Nothing to Lose But Your Life

Matt McLean

Like many across North America, I spent the first days of 2006 watching the Sago Mine tragedy unfold. Initially the media largely treated Sago as a human interest story. However, once the dust had settled and the vultures in corporate media had finished exploiting the tragedy for ratings, questions regarding the safety of Sago Mine, and the mining industry in general, began to emerge.

The media, always hesitant to critique its partners in capitalism, has broached this subject delicately. They have reported that the U.S. Mine Safety and Heath Administration (MSHA) cited Sago 205 times in 2005 for safety violations, 96 of which were considered “serious and substantial,” and parts of the mine were temporarily shut down on 18 occasions. Overall, Sago’s injury rates were three times higher than the national industry average, and Sago was fined $24,144 in 2005.

The media has provided plenty of airtime and column space to representatives of International Coal Group (ICG). Ben Hatfield, CEO of ICG, admitted to Bloomberg that Sago had a “bad history,” but stressed the innocence of his company as they had only operated the mine since November, 2005. Senior vice president for mining services Gene Kitts told the Associated Press that ICG had improved safety in the mine and was “working to improve the safety program across the board.” ICG’s head investor, New York billionaire Wilbur Ross, told the Associated Press that ICG has never “declined one penny of either expense or capex [capital expenditure] for any safety activity.”

Giving credence to this argument, the Associated Press quoted Mike Write, director of health, safety and environment for the United Steelworkers, as saying Ross’s International Steel Group “had a pretty good safety program and one that really respected the union.” Another Associated Press article quoted Sago worker Denver Anderson, who vouched for ICG’s dedication to safety.

What is missing in the media is a critical evaluation of ICG’s claims. According to MSHA records, ICG currently operates seven underground coal mines. Of the five ICG began operating in late 2004, four showed higher incidence rates (injuries and accidents) in 2005, and overall incidence rates increased 97 per cent under ICG management.

The Flint Ridge Mine that ICG opened in 2005 had an incidence rate more than double the national industry average. In their six weeks of operations at Sago, ICG was cited 14 times for safety violations, which included four citations for high levels of combustible material accumulation and three roof collapses. Whatever ICG’s intensions, injury and accident rates have drastically increased under their management.

Responsibility for Sago does not rest with ICG alone. Over the last five years the Bush administration has systematically reduced government monitoring of the coal industry, lowered punishment for infractions and undermined safety regulations. To facilitate this process Bush appointed David Lauriski, a former mining company executive, as the head of the MSHA during his first term. In addition, the New York Times has reported that a large number of mining industry executives and lobbyists have been appointed to oversee federal safety and environmental regulations of the mining industry.

As a Knight Ridder Newspapers exposé uncovered, since 2001, major fines against the coal mining industry — those above $10,000 — have dropped by 10 per cent, and the median fine has dropped 43 per cent. In addition to lowering major fines in both quantity and substance, the federal government has only collected 50 per cent of fines levied between 2001 and 2003.

Even basic mine monitoring has been under attack, as budget cutbacks have reduced enforcement personnel by 100. According to the NewStandard, MSHA has undone 17 safety regulations since 2001. These actions are indicative of the current neo-liberal global economic order, which stresses the freedom of corporations from government regulation, and the rights of corporations to make profits at the expense of workers’ rights to fair wages, health benefits, pensions and safety in the workplace.

This attack on workers by the Bush administration has been met with a weak response from America’s big unions, as they too have become less vigilant in protecting workers’ safety. Let’s not forget that in May of 2005 the AFL-CIO, America’s largest union organization, closed its health and safety office, laying off staff and assigning their tasks to the government-affairs office.

For workers, as the 12 dead at Sago illustrate, everyday on the job is a safety threat. Workers in mines, garment factories, convenience stores, the sex industry, etc, all face risks which could leave them injured or dead. Workers cannot rely on the benevolence of the corporations that employ them, the government that regulates industry or fat-cat union bosses to protect them.

Only through a militant working culture will we succeed in ensuring that our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends return uninjured from work each day. Workers must recall the wisdom of our forbearers in the workers movement, who defiantly proclaimed that “An Injury to One is an Injury to All!”

Matt McLean is pursuing a masters degree in history.