The event took place on the 20th anniversary of the fire at the Wilberg mine—located outside Orangeville, Utah—that claimed the lives of 19 miners, members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Local 2176, and eight executives and foremen of the Emery Mining Corporation.

Sally Walls, the mother of a miner who died in the fire, told the Deseret Morning News that it was the bosses’ greed, “just to make the almighty dollar, just to break a record,” that killed her son Lester and the others who died at Wilberg 20 years ago.

UMWA District 22 sponsored the tribute. It featured presentations by UMWA president Cecil Roberts, the union’s safety director Joe Main, and Congressman Jim Matheson.

Warren Oviatt, a miner retired from Wilberg and president of UMWA Local 2176, opened the meeting. He noted that 22 U.S. coal miners were killed on the job in 2003, the lowest figure since the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) started keeping records. But, he added, 25 have been killed so far this year. “We strive for zero,” Oviatt said, pointing to the fact that “a younger generation born since the Wilberg disaster is now coming into the mines…. This is a challenge for us, to remember what happened and to fight to make it better.”

UMWA international at-large vice president Mike Dalpiaz presided over a candle ceremony during which 27 candles were lit by UMWA international, district, regional, and local officials in memory of the 27 people who died in the Wilberg disaster. Many family members of the fallen miners were present, often including children and grandchildren.

In introducing Roberts, Dalpiaz noted that the UMWA president had recently returned from China where he had offered the help of U.S. miners in response to the terrible accidents where many coal miners lost their lives.

“It is important to remember that 100,000 U.S. coal miners have been killed in mining accidents in the past century,” Roberts said. He added that another 100,000 have died from black lung and “other debilitating diseases caused by coal mining.” This has been “so our nation can prosper,” Roberts stated. Many factories, ballparks, and computers would go dark without coal for electricity, he said.

Noting that all but two of those who died in the Wilberg fire were in their 20s and 30s, Roberts urged that everyone remember the fallen miners’ co-workers and pay tribute to the mine rescue teams. That day’s Salt Lake Tribune highlighted the rescue efforts in some detail in a special front-page feature titled, “The Wilberg mine disaster, a remembrance.”

The same day’s Deseret Morning News front-page feature was headlined, “Pain, anger linger from Wilberg—Some blame greed for Utah mine fire 20 years ago that killed 27.” Both papers included maps of the mines and where the bodies of the dead miners had been found.

The Tribune article described “a crew swelled to twice its normal size—including senior management—for what promised to be a big production run.” It noted that “MSHA had allowed Emery Mining Co….to continue mining 5th Right [a section of the mine] despite two cave-ins that rendered the tunnel impassable.”

The News article reported that Emery bosses were “in pursuit of a 24-hour production record.” Dalpiaz was quoted as saying, “They got two world’s records—one for production and one for killing the most people” in a Utah mine fire.

Sally Walls told the News that she visits the UMWA monument to those who died at Wilberg regularly. “Maybe it’s so hard to adjust to losing Les because it was out of greed and stupidity, just to make the almighty dollar, just to break a record,” she said, referring to her son Lester who died in the fire. “If they had cleaned out Six Right, every one of them men would have had a way out of there.”

The roof fall in the section of the mine called Six Right had occurred in October 1984, about two months before the disaster. MSHA had allowed the company to operate despite the threat to safety.

Matheson, whose 2nd Congressional District in Utah includes Carbon and Emery counties where the state’s coal production is centered, referred to how that day in 1984 was to be “a landmark day for production” at the mine. He pointed out that it took years for MSHA to mandate “mining reforms.”

Matheson also spoke about the union-organizing struggle of the Co-Op miners. “I am closely looking at the situation at the Co-Op mine where most of the miners were fired,” Matheson said. “I have informed the National Labor Relations Board that we expect a fair election result.”

Twenty Co-Op miners made the trip here from the Huntington area to take part in the tribute.

“The Wilberg bosses were the same as the Co-Op bosses,” said Co-Op miner Juan Salazar. “They push us to go faster and work harder to increase production. This is the same as what the Wilberg bosses were doing. When they neglect safety to make profits this leads to injuries and death.

“We were honored to be part of this commemoration,” Salazar added. “Miners have to be united around safety—it is a question of life and death for us. It is obvious that the companies put economic concerns above this.”

When UMWA safety director Joe Main spoke, also having recently returned from China, he said, “Miners unnecessarily lost their lives” at Wilberg, but “they did not die in vain.” He referred to changes in mining practices adopted after the fire. He also spoke of the eight-foot-high granite monument the UMWA erected near the mine.

After volunteers served 425 “lite meals” in the high school cafeteria, many of the participants drove out to the monument for a memorial service presided over by Dalpiaz. A sprig of evergreen was given to each person to place at the base of the monument. Etched into the granite, along with the names of all who died in the fire, are the words, “In memory of our fellow brothers, sister and co-workers who lost their lives in the Wilberg coal mine disaster—December 19, 1984.”
 
 
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