I'm On a Non-Related Rant!

[rake60]

Coming from a coal mining family, my heart and prayers are in West Virginia.

25 coal miners confirmed dead and 4 missing.

And then, the CEO of the company who owns that coal mine acknowledges the
the fact that the mine had been evacuated 4 times so far this year for methane
gas build up. He goes on to say this lethal explosion may have been caused by a
condition created by the miners themselves.

OK, give that man a candle and have him go in there to recover the dead.

I have often been accused of being over safety conscious.
Not right now! I'd even light that candle for him!

The odds of the missing 4 being alive are slim to none.
We have seen miracles happen in our coal field before.
With hope against hope, I wish this to become another one.

I stand hard behind anyone who is even remotely associated with me.
Then again, I am not doing it for a profit.

So we killed 25 guys today. Time to look at the pending job application box.
Hope they don't kill themselves in a mine filled with methane where I am totally
unaware of that being a problem. Get those bodies out of there as soon as
possible. Time is money.

Maybe I just don't understand the big picture.
I have never been a money driven man or the CEO of a company that is money
driven.

My rules are Safety First, Family First, and Health First.
A lot of firsts there.
Good old American corporate greed doesn't recognize any of those values.

Sorry for the off topic rant...

Rick

 

[Shopguy]

Amen brother. When is the corporate world going to learn.
Ernie J

 

[user 1493]

I lost half of my pension and my brother lost 3/4's of his due to a bankruptcy but the suits in upper management left with pockets full of cash. What ever happened to corporate integrity?

Jack

 

[Maryak]

What ever happened to corporate integrity?

Jack

Nothing - because there is no such thing.

 

[Blogwitch]

Rick,

I am fully with you on the action about these spineless money grabbing leeches, plus any other unsavoury words you can think of about them.

I could in no way be classed as a vindictive person any more.

But when it comes to anyone who lives off the backs of others, and causes harm and suffering to another human being for their own greed and well being, I could quite easily and happily turn off their air supply, without even having to think about it.

There is a massive difference between a good employer and these loathesome sharks who would take the last crumb out of a child's mouth so long as he is OK.

As Rick said, force them to swap roles, and see how they like it.

Bogs

 

[b.lindsey]

While this latest tragedy in West Virginia does seem to be an example of gross corporate neglegence as far as safety is concerned, and while I whole heartedly agree that we have seen many many examples of corporate greed in the last few years....Enron, AIG, Merryl Lynch just to name a few...there is plenty of blame to go around! While I am not a CEO and will likely never see as much money as some of these guys take home in one years bonus...I am, like all of us, a consumer, and we have a voice too, be it verbally or with our pocketbooks. What have we been saying over the last decade? To some degree Wal-Mart's slogan "More for Less" sums it up pretty well. Has that not contributed to the exodus of jobs to every corner of the world, regardless of their safety, environmental, or human rights records? Do we not buy far eastern machine tools because they are affordable, despite the fact that we know in advance that we will have to rebuild them and tweak them to make them usable, and what are the conditions in those factories where the pending job application box may contain not dozens but thousands of applications.

I despise the trends in corporate responsibility as much as anyone, and my thoughts and prayers are with these families in WV for the incalculable loss they have and are suffering. But the sad truth is that until we as citizens and consumers are willing to contact our state or national agencies, our power companies, or our elected representatives and tell them "yes...i am willing to pay 15% more per month for my electricity PROVIDED that you will assure that that money goes to decent wages and a truly SAFE work environment for miners and not into the pockets of mine owners," this tragedy will be replayed over and over. Unfortunately we have developed an "out of sight, out of mind mentality. We remain a compasionate people, willing to step in and help in times of crisis and then go quietly about our lives once the crisis has passed.

Rick...I hope the 4 remaining miners will get thier miracle. This is a good discussion to have even here and I appreciate the post.

Bill

 

[bearcar1]

My deepest sympathies go to the wives and children of the twenty five miners that perished in that disaster and ll of my prayers go to the wives and children of the four missing miners. May God grant them one of his devine miracles. Now then, to the point of the CEO acknowledging, though rather vaguely at that, the fact of that mine being not up to federal safety standards is absolutely criminal and he should stand trial for negligent man slaughter at the very least. *IF* a good criminal lawyer can prove that the CEO did in fact have first hand knowledge of the violations (of course he did) than the charge could then be increased to manslaughter and the bum would not see the light of day ever again if he were convicted. Of course obscene amounts of ill gotten gained profit will be used in his defense and the whole business will be buried in the legal system for decades to come. (perhaps Jack Ruby had the right idea, bang, bang) Corporate integrity? Ha! Moral obligation? Ha! Greed and more greed has taken over our societies and the regular working men and woman have become nothing but disposables to the bastards that have only one thing on their mind --- MONEY! The day of reckoning is in the cards for these weasels and God will punish them dearly, let us all pray that the innocent will also get their well earned rewards. The meek shall inherit the Earth. I hope that I live long enough to see that become true.

BC1
Jim

 

[kf2qd]

Why the heck don't the miners worry about their own safety more? I know it is difficult finding a job in some of those areas, but if those miners aren't too concerned about their own safety, then you sure can't expect management to care much.

We all work/play with tools (that are no where near as hazardous) and at some point we have all made a descision to be safe or take a shortcut (and bear the scars...) By now there should be some way for these miners to enforce safety. Were they Union miners? If so, where is the Union when it comes to taking care of the miners? (I know, same place tehy were when I was in a Union shop. Collecting the money and running...) No matter what rules, regulations and outside watchdogs ther are it still depends on the guy risking his life to take care of the safety problems. You need to look out for yourself AND your neighbor in a situation like this.

