I've always understood that miners want a level of risk associated with their occupation so they can justify the decent wages they earn for their uneducated labor.

But I don't think any of them wanted to work for a mine that didn't follow basic regulations.


And, nutsmackr, I've always wondered that as well. They've got coal! They've got tons and tons of a crazy in-demand product...an area with natural resources like that should be rich...where's all the money going???

4/9/2010 7:22:08 PM

Where is the money going? To the mine owners.

4/9/2010 7:46:28 PM

That's what it looks like to me.

And it's totally perverted.

4/9/2010 7:57:01 PM

Wealth stratification is always more extreme in rural areas, without larger companies there is a much smaller middle class.

Quote :

"I've always understood that miners want a level of risk associated with their occupation so they can justify the decent wages they earn for their uneducated labor."

Factory workers are a similar form of skilled labor and they have similar wages without the more risky conditions.

4/9/2010 8:05:23 PM

Then let's build some of these factories in coal country.

Also, I look forward to having some of these magical $20/hour factory jobs pop up in North Carolina. My college-educated friend could leave his $12/hour technical job for almost double the pay! And my friend who is just one credit shy of graduating and works the graveyard shift at a factory processing chickens for $9/hour would love a 100% raise!!!

4/9/2010 8:18:15 PM

Quote :

"Then let's build some of these factories in coal country. Also, I look forward to having some of these magical $20/hour factory jobs pop up in North Carolina."

Your two friends could be able to make $20 if they stay in for several more years, just like coal miners.

4/9/2010 9:52:30 PM

Quote :

"Wealth stratification is always more extreme in rural areas, without larger companies there is a much smaller middle class."

O rly?

4/9/2010 10:17:05 PM

^^I'ma need to see some evidence of that. And not some nationwide average that includes moderately protected auto workers. I'm talking people in NC and WV.

I mean, I know one person who makes that kinda money working in factory, and he's the guy with the training to fix the machines, not the guy chopping up chickens so fast that his hands cramp.

And seriously let's build more of these factories and get people some full-time work. I suspect there are a lot of folks who would prefer full-time work at a factory to juggling a bunch of part-time shifts at multiple jobs.

[Edited on April 9, 2010 at 10:33 PM. Reason : ]

4/9/2010 10:32:07 PM

Quote :

"I mean, I know one person who makes that kinda money working in factory, and he's the guy with the training to fix the machines, not the guy chopping up chickens so fast that his hands cramp."

Well you're comparing the average, which contains people with 5+ years experience who get paid more. So your examples of people who have worked there for a year or two are naturally going to reflect the very bottom end of that scale.

Quote :

"And seriously let's build more of these factories and get people some full-time work. I suspect there are a lot of folks who would prefer full-time work at a factory to juggling a bunch of part-time shifts at multiple jobs."

Unfortunately we are transitioning to a more advanced service based economy. Foreign countries have a competitive advantage at producing goods, our labor force needs to start getting better educated, not try to grasp onto fleeting factory work.

4/10/2010 1:11:38 AM

^I know. What sucks is a lot of technical positions are temporary work anyway so there is no room for a raise, and honestly, $12/hour isn't that bad.

And I was being somewhat facetious about building more factories to get people work. I see all the empty factories everywhere already...they've been on the way out for decades...

But I'm only "somewhat" facetious because I really would like to give manufacturing another go in the US. I mean, with the efficiency of the internet, even educated labor can move overseas. It seems like virtually anything can be outsourced. Let's build some awesome shit here. Like, let's convince those finance gurus to accept a modest pay cut and put their asses to some real work innovating some new shit and some new ways to do stuff cheap, and then let's build the fuck out of it here.

Also, fuck a service-based economy. Let's tax a bunch of really rich guys and use the money train people in building shit outdoors and rebuild all our infrastructure so we can be super efficient and awesome and better than the rest of the world. If we can impose/enforce environmental/human rights regulations on poorer countries while simultaneously decreasing our own energy costs, the decrease in energy costs could put us over the top when it comes to manufacturing shit on the cheap. And we'll be the only ones with the fancy power grid and energy shit. Let's do this.

[Edited on April 10, 2010 at 2:13 AM. Reason : I'm feeling bored and stupid. Especially stupid, I mean.]

4/10/2010 1:50:46 AM

Quote :

"And seriously let's build more of these factories and get people some full-time work."

If you want to build a factory with your own money, go right ahead.

