Very very sad. I feel I should post on this as it has happened very close to home – an hour or so away.
It’s been a long time since WV has had a mine disaster like this. The tragedy of having people alive, but trapped and trying to rescue them before time runs out makes events like this so very sad. To make this even worse the families are mistakenly told that 12 are alive only to find out 3 hours later that only one is alive and 12 dead. I can’t imagine how crushing that must have been.
One of the miners was from Newburg just “down the road” from us and a friend of one of my clients.
CNN: Grief, anger as all but one miner found dead
West Virginia is usually largely ignored in the media, so to have the spotlight shown so brightly on us all the sudden is …uncomfortable. I’d like to see research later on how the media portrays the people and the state. I think it’s been fairly objective, but you can tell the media don’t really “get” WV. Wolf Blitzer kept asking “Why would someone work in the mines?” Well, when the alternative is Wal-Mart at $5.15 an hour without benefits, why wouldn’t you seriously consider a $17.00 an hour job? Hell, that’s more than I make as a web designer working for the state. Even if you have a degree in something here, there aren’t very many good paying jobs.
The next question the outside world asks is “Well, why don’t you leave and find something better?” Lots of West Virginians do. Which means there are fewer people here to attract jobs, pay taxes and make West Virginia better. Aside from that point – we love our home. We want to live here. I love living in the country. It’s safe here – most natural disasters pass us by (aside from snow and flooding). There is very little crime and I think overall we’re a pretty friendly, sincere lot. But I digress (as I usually do)…
No one (at least in the reports I’ve seen) has reported on this being a NON-union mine. Maybe I’m glamorizing the unions a little, but they tend to insist the company work harder on mine safety. I did here Cecil Roberts (the UMW president) on the radio today talking about how union miners were helping with the rescue effort and that the UMW was trying to help out in any way it can – in spite of the mine not being unionized.
Mining is a damn dangerous job. Unions are a nuisance to the people who make the profits, but I think of all professions, this one really needs solidarity. When you work in a profession that could take your life at any minute, you should have some representation.
Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t limit benefits of unionization to only life-threatening work. I just think these kinds of jobs are too dangerous for someone to be on his own if he protests the safety of a mine, wages, hours or benefits.
Well…I can go on and on, but I won’t.
I’m sending my positive thoughts to the lone survivor and his family.
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Saw the tragedy in danish TV tonight.
Found your blog by surfing around.
This makes no dead miners alive, but you got to know, that these miners and their families are in our minds.
But what to do, when we are sitting in Denmark 10.000 miles away?
I think it is correct what you write about the union at places like mines and so.
And I am still waiting for the whole story:
How could it happen, that the miners first were said to be alive and shortly after: “all dead!”
How can these families ever belive in anybody after today?