Were Union Miners Kicked Out of the Rescue Effort?

By Ben Winslow and Jared Page Deseret Morning News

HUNTINGTON, Emery County — Miners who quickly responded to help rescue the six trapped men inside the Crandall Canyon Mine say they were turned away and believe it was because they’re members of the coal miners union.

“The union rescue teams were relieved and asked to stay on standby,” Dave Maggio, with the United Mine Workers of America District 22 in Price, told the Deseret Morning News on Thursday.

It’s an accusation the mine’s owner denies, calling them rumors being started by the coal miners union to make him look bad.

“There were seven rescue teams that we sent away,” Bob Murray, president of Murray Energy Corp., said in an interview Thursday. “It had nothing to do with them being union mine workers.”

But local union reps said that when they initially showed up to help, they were told by officials at the nonunion Crandall Canyon Mine to get off the property.

“The mine management, at that time, asked our people to get off their mine property. I assume it’s because we’re United Mine Workers,” local union vice president Mike Dalpiaz told KSL Radio. “We have no intention to organize their coal mine, we don’t want to organize their coal mine. We have a tragedy and all we’re trying to do is help a fellow miner out.”

Dalpiaz repeated those claims to the Deseret Morning News on Thursday. Maggio said union miners are ready and willing to help.

“The Deer Creek Mine rescue team is probably the best mine rescue team west of the Mississippi,” he said. “It’s my understanding they were told they appreciated their help, and they had it under control.”

There are five rescue teams made up of nine men specially trained to assist in mine accidents on hand at the Crandall Canyon Mine. They are prepped and ready to go when mining crews are able to clear a path underground to where the trapped miners are.

Murray said there had been 12 rescue teams on site, but seven were told their services wouldn’t be needed because most of the work needing to be done can be done best by personnel who work at the mine. The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has said the other rescue teams are still available to go underground.

Murray has clashed with unions in the past. At recent news conferences, he has taken shots at union “lackeys,” accusing them of spreading misinformation. He has also accused the United Mine Workers of America of trying to unionize his nonunion mine.

The national UMWA said Thursday that the federal mine administration had designated one of the teams as on standby, and they have no interest in organizing a union at Crandall Canyon Mine.

“That’s not why we’re there,” said UMWA spokesman Phil Smith.

Local union reps said their membership shouldn’t matter in a rescue.

“It’s appalling to me that it matters,” Dalpiaz said. “When we’re in a tragedy situation, it shouldn’t matter.”

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; jpage@desnews.com

(c) 2007 Deseret News (Salt Lake City). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.