>
> The mine is run by the International Coal Group, which is controlled
> by Wilbur Ross. Ross is the same guy who put together the
> International Steel Group and bought Bethlehem, LTV, and Weirton
> Steel; extracted prodigious concessions from the Steelworkers
> including cuts in retiree health benefits; dumped the pension
> liabilities on the PBGC; and then sold the company for $4.5 billion
> to Lakshmi Mittal. He's now doing the same in coal. Details here:
>
> http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06004/632241.stm
>
> Most of the mines owned by International Coal are non-union,
> including this one. I find it especially endearing that they're
> saying that International Coal was "improving" the safety performance
> of the mine as compared to Aker, the bankrupt operator that they
> bought out this past November. Why the mine was still in operation at
> all when it had so many outstanding safety violations is a question
> that Wilbur Ross and/or George Bush's Mine Safety and Health
> Administration ought to be forced to answer -- but likely never will.
> I'll answer it for them, though: because it was profitable for a lot
> of people who didn't have to go underground to die. It turns out that
> the class struggle is very much alive, doesn't it?
>
What to say? That America is a voyeur at some other prole's wake?
[January 04 2006] Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: A Short History Of The The Disaster That *IS* The American Coal Industry
http://leighmdotnet.blogspot.com/2006/01/january-04-2006-travus-t-hipp-morning.html
More... From Poynter Institute: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=2&aid=94595
Including: Where The Coal Is - PDF http://www.nma.org/pdf/c_bearing_areas.pdf
Where The Coal Is - Regional Rankings - PDF http://www.nma.org/pdf/c_production_state_rank.pdf
Leigh www.leighm.net
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