Blankenship, Massey deny miners time off for miners to attend funerals

As initially reported by Think Progress:
Massey Energy, the Virginia-based coal giant that runs the Upper Big Branch Mine, has denied time off for miners to attend their friends' funerals; has rejected makeshift memorials outside the mine site; and, in at least one case, required a worker to go on shift even though the fate of a relative - one of the victims of the April 5 disaster - remained unknown at the time, according to some family members and other sources familiar with those episodes. In short, the company might be taking heat for putting profits and efficiency above its workers, but it doesn't appear to have changed its tune in the wake of the worst mining tragedy in 40 years.

http://wvablue.com/diary/5765/blankenship-massey-deny-time-off-for-miners-to-attend-funerals

No wonder the GOP loves this guy.

what a classy guy. I'm surprised he has the guts to show his face around his employees. What a total prick.

~

Original report http://washingtonindependent.com/82941/in-coal-county-a-culture-of-fear
Massey's denial http://washingtonindependent.com/83035/massey-denies-it-prevented-miners-from-attending-funerals

Certainly worth looking into - but I remain rather skeptical, as I was about the WSWS story which seems to have inspired this. It's very thin someone-who-knows-someone stuff. OK, there may be a 'culture of fear' among workers, but professional journalists, including bloggers, know (or should know) how the law protects journalists and their sources, and should be getting their information first hand - under a promise of journalistic anonymity - from multiple sources.

Maybe as they and other news organizations look into the background of the disaster, they will be able to confirm this story. But right now, it's long on rumor and short on facts.

Even though I wouldn't put it past that POS Blankenship he's got to know that this kind of negative publicity would more than screw up the money he lost by shutting down for a day.

I know enough people in the mining industry to know this. Massey is bending over backwards to be seen as the nice, responsible company that cares about its employees.

I don't understand why they would report this if it wasn't true. Unless they never did report it :shrug:

Not sure where it started, everyone seems to be picking it up from everyone else. But take it from mine country, Massey is playing nice for the moment. They know they're in deep doodoo because so many people KNEW ventilation was bad at the face, but yet every violation was contested, inspectors were intimidated (perhaps bought off, don't know that for sure), and Blankenship was pushing for production at any cost.

Sid

" taking 29 lives. The authorities know who did it, so shouldn't that person be made to pay for this heinous crime?
Yes! But the killer is one of America's largest coal corporations, Massey Energy Company, and you can't give the death penalty to a corporation. Can you? Well, the Supreme Court has ruled that a corporation is a "person" – so why not?http://www.jimhightower.com//node/7115