Mountain Holler
Manchin, MSHA didn't help injured miner
August 30th, 2007
Something does stink in West Virginia; it's the politicians teaming up with coal lobbyists to keep hardworking, injured coal miners from getting what they deserve.I understand everything Mr. Arrington said; my husband was injured working for Peabody coal in 2004. He was also given the bums shuffle. His accident wasn't even reported to MSHA. We got no help from anyone, except the rank-and-file miners he worked with. I researched MSHA's Web site, and I found out my husband's injury wasn't even reported. We contacted MSHA; they in turn contacted Peabody, who denied there was an injury.
My husband did receive two checks from Acordia before his benefits were cut off. They now say there was no injury; before they said it was an added injury. We had to send paperwork to MSHA to prove they were lying.
My husband and our family suffered because we couldn't pay our bills and put food on our table. If not for my small paycheck, my husband would have returned to work and risked being paralyzed from the neck down. We've tried the administrative law judge and won, but still no check or treatment.
Because Gov. Manchin and the legislature changed the laws so the coal companies don't have to pay injured miners while waiting the coal company's appeal. Because the law was changed, his case was appealed to the review board (three lawyers, no doctors), which ruled against him.
Our attorney appealed to the Supreme Court in November 2006; we're still waiting.
I tried to speak to Gov. Manchin but was told, "He won't meet with you over this but you can speak to one of his aides." I might as well have talked to a wall for all the help we got.
Don't be fooled when Manchin flashes that fake smile and says he's for the coal miners. He's for the coal companies, not for the miners and the communities.
Mr. Arrington is right; next election let's clean all the old cronies out and start with new people who haven't made a career out of being a shyster politician.