30 Days as a Coal Miner (minimum wage, living, legal)

[harborlady]

Originally Posted by Thunder41

MY father has Black Lung so bad now, that he is ineligible for any compensation until he dies and then my mother will only get a percentage.. That's Coal mining for ya..

I don't understand what you mean by that statement- his medical costs are so runnaway that they're deducting it from some magical number that they decided his life is worth??

I read in that article that black lung is a problem because they can't wear respirators- restricts breathing too much. Great grandfather in shamokin pa died of black lung fairly young, but that was before my time. Sad new technology can't evolve to protect them better. Blessings to you and yours- where would this country be without its greatest generation carrying us along?

[David Kennedy]

Actually Harborlady the men at the working face wear a helmet with a fan charged airfilter..clear plastic lens...in the old days the dust was accepted as part of the job.

It's been lobbying at the state and federal level by coal companies and insurance providers that have denied the care to these men. State and Federal compensation benefits for them have been denied for years now.

[harborlady]

That defines morally repugnant, and it fuels environmentalists against them. Wish people would figure out playing to win for all parties concerned works better in the end.
OSHA rules state if you can't engineer safety, the next resort is PPE, but it looks like the only PPE that would work in that environment would be forced air hoods. Uncomfortable/tiresome too.

[appalachiangirl]

I'm sorry I missed that show. Both of my grandfathers and my one great-grandfather were coal miners and I know the work was hard and dangerous. My dad's father said in those days the coal mines valued mules more than workers because workers were more easily replaced (sad comment there)!

[harborlady]

Originally Posted by appalachiangirl

I'm sorry I missed that show. Both of my grandfathers and my one great-grandfather were coal miners and I know the work was hard and dangerous. My dad's father said in those days the coal mines valued mules more than workers because workers were more easily replaced (sad comment there)!

appal scroll back to page 1 WVU pharm has link- you can watch the whole thing online. it was really good.

[BJC]

I just watched it, should make us all stop and think about what these people do and how they do it so we can be on this site chatting with one another!
Thanks one more time WVU pharm for posting the link

[Thunder41]

Originally Posted by David Kennedy

Wish I could give you 100 points Thunder41

Thanks David, that's my Dad not long before he retired, he's 79 now and his hair if white as snow, and he is a shell of what he once was, still he tries, and runs errands for my Mom.. I guess you could say, he is my best friend!!

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by appalachiangirl

I'm sorry I missed that show. Both of my grandfathers and my one great-grandfather were coal miners and I know the work was hard and dangerous. My dad's father said in those days the coal mines valued mules more than workers because workers were more easily replaced (sad comment there)!

WVUpharm posted a link to the video at the bottom of the 1st page in this thread - so you can watch it now if you want.

[appalachiangirl]

I saw the video. Very informative and interesting,but a bit sad. I agree with the statement that many coal companies put the dollar ahead of worker safety. It was that way 100 yrs ago (although to much greater degree) and still is that way now. The tragedy at Sago mine seems to prove that.

[vec101]

The show is going to air again Friday 6/6 at 11pm.