Coal miners lost pay when Mitt Romney visited their mine to promote coal jobs

[Fuddnik]

Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer

Coal miners lost pay when Mitt Romney visited their mine to promote coal jobs
Published: Tuesday, August 28, 2012, 5:40 AM Updated: Tuesday, August 28, 2012, 7:15 AM
Sabrina Eaton, The Plain Dealer By Sabrina Eaton, The Plain Dealer


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney visited an Ohio coal mine this month to promote jobs in the coal industry, workers who appeared with him at the rally lost pay because their mine was shut down.

The Pepper Pike company that owns the Century Mine told workers that attending the Aug. 14 Romney event would be both mandatory and unpaid, a top company official said Monday morning in a West Virginia radio interview.

A group of employees who feared they'd be fired if they didn't attend the campaign rally in Beallsville, Ohio, complained about it to WWVA radio station talk show host David Blomquist. Blomquist discussed their beefs on the air Monday with Murray Energy Chief Financial Officer Rob Moore.

Moore told Blomquist that managers "communicated to our workforce that the attendance at the Romney event was mandatory, but no one was forced to attend." He said the company did not penalize no-shows.

(snip)

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2012/08/coal_miners_lost_pay_when_mitt.html

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Now you serfs shut the fuck up and get back to work!!!!

Your betters know what's best for you. Just consider yourselves lucky we're not donating your salary for the next month to Rmoney for your own good!

[Panasonic]

1. Pepper Pike needs an major investigation

followed by a union takeover of the mines, and run as how it should be run.

[DeeDeeNY]

2. You gotta love the double-talk

"attendance at the Romney event was mandatory, but no one was forced to attend."

[awoke_in_2003]

6. I am still trying to figure that one. nt

[2pooped2pop]

29. means they didn't drag them but they might lose their job? n/t

[Cha]

35. They didn't put them in Chains to get them there but

they would lose their jobs if they didn't go. One day's pay or lose your job? That's my best guess.

[amerciti001]

3. If something is Mandatory...

Then it's "forced"? How can you say that an "event was mandatory, but no one was forced to attend." Don't Murray Energy Chief Financial Officer Rob Moore, understand the meaning of "Mandatory"!!

Mandatory means: man·da·to·ry (m n d -tôr , -t r ). adj. 1. Required or commanded by authority; obligatory: Attendance at the meeting is mandatory. 2. Of, having the nature of, ...
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/mandatory

Who do he thinks he's fooling? All of those coal miners was "forced" to attend this so-call political rally for Mitt Rmoney because it was "Mandatory" as per company orders.
Now you serfs shut the fuck up and get back to work!!!!
Also I will add...when I first seen that clip, I thought to myself that some of those men standing there didn't seem to want to be there by the look on their faces.

[docgee]

4. Mandatory and unpaid? wtf? I would tell my boss to go fuck himself! nt

[Jackpine Radical]

9. And (s)he would no doubt return the favor.

The problem is a lack of symmetry in consequences when an employee tells a boss to fuck himself and vice versa.

[docgee]

23. Not really - I wouldn't use that language actually...

but my experience is that once you let your boss push you around on even the most trivial of matters you are screwed. I tell my wife, who has a boss who scrutinizes her for really trivial things time to time, to stand up for herself. Unless you are a real shit employee, in danger of being fired anyway, an employer is not going to go through the trouble to fire you and hire someone else just because you say you want to be paid for the meeting, or you will not attend. And if your boss is a bully, standing up will help your situation in the long run.

[Nine]

12. Not if you were afraid of losing your job.

I'm sure you didn't mean it that way, but what you suggest is a privilege many workers don't have. Workers give up their legal rights all the time because they need their jobs and are under duress.

By the way, unpaid and mandatory = slavery. That's not hyperbole. There was just a recent case about a jail inmate who was forced to work in the prison laundry and developed MRSA. The Court reaffirmed that you cannot force labor upon people and that the labor doesn't have to be picking cotton in the hot sun to be important enough to qualify.

[tclambert]

14. "mandatory, but no one was forced to attend"

I don't think they know what mandatory means. Too many of those syllable things.

[freshwest]

41. They don't have that liberty. There's a Martin Bashir video in MM & V on this. Look at the faces.

[Nine]

43. this one

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101752391

[wilt the stilt]

5. This should go viral in every working man's environment

every coal miner and every non union blue collar worker should understand what republicans think of them. Taking their money out of their wallets is akin to robbery.

[spinbaby]

7. That's Murray Energy

Owned by one Bob Murray, best known for environmental infractions, appearing on TV claiming that an earthquake caused the cave in at his Crandall Canyon mine, and forcing his salaried employees to attend and contribute to Republican fundraising events.

A cheaper, nuttier teabagger you won't find anywhere.

[Stainless]

11. Six miners and three rescuers were killed

at the Crandall Canyon Mine in August 2007. Bob Murray is a greedy douche bag who ignored MSHA and OSHA regulations so he could make a few more bucks at the cost of his workers lives.

[TxVietVet]

8. I'm sure the mine owners are telling the miners that they are lucky to have a job.

They keep them in fear of losing their jobs. When a safety violation occurs, then the miners run to the UMW to try to help them. It's happened over and over. I worked with lots of miners when building tunnels. They are good workers but they need to learn how to screw the mine owner back. In construction, an easy way to keep the troops in line is to continously tell them how bad the market is and that things always look bad. Then, the workers will put up with lots of crap, violate OSHA rules, never complain to the boss and work under the fear of getting laid off and no new jobs coming.

[docgee]

24. Hey that sounds like what faux news does to conservatives. nt

[oldsarge54]

10. Well, that will ensure they vote Republican

Was this in a right to work state? It seems to me that the Re publicans are really really trying for the 19th century.

