Union

Nothing disgusts me more than people who don't support unions, and, in turn, don't support the working man. Neal2028 before special election.

I believe that had the UMWA had membership in that mine - there would indeed have been a more careful respect for Safety and Health at the work Place. Sgt Freedoms Hole after Sago

The blogs and MSM are full of this rhetoric after the Sago ordeal. I will start by saying I am not anti union. I have worked unon. Any worker can sign a card, have a election, and if passed gain union representation. Any miner can organize any mine. The once powerful UMWA will not release its membership numbers but it is around 30,000. It was over 120,000 when I was in high school. Jackie Stump's powerful District 28 of the UMWA no longer exists. I attended a couple union fish fries when organizing was underway at a local flooring plant where I was working. I was soon to realize there were not 50 active union workers there. The crowd was made up of retirees and wives. Were we asked about saftey? No. About wages? No. Where we told who to vote for in the next election? Yes. The UMWA is nothing more than a Democratic Party mouthpiece. What happened? All you have to do is search engine Union Decertifications for your favorite union and you will find out. So before you blame accidents on the mine being non union, ask the workers who in great numbers have torn up cards and kicked unions out. Union mines follow the same MSHA laws as non union mines. Do more accidents happen in non union mines? Yes, because non union miners out number union miners. That would be like saying "Rolls Royce-involved in less accidents than Ford or GM. Wow! What a fact.

They will spin it all the way. But in Virginia you can be union or non union, it is your choice. That is called freedom. To say otherwise insults all workers, including the Sago workers who did not want the union or they would have voted it in. To say a man who goes under ground every day is afraid or intimidated to organize is absurd. To say he is unsafe is equally absurd. Coal miners are smart people. Dont insult our intelligence. The reason unions are failing is because workers see no gains for joining. Please prove me wrong. Please tell me more than we are to stupid to join.

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