 

[fcheslop]

As an ex miner in the U.K my heart goes out to the relatives of these men lost in this disaster and I hope that the courts will make an example of these senior managers.Its sad to see safety standards falling across the pond as well as in the U.K
regards frazer

 

[shred]

A while back some sort of engine search got me onto the "Man Engine" at the Levant mine in Cornwall and the undersea mines in that area Miners sure had some brass ones in those days.

Here's hoping they get those poor guys in WVa out alive.

 

[rake60]

USA Coal Mining Regulation mandate the placement of air tight rescue pods
in the mines. The first one the rescue teams made it to was empty.
They have not made it to the second one that is closer to where the miners should have been.
They keep getting driven back by the gas build up that "may or may not exist",
before they can reach it. Those pods have enough food, water and oxygen to support
15 miners for 96 hours. It's a hollow hope, but it's a hope!

Rick

 

[Maryak]

Guys,

We got a couple of miners out after 14 days so there is hope and my thoughts and best wishes are for them and their families.

Best Regards
Bob

 

[rake60]

That search is over. They have located the bodies of the four missing miners.

 

[user 1493]

And now the excuses and finger pointing begin.

If we continue to accept this type of operation I fear for our children and grandchildren.

Jack

 

[Tin Falcon]

condolences to the families.
From what I have heard the mine was cited for many safety violations before the indecent and paid out big fines. I think it will be real hard for them to deny responsibility and plead ignorance or point the finger to the miners.
I work for several companies that give safety training to all visitors and contractors sometimes I wonder how much of this is to keep folks safe and how much is to cover there corporate assets.
Tin

 

[Kermit]

...and to think; the application of a 'safety clause' inserted into any of these companies pay plans would have shifted the priorities from 'profitiable operation at any expense' to 'safety first in order to be profitable'///



Damn lobbyist get the ear of lawmakers, and the good ideas are discarded by $ugge$tion, and special interest is made into law.

:-[

 

[rake60]

This is the man in charge.

Click on THIS LINK. Be patient and allow the time for the video to load.
(You will probably have to endure an ad first.)
The MAN'S name is Don Blankenship, He is the CEO of Massey Energy.
His actions there are typical to his business approaches.

It is far too typical to the current USA standards.

I'm sure I will not benefit in any way for these posts, but it's damn well time
the truth of American industry be seen. An employee is just a number on a
spreadsheet. Numbers are easy to replace and to men like Don Blankenship,
you'd better not ask him why!

I have been on the receiving end of that myself.
I had a work related back injury, and was placed on light duty by Doctor's orders.
Two days later I was called into the plant managers office. The Plant Manager
told me that he had read the diagnosis and he didn't believe that the medication
I had been prescribed should inhibit my ability to operate the machine.

To hold my job I ran the machine that night. I didn't get anything done, but I kept
my job.

It's ALL about money. You are just a cog in the profit machine here.

Rick

 

[Blogwitch]

Rick,

I have been on the receiving end, just like yourself.

But in my case, where I knew things would eventually get to me because of the bad working practices we were forced to follow, I kept copious notes, and even weighed and took photos of things we were forced to handle. Every one of my complaints to management was fastidiously logged by myself into a notebook, even down to fine details such as exact times and to whom it was directed, and I made sure that all the legal requirements were followed, as in filling out the first aid report, even if it was just a sticking plaster over a small cut.

When eventually the inevitable happened, and I was injured, my union lawyers, armed with my work records that I had kept for years, ripped apart all vestiges of the management cover up that they tried to use against me, and not only did they settle out of court to my satisfaction, they were also brought to the attention of the Health and Safety Executive, and that must have hurt them a lot more than my claim did.

Also, I did not resign when it was over, but stayed on their 'books', even though I couldn't work any more, and never got any pay from them for over six years that I remained. But that paid off last year, they gave me a very nice tax free lump sum, just to clear me off their books and get rid of me forever.

I have gone on a bit here, but it does show that keeping personal work records can help if you find yourself up against a brick wall when you ask or report something to management that MIGHT affect you in the long run.

It isn't a matter of us and them, but a case of protecting yourself if something does eventually happen, and as sure as the sun rises in the morning, management WILL try to do a cover up. But when your solicitor goes in and asks for the records of a plaster to stick on a boil on your a**e on such and such a date, and they can't produce it, they don't have a paddle to go anywhere with. Do that a couple of times, and they soon realise that their cover up isn't as good as they thought.

Exactly the same thing happened over my service career, by keeping records of everything relevent that happened during and after my service ended.

I put in a claim last year, and it went thru without one single problem. I received not only a war pension, my mobility needs for the rest of my life are also taken care of.

Now you know why I always keep a notebook in my shop as well, you never know when things will need to be remembered.


Bogs

 

[Maryak]

Exactly the same thing happened over my service career, by keeping records of everything relevent that happened during and after my service ended.

Bogs

I'm with you there when I claimed for disability, they said I wasn't on the ship at the time of the incident. How come I enquired, well here are you dates of service in that ship from our computer records. AH HA, your computer is out by one year.

Prove it - Here is my hand written service record from which your computer records were supposed to have been transcribed and it pre-dates your computer by 8 years.

Bob 1 - Navy 0.

Best Regards