[Did I Just Type This]

13. Well i am sure is was worth the sacrifice...

ok maybe not, but at least Romney didn't sing.

[Historic NY]

15. No wonder they weren't happy in the photos....

that little twerp JoshMandel of Ohio was with him too.

[JohnnyRingo]

16. They can vote for the guy who likes clean energy...

..or they can vote for the guy who hates unions.

I know coal miners are in a tough spot and there aren't any other jobs where they live, but I really don't see Obama shutting down mines like they've been told. The mine owners have brainwashed them into thinking that conservatives are on their side.

They're like mice who are so afraid of the cheese supply they've enlisted help from the cat.

[olegramps]

17. This would make a block buster video.

I certainly hope that the Democrats make a video in which they show the miners who were coerced into attending the Mitt's bullshit rally with the statements of the management that it was mandatory and they were not paid.

[Diclotican]

18. Fuddnik

Fuddnik

And still, no one want an union.. This is like going back to the 1800s, when the owners could do this - and go away with it...

In so many ways the US is still stuck in the 1800s...

Diclotican

[KinMd]

19. Mittens could cover their lost pay

..he can easily afford it and it be such a human moment...oh wait we're talking about Romney...sorry my bad

[Kingofalldems]

20. Kick and Rec

For the willing serf freepers.

[olegramps]

21. I wrote my representative and urged him to get this national attentlion.

[Kolesar]

22. 10 AM followup:Coal mine owner Bob Murray defends no-pay action on day of Romney visit

From the mouth of Murray:

"What you people are suggesting is that I pay somebody to attend a political function that they attended voluntarily. You don’t pay somebody to attend a political function, and that is what you are advocating by making an issue out of this.

"I had 3,000 coal miners there – wives, children. They enjoyed it very much. It was a great day. And you people in the media are trying to make something negative out of it because some radio personality tried to make an issue out of it. Would you rather I paid people to attend a political event, because that is what you are saying. The answer is you don’t.
"My people have their own minds. They have their own desires. Nobody was ordered to attend. Nobody knows who attended and who didn’t. But I can tell you this: We had 3,000 people there, it was a great day, our people enjoyed it. Barack Obama is destroying their lives, their livelihoods. These people ae scared, and they came out in droves to see Mitt Romney and that’s what it was all about. A great day.

Asked about the closing of the mine that day, he said, “We had to close it for security reasons. The Secret Service would not allow us to be conducting a mining operation underground when we had people there. Now what is so newsworthy about that that? The Plain Dealer has to make a news issue about it? It’s a security issue. Yes, we closed the mine for one shift. We did not have the mine closed for more than the one shift that Gov. Romney was there.”

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2012/08/coal_mine_owner_bob_murray_def.html

[Nine]

36. translation: CEO calls his own CFO a liar

And no, Bob, forcing employees to attend a political event and not paying them is NOT any better than simply paying them to go. How dare you try to spin this as you taking the ethical high road.

[Cal Carpenter]

25. Mandatory and unpaid?

That's fucked up. And possibly illegal.

"The Pepper Pike company that owns the Century Mine told workers that attending the Aug. 14 Romney event would be both mandatory and unpaid"

[Mz Pip]

26. How very Kim Jong Il of Pike

and Mitwit for that matter.

You must show support or there will be consequences.

I hope this goes viral. Romney is already in trouble in Ohio and this can't help.

[life long demo]

27. Thanks for posting this information

I saw the video of the romney appearance and the miners behind him. I thought WTF, a repug doesn't care 1 iota of these miners nor for their safety. I know there are a lot of people who vote against their best interest, but..... I hope the miners get him back by voting against him.

[2pooped2pop]

28. I thought I saw a video of them cheering him on.

And rather loudly. Were they forced to do that too, or am I remembering something different?

Is this the mine that might be shut down because of Obamas policy to keep the workers safe?

For the minors, working under dangerous conditions, is probably secondary to working period.

Anyway, perhaps I am remembering something else. My memory sucks for sure.

[drynberg]

30. MAY THIS "LESSON" BE SEARED INTO THE BRAINS OF ALL THOSE PAYLESS MINERS

who felt they had to attend Rmoney's rally. May they rally support against Rmoney in November by FBing, twittering, emailing, talking, writing, all they folks they can to stand against these greedy bullies. The Pepper Pikers think they can brag about this bully session, so it's gotta backfire on them and Rmoney and whip his golden ass but good.

[Tx4obama]

31. Kick! n/t

[Brigid]

32. This incident is perfect fodder . . .

For an Obama campaign ad.

[DeSwiss]

33. K&R

[center]
This is what mandatory/unpaid attendance to a political rally looks like.
{Notice the body language of everyone in the front row.}[/center]

- Pissed......

[bobthedrummer]

34. Mountaintop removal, fracing, sand mines...kick and rec.

[xtraxritical]

37. Where is Trumpka the AFLCIO and other union workers?

You would think union workers would converge on companies like this and shut them down. No wonder union membership is tanking, no solidarity.

[Brickbat]

38. Why stand up for someone who refuses to -- not can't, *refuses to* -- stand up for himself?

There's only so much you can do -- and so many times that idiots tell you they don't need a union -- before you say "Fine." If these guys don't like it, they can organize. If organizing is too scary or harder than shutting up and not getting paid to shill for an ass who hates you, then there's really not much the rest of us can do for you.

[Initech]

39. Mitt Romney is the opposite of King Midas. Everything he touches turns to shit.

[Third Doctor]

40. I'm sure

they will belly ache and then turn around and vote for the very same type of man that screwed them.

[Shankapotomus]

42. Romney didn't even win the presidency yet

And there is already questions about his activity?

A sign of things to come should he get in?

I think so.