retired miners what the conditions were like when more mines were unionized, and how they were safer because of that. The daughter of a retired union miner told us that in her father’s job there would always be two other workers there to help and watch your back. Nowadays, she said, they do some jobs alone.

A supporter of the Militant from Salt Lake City and a Young Socialist went to Hyrum, Utah, where there is a Swift meatpacking plant that had been raided by la migra twice since last December. Many of the meat packers we met identified with conditions mine workers face. Bosses are notorious in meatpacking for routinely skipping safety measures to speed up production.

In these discussions, Young Socialists have been pointing out the need to build strong unions in the mines and in other workplaces, so that the safety and lives of the workers are not in the hands of the bosses. The belief that certain jobs are inevitably dangerous and that some workers will have to die doing them needs to be dispelled. Mining can be done safely and without fatalities when miners can use their union power to put safety and the interests of the workers first.
 
 
Related articles:
‘Militant’ gets around in coalfields
‘Militant’ teams in Britain reach coal miners  
 
 
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