This battle, one of the most important being waged by the miners union today, is not an isolated fight. Over the last few years miners in both the eastern and western United States have carried out several strikes against the coal bosses' greed. They have also held demonstrations, mass meetings, and memorial days to oppose company and government attacks on their health benefits and black lung compensation. This is a feature of the class struggle in the United States today, a part of a strengthening vanguard within the working class.

The mine owners' drive for profits pushes them to squeeze more from workers' hides. Their push for longer hours and ever more production leads to deadly results--the number of coal miners killed on the job in the United States has risen each of the last three years. Workers in nonunion mines and contract miners, who can have less training and are usually not in the union, are particularly vulnerable to the pressure to take shortcuts on safety. The right to refuse to take a chance on their own lives and those of their co-workers is one of the fundamental reasons miners have fought so hard--literally waging wars over the last century--to unionize.

The same questions are posed around the world as the mining companies face stiffening competition. This week coal miners in South Africa, for instance, are preparing to strike over wages, disability benefits, and the right to a lunch break.

These union struggles are connected to broader social questions. Cuts in health benefits for union miners have undermined funding for medical care in entire coalfield regions. In their profit lust the bosses not only disregard life and limb of the worker; they destroy the air, water, and land where miners' families, farmers, and whole communities live. Last October a mine sludge pond owned by a subsidiary of A.T. Massey burst near Inez, Kentucky, causing an environmental disaster. In the west, Native American miners are battling with coal giant Peabody for access to water for their crops.

Ohio Valley Coal boss Murray contends that he "can't afford" to hire laid-off union miners and pay their health and pension benefits. If that's the case, if the capitalist mine owners can't operate without destroying the lives of workers and working-class communities, then they don't deserve to run society.

All workers should look for ways to join with the coal miners and support their struggle. It's a fight that strengthens our class against the class Murray represents.
 
 
Related articles:
Coal miners rally against Ohio Valley's attacks on the UMWA
Workers in South Africa take action
Coal miner campaigns for mayor of Pittsburgh  
 
 
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