Chile’s trapped miners: Victims of a ruthless drive for profit

[Joanne98]

There is growing popular anger in Chile over the reckless behavior of the mining company, San Esteban, which specializes in mining copper and gold. The record shows that the company was at fault on several counts: it delayed reporting the accident, had violated several security measures and hadn’t paid social security for the miners, according to complaints. A trapped miner said that when they reached the shelter “the energy was cut off and there was no ventilation.”

The San José mine had a record of 80 accidents. In 2004, a miner died after a cave-in. In 2006, a truck driver in the mine was also killed in an accident. That same year 182 workers were injured, 56 of them seriously, according to GlobalPost.

The mine was closed in 2007 after a rock explosion caused the death of a geologist. The owners were charged with involuntary manslaughter, but the case was dropped in 2008 after they agreed to pay the family some USD 170,000 in compensation.

A condition for reopening the mine was that San Esteban commits itself to constructing a ladder that would lead from the shelter to the surface. Following the cave-in, the miners tried to reach the surface through a ventilation shaft. They got only a third of the way up before discovering that the mine owners had never bothered to finish the ladder to the top.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/sep2010/chil-s03.shtml

[FiveGoodMen]

1. NOTE to Skinner: Someone unrec'd this.

Still think that's a worthwhile feature?

[Judi Lynn]

2. I just tried to rec. it, too, and nothing registered. So odd. Who on earth could defend the company?

We've got some very strange barnacles with "voting" power attached to this forum.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Joanne, at least two people have recommended your article. It shoud be seen. Thanks. n/t

[truth2power]

4. K & R n/t

[Tansy_Gold]

5. K & R