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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Recruiting Hispanics for Kentucky Coal Mines Raises Debate COAL RUN, Ky., Feb. 18 (AP) — Charlie Bearse, the president of Sidney Coal, was expressing an opinion that many in these mountains secretly share. The problem was, he put that opinion in writing. "It is common knowledge that the work ethic of the Eastern Kentucky worker has declined from where it once was," Mr. Bearse wrote to the state mining board. Bad attitudes and drug abuse, he argued, were affecting attendance "and, ultimately, productivity." Mr. Bearse's appeal to the board: Relax an English-only policy in the mines so he could bring in Hispanic workers. American companies often say they need migrant workers to do low-paying, menial tasks that many Americans will not. But at $18 an hour and up, plus benefits, mining jobs are some of Appalachia's best. In a part of the country where Hispanics make up less than 1 percent of most counties' populations, Mr. Bearse's comments caused a stir. Shannon Gibson, who recently took the state test for the "green card" that would allow him to work underground, said: "They're just looking for more workers who will work cheaper and work longer." Mr. Bearse has acknowledged that his choice of words could have been better. And his timing could not have been worse. Less than two weeks after he made his request in late December, 12 miners died in an accident in West Virginia. By the time his proposal became public this month, five more coal miners had died. A generation of layoffs and migration has left a suddenly booming industry with a shortage of experienced miners. Labor officials put that deficit at more than 6,000 miners in West Virginia and Kentucky. "For all kinds of reasons, the labor pool is smaller," said Bill Caylor, president of the Kentucky Coal Association. But Tim Miller, a United Mine Workers union organizer, said that was nonsense, calling the supposed miner shortage "the biggest farce out there right now." In the past two years, Kentucky has issued nearly 13,000 work permits for inexperienced miners. In a recent week, state labor officials counted 7,187 people actively seeking coal mining work, 5,390 of whom claimed prior mining experience. Mr. Miller said there were 1,400 laid-off union miners in Western Kentucky alone who could go to work today. He echoed the sentiments of many who believe the industry was simply hoping to exploit Hispanics and drive down wages. "They want people who don't have the ability to protect themselves," Mr. Miller said. "If they can flood the market with Hispanic workers, if they can get away with paying a guy $8 an hour, the next guy will be willing to work for $7." Mr. Bearse said more than a third of his 800 employees had been hired in the past year. Sidney, a subsidiary of Massey Energy of Richmond, Va., has recruited miners from out West and advertised as far away as Charlotte, N.C., but still cannot fill its rosters, it says. So Mr. Bearse turned to Hispanic workers on his payroll and asked if they had relatives or friends who might consider taking part in a "pilot program." He emphasized they would get the same wages and benefits as the company's other miners. "It would be administered by qualified bilingual supervisors," he said in a telephone interview. "They would need to have legal worker status." Mr. Miller said his objections were because of safety, not immigration. "What if that interpreter is the one who gets covered up in a rock fall?" he said. "I'm outside of the mine screaming they've got smoke coming their way and they don't have any idea what I'm trying to say. They're just sitting ducks."
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#9. To: Brian S (#0)
We too had one of the biggest Meth busts in Minnesota's History, and all parties involved were Hispanic, Illegal, and the Meth came from... Of Course Mexico. None of the pertinent info made the papers, just cops posing in front of a big bunch of Meth. When you read who was involved, not an Anglo in the bunch.
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