Massey Director Defends CEO, Assails Unions
The company that owns the West Virginia coal mine where 29 mine workers died, Massey Energy, is criticizing unions, lawyers and the President for saying that the deaths were the company's fault. A spokesman for the company said that the company had not traded safety for profit, and that their safety regulations have been up to code in the past months, including on the day of the accident. The Massey spokesman also said that the CEO of the company would not be resigning, and that board had given him a vote of confidence. Another official at the company admitted that the mine where the accident occurred did have a large of safety violations from April to October last year, but echoed the company spokesman in saying that they had stepped up safety regulations. He also mentioned a ventilation system required by the Mine Safety and Health Administration that reduced ventilation in the area. United Mine Workers of America officials cite the 52 deaths on Massey property in the last 10 years, and well as the fact that only one worker killed last year in a mining accident was a union worker. Union officials called the attacks an attempt to re-frame safety issues as a labor dispute.
See "Massey Director Defends CEO, Assails Unions", Steve James, abc.com, April 26, 2010