March - April - United Mine Workers of America

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PhIl SMIThwhose history of underground conditionsindicated a significant numberof violations and/or bad conditions,such as problems relating to methaneaccumulations, ventilation practices,rock dust applications and inadequatemine examinations. As many as 10inspectors were sent to the minesidentified for enhanced inspections.The company most affected byMShA’s more aggressive enforcementactions was Massey Energy, whichhad seven mines targeted in the initialinspection blitz. Indeed, Massey led allU.S. coal companies in fines assessedin 2010 with $17.4 million. ConsolEnergy was second at just over $8million. Massey also had the highestnumber of significant and substantialSection 104 citations, with 4,199.The labor Department in 2009withdrew the Bush administration’sproposed rule governing the department’sassessments of occupationalhealth risks. The Bush rule wouldhave required DOl agencies to issuean advance notice of proposed rulemakingas a first step in developinghealth standards regulating workplaceexposure to toxic substancesor hazardous chemicals. This wouldhave crippled the rulemaking processfor OShA and MShA by slowingthe process down and would haverequired objective criteria not relatedto health and safety concerns.MShA has also taken steps to ad-dress the enormous backlog of chal-lenges to citations and penalties thatare effectively making enforcement allbut impossible. Operators frequentlyfile challenges in order to delay oravoid a final order that could show a“pattern of violations,” thus deferringor avoiding higher penalties.forWArd progress“MShA has taken several stepsforward but there is still much todo,” said President Roberts. “For somany years, the policies and staffingof the agency were dominated bythe mine operators and their friendsin high office, leading to thecreation of a culture of sympathyfor the operators that becamethoroughly entrenched.“To his credit, Assistant SecretaryMain is fighting hard to changethat culture,” Roberts said. “Weare beginning to see some positiveresults—more frequent inspections,more consistent application of thelaws and regulations, tougher penaltiesbeing assessed. That’s progress.”Roberts also noted that a significantproblem remains with themine safety and health legal process,where thousands of citation appealsfiled by operators are cloggingthe system at the Mine Safety andhealth Review Commission.“Steps were taken by the lastCongress to address this issue byadding funding so the commissioncan hire more staff to handle the ex-tra caseload,” Roberts said. “We canonly hope that the new Congresswill continue that funding, becausethere is a direct link betweenapplying the penalties operatorsdeserve for violations and miners’health and safety. When there is nodeterrence, there is no incentive forirresponsible operators to clean uptheir act.“I firmly believe the same thingsthat I believed two years ago—that Secretary Solis and AssistantSecretary Main have the best interestsof miners at heart,” Roberts said. “Ibelieve that they are doing what theycan to lead both the Departmentof labor and the Mine Safety andhealth Administration to be betterwatchdogs on behalf of workers.“MSHA is not where we thinkit needs to be, but the signs ofimprovement are there.”“But change comes slowly tobureaucracies, especially those likeMShA where management has hadsuch a large influence for so long,”Roberts said. “MShA is not where wethink it needs to be, but the signs ofimprovement are there. Given time,the right tools and support fromboth the administration and theCongress, I know Joe Main will makethat agency the kind of watchdogthat miners need it to be.” 12 March/April 2011 • United Mine Workers Journal
activelyretiredFrank ReidelbachU. 1368 Recording SecretaryL. Frank Reidelbach certainlyputs the “active” in actively retired.Besides his elective office, the 33-yearmember represents the UMWA onthe Pennsylvania Coal Mine SafetyBoard, the Central Pennsylvania Arealabor Federation and is Vice Presidentand delegate to the Johnstown-Somerset Central labor Council.Reidelbach also serves on his local’sCOMPAC Committee and theUMWA Pensioner leadership Committee,is a member of the CambriaCounty health and Welfare Council,where human services agencies meetonce a month to share ideas, andis Democratic Party Chairman forEbensburg, Pa.“Frank is one of the mosttalented retirees I have ever encounteredduring my tenure in office,”said International District 2 VicePresident Ed Yankovich. “Not onlyis he very articulate, knowledgeableand dedicated to the mission of theUMWA and its members, he alsoalways stands ready to help out whenour union calls on him.”For Reidelbach, this is paybackfor all the ways he and his family havebenefitted from UMWA membership.“I could retire with dignity becauseof the union,” he said. “We made suchnice money in the mines that I wasable to invest some of it, just by beinga member of the UMWA.”A member since 1978, theformer roof bolter retired in June2007, after serving on his local’sElection and Organizing committees.he remains very active politically,and has worked with his union onhouse-calling during several elections.“Frank’s always been there forus, especially with respect to COM-PAC,” noted At-large InternationalVice President and Region 1 DirectorDonnie Samms. “he goes beyond thecall of duty.”“I could retire with dignity because of the union.”Actively Retired is a regular feature highlighting UMWA retirees still workingon behalf of the union. If you’d like to recommend a retiree to appear in ActivelyRetired, write to the UMW Journal, UMWA, 18354 Quantico Gateway Drive,Suite 200, Triangle, VA 22172, Attn: Actively Retired. Please include yourname, local union, a telephone number and a brief explanation of why you’renominating the individual.As for his current office,Reidelbach’s destiny was clear. “Wehad a long-standing president in mylocal union, and when Danny Kanetook the presidency there, he askedme to run for his old job as recordingsecretary. I felt ready. I hadbeen a schoolteacher, and I wastaking industrial relations classesat St. Francis University.”“Frank’s leadership qualitieswere obvious from the very beginning,”said Secretary-Treasurer Kane.“And his commitment to our membersis without parallel. I’ve knownFrank as a leader, a strong unionbrother and a very good friend.Frank represents the best of who weare as UWMA members—he’s notafraid to stand up and take actionto defend working families and thegains we’ve made over the years. Andhe does it time and time again.”In the seemingly rare momentswhen he’s not involved in unionbusiness, Reidelbach likes to restoreantique cars. he also bought hisfamily’s old homestead and devotesmuch energy toward fixing it up, andrecently put a coal-fired boiler in it.But his thoughts seldom strayfar from the union and the challengesit faces, especially withregard to bringing in new members.“Organizing is paramount, but atthe moment it’s very difficult,” hesaid. “The operators are so intenton keeping the union out. Nonunionminers sometimes have largerpaychecks, but that’s not looking atthe whole package, including healthcare and retirement. If the UMWAwere to go away, a lot of these nonunionminers don’t realize they willbe taken down too.” United Mine Workers Journal • March/April 2011 13
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March - April - United Mine Workers of America

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