"On September 23, 2001, the UMWA mourned the deaths of 13 heroes who perished in a series of explosions at a Jim Walter Resources coal mine in Brookwood, Alabama," said Roberts. "For three years straight, coal mining deaths nationwide have been on the rise. In response to that reality, the Bush administration is now proposing to deeply cut money to the agency charged with policing America's coal mines in an effort to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities. This is definitely not the direction we should be taking."

"We may never know if one more MSHA [Mine and Safety Health Administration] inspection might have saved the lives of those 13 heroes who died last September--or the 29 other miners who were killed nationwide in 2001--but it could have," he continued. "I challenge President Bush to publicly reconcile how--in the face of rising coal mine accidents and fatalities--he can justify cutting funds desperately needed to enforce America's mine safety and health laws," wrote the union official.

Among the cuts, the Bush administration is pushing for a $7 million reduction in funding for safety enforcement along with eliminating 65 MSHA inspectors overseeing coal mines.

Further undermining safety on the job, Bush seeks to chop $9 million in programs run by the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at the same time that he demands the agency increase the number of workplace inspections from 36,400 to 37,700 for the next fiscal year.

Along with eliminating all funding for the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers program, the Bush administration is also proposing cuts in the Office of Federal Contract Compliance. This office is responsible for overseeing affirmative action and other programs concerning discrimination on the job by federal contractors. The budget ax may also fall on the Women's Bureau, which deals with problems and concerns of women in the workplace.

Seeking to increase government intervention in the unions, the Bush administration has included 13 percent and 9 percent increases for the Office of Labor-Management Standards and the Office of Inspector General respectively. These agencies are responsible for auditing and investigating unions.  
 
 
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