… if you take time off from work to do so.
Nice.
Massey Energy told employees that if they miss work to attend the funerals they would be fired, workers said. A Massey worker, who did not give his name because he is afraid of losing his job, said that his coworkers were outraged that they were not given time off to mourn their friends and brothers.
The WSWS spoke to workers and relatives outside a local market. Chuck Smith, an unemployed miner with seven years work underground, said Massey’s decision to force miners to work during the funerals was a calculated move. “What would it look like if a bunch of people wearing Massey uniforms showed up to the funeral yelling ‘damn Massey?'”
OK, so, instead, we’ll have the whole world mad at you for being jerks. Nice move. What are you, the nineteenth century or something?
I’m reminded of an earlier example off the stupidity of the mine owners.
The story quoted above is here.
HT: Miles.
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Good god, can they GET any more douche-baggy than that?
I am highly skeptical of this report. It is not well documented and the source has way too much of an agenda of their own for me to take this at face value, until we get more detail from a some more credible source.
No, more like a Randian Utopia. Isn’t this what Alan Greenspan and the rest have been promising us?
In the immortal words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7miRCLeFSJo
You know, given this company’s behavior, I’m actually surprised WV isn’t a right-to-work state. This is just inhuman.
Hey, that’s capitalism at its finest.
They get paid for work, not for fucking funerals.
I like those mine managers – none of this namby pamby capitalism that hides behind a fake wall of concern for the employees and “worker relations” bullshit.
If we had more owners and managers like that, there would be no question about the role of socialism or communism.
A nice and clear picture of the class enemy.
Well done, Massey Energy.
PS – any mine worker who now still thinks that it is better to keep the job than to collectively join the fucking unions acts like those jews who were advised by friends to please leave germany after 1932 but stayed because they believed the nazis just would harass them a little…
I’m sorry but I’m skeptical. If this is true it is a comic book level of evil. Anyone able to make a PR move this stupid is too dumb to ever make it to a job site; they would spend their days bumping in to their bedroom door and shitting themselves.
The criminal negligence they have already shown is not the same as the legendary stupidity this move would require.
The how come Massey has agreed to shut down its mines after Gov. Manchin’s request for a day of mourning?
I suppose it is good to be skeptical of a report like this as it is so outrageous and over the top. But if you now much about the history of these mining companies it isn’t really surprising at al. They are heartless, and perhaps have to be. They are sending men and women miles into the earth into a very dangerous situation every day. Do you know how many nasty accidents happen in coal mines on a regular basis? After the incident I linked to above I went through several years of mine reports (I’m interested in occupational risk for various reasons). Let’s just say a lot.
As to stupidity … Have you been to Wester Virginia?
Well, anyway, there is more reporting on this, feel free to bring in what you find.
This is interesting:
http://www.dailymail.com/News/201004140951
This does not speak to the issue at hand, but if you want to know the, shall we say, level we are working at here, you can certainly pick it up.
“As to stupidity … Have you been to Wester Virginia?”
I don’t know Greg, have you ever lived there and met the people? Can you classify an entire state as stupid? Maybe uneducated according to your criteria, but certainly not by theirs. I believe they manage just fine, as far as I can see, and I live there part-time.
Rob, sorry to insult you.
Yes, I’ve been there. Yes, I know about their criteria.
I don’t think you should be telling me to not complain about West Virginia. I think you should be telling me something else.
Say no more. I’m not being an apologist for the mining company here. I’ve tried to find some independent confirmation of this, and have failed. My guess, therefore, is that the story is false, or at best has grown in the telling from something quite different.
I might be wrong, but that’s where I’m leaning. It’s a sufficiently huge story, if at all true, that some independent confirmation would be forthcoming, if it has some factual basis.
So far… nothing, other than references back to the “World Socialist Web Site” story. Frankly, I don’t think they are sufficiently great shakes in intelligence — or at least in common sense — themselves; and it looks so far like the spreading of the rumour from this one source is a consequence of a LACK of rational skepticism. A plague on all their houses and wake me up when someone more credible has an independent confirmation of the story — or when there is an explicit denial of the story. I expect one or the other will surface fairly soon.
Finding OTHER examples of stupidity or greed doesn’t do a thing to confirm THIS example.
In the meantime, I’ll base my low opinion of Massey on stuff that seems better grounded.
Plausible as this sounds, I’d like to see moire corroboration before believing it wholeheartedly. OTOH, I will feel no surprise whatsoever if it turns out to be true.
Additional reporting on the topic: http://washingtonindependent.com/82941/in-coal-county-a-culture-of-fear
Well, there you go. Looks like they are total assholes after all.
And a followup from the same writer: Update: A Massey spokesman responds, â??We know of no instances when miners were denied a request to attend a funeral.â?