Quote :

"I really would like to give manufacturing another go in the US"

U.S. manufacturing has not gone anywhere. The U.S. produces far more manufacturing output now than it ever has. What has changed is that our factories have robots and automation which allow them to operate with far fewer workers. We could employ more workers, but there is no demand for more output. As such, the only way for us to employ more workers in industry is to kill our robotic employees, is that what you want?

4/10/2010 3:49:02 PM

People think mineral rich places all turn out like Dubai, which is a ridiculous idea when you consider the breadth of African history...

4/10/2010 4:01:45 PM

^^Nah, but I don't see how a service-based economy is gonna work either.

Just like there isn't demand for more output of our manufactured goods, I don't think there's an adequate demand for our knowledgeable/expert services and shit.

4/12/2010 12:21:05 AM

That is the nice thing about Capitalism. It will allocate resources as necessary to maintain full employment (about 5% unemployment). If there is not enough consumer demand to employ all the workers, prices will adjust to create more consumer demand:
a. A job shortage exists
b. competition for jobs causes wages to stagnate or fall
c. falling real wages result in falling costs of production
d. lower costs of production result in lower prices thanks to market competition
e. with a given money supply and lower prices, holders of money are spending less to sustain a given standard of living
f. faced with unspent money accumulating at their disposal, holders of money will seek ways to dispose of it, either by buying more existing goods and services or going out to find new exotic goods and services
g. holding the money supply fixed, as prices fall the quantity of goods/services demanded increases
h. to satisfy the growing quantity demanded, producers hire more workers
i. as more workers get jobs, the unemployment rate falls, until wages resume rising with inflation + productivity

This is merely fixing a money shortage. It could be bypassed simply by the central bank printing money until prices are again in agreement with the money supply (presuming normal economic times and a central bank maintaining the money supply, etc).

[Edited on April 12, 2010 at 2:09 AM. Reason : .,.]

4/12/2010 2:09:18 AM

Well within the company's rights, but still a pretty big "Fuck You" to Massey Energy employees

Quote :

"Massey Energy Says No Time Off for Dead Miners’ Funerals"

http://ecopolitology.org/2010/04/23/massey-energy-says-no-time-off-for-dead-miners-funerals/

4/30/2010 10:38:47 AM

In a free market with rational players, oil companies...

4/30/2010 11:15:05 AM

^
...supply you with energy.

4/30/2010 11:28:46 AM

^^^ Would like to see some confirmation of that from a real news source.

4/30/2010 1:07:42 PM

What? its not believable?

http://washingtonindependent.com/82941/in-coal-county-a-culture-of-fear

Quote :

"Massey Energy, the Virginia-based coal giant that runs the Upper Big Branch Mine, has denied time off for miners to attend their friends’ funerals; has rejected makeshift memorials outside the mine site; and, in at least one case, required a worker to go on shift even though the fate of a relative — one of the victims of the April 5 disaster — remained unknown at the time, "

4/30/2010 1:20:52 PM

haha, they are just TRYING to get themselves hated by everyone in amurca

4/30/2010 4:55:05 PM

Quote :

"...supply you with energy."

Like enron!

4/30/2010 7:44:00 PM

It's good to know we can trust corporations to do the right thing on their own, without unions or regulations...

4/30/2010 7:49:49 PM

it's good to know that when the gov't gets in bed with corporations, said corporations show less public responsibility, as they know their friends in gov't will allow them to get off 100% free. Otherwise, we could reasonable expect the family members to be able to sue the pants off of companies that show such negligence and thus serve as a deterrence to any future companies doing the same thing.

4/30/2010 7:57:18 PM

no free market and no rational players, never was.

5/2/2010 11:55:05 AM

Don Blankenship on trial now, fyi.
If there is any justice left in this country, then Federal Pound Me in the Ass for a decade is the minimum he deserves.

Not a whole lotta press on it out there that I've found, but I did find this one pretty rich:

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/ap/ap/top-news/ordered-to-drop-politics-ex-coal-ceo-shows-views-o/nn7KX/
"On trial for knowingly circumventing laws that resulted in 29 of your employees deaths? Blame Obama and Democrats for sending inspectors to your mine on a regular basis!!!!!!!!"

10/21/2015 9:01:11 PM

Only convicted of a misdemeanor conspiracy charge. Up to a year in prison, but I doubt that'll happen.

Smh

12/4/2015 7:09:37 AM

Yeah he probably won't even serve a day in prison.

12/4/2015 7:36:02 AM

http://m.motherjones.com/mojo/2016/04/don-blankenship-sentenced-prison-west-virginia

Sentenced to a year in prison. Pending appeal, I'm guessing?

4/6/2016 2:12:17 PM