Republicans Are Killing Life Saving Mine Regulations

 From The Valley Labor Report:

Start at around 1:07 to hear the report on he miners.

A seperate report from the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) included the following comments from Union President Cecil Roberts and some needed context:

“What does this rule do?”, said President Roberts. “It’s not overly complicated. More people will be alive 10 years from now if it wasn’t for what we’ve done fighting for this rule. All we have been fighting for decades now is to try and save people’s lives.”

“Young miners in their 30’s and 40’s are getting lung diseases that are being exacerbated by silica dust. What was thought to be a disease of the past is coming back with a vengeance because miners are cutting more rock than ever before. This is a critical step to keeping miners safe and healthy. Now, our focus shifts to holding mining operators accountable. The UMWA remains steadfast in our efforts to ensure strict adherence to the new legislation within the industry.“This is a critical step to keeping miners safe and healthy, not just day to day, but for their full lifetime. This is a good day for miners. Workers in other industries have long been protected from excessive exposure to silica dust, but miners were not, even though they work in an environment where silica dust is encountered daily. It was a travesty that the government had never taken steps to protect them, but now it finally has,” Roberts said.

MSHA’s final rule will improve the health and safety of U.S. miners significantly. The rule will result in an estimated total of 1,067 lifetime avoided deaths and 3,746 lifetime avoided cases of silica-related illnesses. The rule will take effect for coal mines in April, 2025 and for metal and nonmetal mines in April, 2026, in order to ensure operators have the tools to implement it correctly.

Read the entire article from the union here.

Photo from In These Times

Labor journalist Kim Kelly has a good article in In These Times under today's date under the headline 

"Republicans Just Handed Down a Death Sentence to the Nation's Coal Miners." She says

It’s clear that the Republican committee members are determined to slash and burn away whatever ​“excesses” they can find, and nowhere is that more apparent than in their disgusting betrayal of the coal miners their party loves so dearly to pretend to respect. Section 123 of the bill reads, ​“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to administer, implement, or enforce the proposed rule entitled ​‘Lowering Miners’ Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection,’ published by the Department of Labor in the Federal Register on April 18, 2024.” The language is bloodless, but the intent is utterly vicious: These highly paid, pampered modern aristocrats sat back in their padded chairs and casually handed down a potential death sentence to 44,000 people.

That’s how many coal miners currently work in the U.S. as of June 2024. One in 5 of those miners — those who have spent more than 20 years underground — is suffering from coal miner’s pneumoconiosis, the dreadful degenerative lung disease known more colloquially as black lung. As I reported in my 2023 In These Times investigation, ​“The Young Miners Dying of ​‘An Old Man’s Disease,’ ” the biggest direct cause of that spike in cases is silica dust. Coal miners across Central Appalachia are being overexposed to the toxic substance as they work underground, and it has been wreaking havoc upon their lungs and lives. While Rep. Aderholt has been enjoying his cushy office on Capitol Hill, they’ve been breathing in death.

Please read that article here.