PITTSBURGH — The coal mining bosses reported 33 miners were killed in industrial accidents in 2025, up 27% from 2024, when the Mine Safety and Health Administration reported 26 miners died on the job.
The majority of last year’s fatalities occurred at mines producing products other than coal, like copper, phosphates, sand and gravel. Coal mines accounted for eight deaths, down from 10 the year before.
The Militant spoke to Gary Hairston, president of the National Black Lung Association, who worked as a coal miner for 30 years.
“The inspectors don’t get out like they used to. It makes it hard when you don’t have someone to protect you,” Hairston said. More and more coal mines in the U.S. are nonunion today, there are less mine inspectors, and conditions have become increasingly dangerous.
“For months, coal communities have been raising the alarm about how cuts to MSHA and NIOSH [National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health] would be disastrous for our miners,” Vonda Robinson, vice president of the National Black Lung Association, told The Associated Press. “We’re going to keep making progress and do whatever it takes to protect coal miners from black lung disease and accidents.”
Significant gains were made earlier by the United Mine Workers in mighty battles in the 1960s and ’70s. The miners organized and transformed the union, using it to win control over safety in the mines, including the power to shut down mines that workers found to be dangerous. They also fought for and won black lung clinics across the coalfields. But the bosses have largely driven the union back today, and black lung is on the rise again.
Six of the eight coal mine deaths in 2025 were in West Virginia, most in underground mines. Three of the West Virginia deaths were in a six-week period in November and December.
West Virginia News ran a story Nov. 28 titled, “Uncontrolled trains, highwalls and rib falls: West Virginia 2025 mine fatalities span diverse hazards.” It said, “MSHA investigations into these fatalities highlight critical lapses in mandatory procedures, particularly surrounding equipment operation, ground control and adequate safety examinations.”
In its final report on the death of Billy Shawn Stalker at the Black Eagle Mine last February, MSHA found that Marfork Coal Company, a subsidiary of Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc., failed to adequately support an area of the mine to protect the miners and failed to conduct adequate preshift examinations of conditions, leading to Stalker’s death.
Four of these deaths took place at mines owned by two companies: Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc. and Alliance Resources Partners LP. They rank among the five largest coal producers in the Eastern United States.
All five of the mines in West Virginia where miners were killed on the job are nonunion.