GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE SAGO MINE INVESTIGATION

Here is some very good news about the investigation into the Sago Mine disaster.

A United States Federal District Court Judge ruled today that the United Mine Workers must be permitted to participate in the investigation. The Company had tried to exclude the union on the grounds that they would hinder the investigation and were only trying to advance the union drive in a non-union mine. (who cares...safety is the issue).

The Judge basically said "bollocks!". He observed that the union has decades of experience in mine safety (to a large extent it is their "raison d'etre"). The Judge said that "...there is a strong public interest in in allowing miners to play a role in this investigation as it is their health and safety that is at issue."

The Renaissance Man says "Damn straight!"

Here are some salient exerpts from the news article:

"ELKINS, W.Va. - Breaking an impasse that had briefly held up the investigation of the Sago Mine disaster, a federal judge ruled Thursday that officials with the United Mine Workers union can accompany state and federal investigators while they gather evidence underground...The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration took the owner of the Sago Mine, International Coal Group Inc., to court on Wednesday after ICG blocked union representatives from entering the nonunion mine. The coal company argued that the UMW's presence would hinder the investigation and that the union was only trying to boost its organizing efforts.

But U.S. District Judge Robert E. Maxwell ordered ICG to allow the union representatives to enter the mine, saying the UMW has decades of expertise in mine disasters to offer.

"There's no question that the public interest is best served by a complete and thorough investigation into the occurrence of the problems at the Sago Mine," Maxwell said. "There is a strong public interest in allowing miners to play a role in this investigation, as it is their health and safety that is at issue."

The federal mine-safety agency has already recognized the UMW as a partner in the investigation, and the union has been sitting in on investigators' interviews, over the coal company's objections. The UMW is representing the interests of two of the 97 employees at the mine. Ninety-two others signed a petition to represent themselves.

All ICG operations in West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland and Illinois are nonunion.

After the hearing, a union official denied the intent was to boost membership.

"We have one goal and the goal is to find out what the cause was, how to prevent it in the future and to make sure other miners and miners' families don't have to go through this," said Tim Baker, a UMW health and safety official.

MSHA attorney Tim Williams said the teams of investigators would probably need seven to 10 days underground to gather evidence. The company had asked the judge to impose a 10-day limit on the union's involvement, but he refused to do so."

Here is the link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060126/ap_on_re_us/mine_investigation

The Renaissance Man has a question...why would the company want to exclude a union that has as its main function the safety of its members? Are they hiding something?

The Renaissance Man wants to know.