My father was a miner all his life, and he had a venomous hatred of mine owners. In his early days we lived in a room and kitchen in Garngad, a slum in the north side of Glasgow, he would come home covered in coal dust and mud. He would come home to no running hot water and no bath, my mother would have prepared a zinc bath in in front of the fire having boiled pots of water on the fire, to fill the bath. Each one of his fingers had a bend at the top, all caused at different times with being crushed by rock falls, he was buried twice and came out alive. Just before he retired he was hit by a fall that hit his head crushed his teeth and knocked him unconscious. A few weeks after he retired there was a fire in the local mine, Auchengeich, and 47 of his friends and former workmates died. I understand the miners plight.
Mining has always been a very dangerous job and what ever concessions the miners won over the years from the mine owners, was hard fought for, and no where near their worth. It may never be made a completely safe job, but there are ways and means of safeguarding the life and wellbeing of the miners, but sadly that costs money, and mine owners like all capitalists, (state or otherwise) find human life cheaper than implementing a safe environment.
My heart and solidarity goes out to the Turkish miners who in desperate protest at their unnecessary dangerous conditions, have locked themselves underground. Their cause is our cause, nobody should have to face such conditions just to earn their bread. Please support them, and spread the word of the their fight.
300 miners across two shifts at a mine in the Black Sea area of Zonguldak have barricaded themselves underground in protest at atrocious health and safety. Turkey has the worst mine safety record across all of Europe, with 2,554 miners losing their lives since 1991. They have vowed to continue their protest until the demands have been met.Read the full article HERE:
