Thursday, February 22, 2007
Miners' Widows Lobby Lawmakers
Widows of dead coal miners rallied Wednesday at the Capitol alongside miners and labor supporters to push legislation they claim would strengthen safety laws for those working underground. Proponents urged House lawmakers to have a swift committee vote that would get the mine safety legislation to the House floor. They say the legislation would save lives by imposing more stringent safety requirements on coal mine operators. With the 2007 General Assembly session half over, the legislation has not yet come up for a committee vote. It would, among other things, require more frequent mine inspections and require coal companies to supply miners with methane detectors. The proposal would also allow people to attend investigation interviews on behalf of any miners killed in on-the-job accidents.
# posted by Justin Mullins @ 4:07 PM 
