Unions Save Lives

By Dick Meister

Submitted to portside by the author

A miner's life is like a sailor's 'Board a ship to
cross the waves Every day his life's in danger Still he
ventures being brave ---Traditional labor song

A new study shows that unionization is a sure way to
dramatically lessen the many deaths and serious
injuries that have been all too common in the nation's
coal mines.

That's the unequivocal conclusion of the independent
study of coal mining between 1993 and 2008 conducted by
Stanford law professor Allson Morantz and funded by the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH).

There's no doubting it: Workers in unionized mines are
far less likely to be killed or seriously injured than
are workers in non-union mines.

The study indicates that the number of fatalities in
individual non-union mines can decline by one-third up
to nearly three-fourths and serious injuries decline by
as much as one-third if the mines unionize.

It's no coincidence, notes President Cecil Roberts of
the United Mine Workers Union, that several major mine
disasters recently were at non-union mines. That
includes the explosion at Massey Energies' Upper Big
Branch mine in West Virginia that killed 29 miners last
year, the Crandell Canyon, Utah, blast that killed nine
miners in 2007 and the Sago explosion in West Virginia
in 2006 that killed 12.

"The simple truth," Roberts concludes, "is that union
mines are safer mines, and this study proves that."

He gets ready agreement for that obvious truth from
union leaders and members at all levels of the labor
movement, right up to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
He was a coal miner himself, as were his father and
grandfather.

Trumka says he learned firsthand "the vital importance
of workers having a voice on the job through their
union."

Spreading unionization throughout the coal mining
industry is a key mission of the United Mine Workers.
But though that doubtlessly would lead to greater coal
mine safety, the union's Democratic Party allies must
meanwhile continue pressing for stronger mine safety
laws  and stronger enforcement of the laws.

Those steps and the labor-management cooperation in
collective bargaining and otherwise that the steps
would require would guarantee that coal mine job safety
would continue to improve  perhaps at even a faster
rate than shown by Professor Morantz' study.

Labor, management and government would be in a far
better position to do much more of what's needed to
continue lowering the still high number of mine worker
fatalities.

That's not just a daydream. Listen to the AFL-CIO's
Mike Hall. He knows. Says Hall: "With all we know
today, and all the avenues of protection available,
there is simply no need for even one life to be lost on
the job."

One of Congress' most outspoken and effective safety
advocates, veteran Democratic Rep. George Miller of
California, sees the study as unassailable evidence
that unionization leads to greater safety.

Miller, ranking Democrat on the House Education and
Workforce Committee, is certain that "when workers have
a voice in the mine through their union, they are
safer. In union mines, workers are empowered to point
out dangerous conditions to inspectors without fear of
retaliation from management."

It clearly demonstrates that "by giving miners the
support they need to speak out, unions can save miners
lives."  So can the United Mine Workers' stepped-up
campaign to bring more workers under the direct
protection of the union and the union's expanding
safety training programs for miners everywhere.

Saving lives. No union could have a greater purpose.


Dick Meister, a San Francisco-based freelance
columnist, has covered labor and politics for more than
a half-century as a reporter, editor, author and
commentator. Contact him through his website,
www.dickmeister.com. 

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