Tag: mining

This Day in Labor History: April 21, 1545

By Erik Loomis

In General

On April 21, 2018

On April 21, 1545, a man named Juan de Villarroel filed the first mining claim at Potosí, in what is now Bolivia. The silver mine in the mountain known as Cerro Rico would feed the Spanish coffers, fund wars to kill Protestants in Europe, and come at a horrible cost to the indigenous peoples of […]

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This Day in Labor History: January 23, 1890

By Erik Loomis

On January 23, 2018

On January 23, 1890, the United Mine Workers of America formed. One of the most important labor unions in American history, examining the foundation of the UMWA is a window into the position and idea

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This Day in Labor History: December 23, 1872

By Erik Loomis

On December 23, 2017

On December 23, 1872, coal miners near Clearfield, Pennsylvania got into a fight with strikebreakers trying to mine coal during a strike. This minor moment in American labor history tells us a great d

Who Really Matters in Utah?

By Erik Loomis

In General

On December 10, 2017

In the debate over Trump destroying the Utah national monuments, there’s been a lot of discussion over who matters in that state. Were these monuments foisted upon the people of Utah, even though the vast majority had never spent any time doing anything at all in the remote desert? Or were they, especially Bears Ears, […]

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That Pro-Coal Trump!

By Erik Loomis

On November 17, 2017

Meet your newly confirmed Mine Safety and Health Administration head David Zatezalo: The coal mining company run by President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the nation’s top mining regulator has alr

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Was Don Blankenship Not Available?

By Erik Loomis

On September 4, 2017

Meet your new Mine Safety and Health Administration administrator nominee. Trump on Friday named David Zatezalo, the former chairman of Rhino Resources, to be an assistant secretary of Labor overseein

The Canadian Exploitation of the World’s Indigenous People Continues

By Erik Loomis

In General

On April 8, 2017

Americans often look at Canada as some sort of liberal paradise. And in some ways, obviously the domestic politics are less toxic than that of the United States. But Canada’s natural resource corporations are among the world’s worst in terms of both exploiting the natural world and exploiting the people who are unfortunate enough to […]

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This Day in Labor History: December 30, 1970

By Erik Loomis

On December 30, 2016

On December 30, 1970, a coal mine exploded on Hurricane Creek, near Hyden, Kentucky. Thirty-eight miners died that day, yet another example of the terrible safety conditions of coal mining, even at a

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What Do the World’s Poor Think About Child Labor?

By Erik Loomis

On December 27, 2016

In writing about the horrors of child labor internationally, I frequently get people telling me that “these people are poor and all banning child labor does is take income away from families whe

This Day in Labor History: December 19, 1907

By Erik Loomis

In General

On December 19, 2016

On December 19, 1907, the Darr Mine near Smithton, Pennsylvania, caught fire and exploded. 239 people died, many of them children. This was the largest workplace disaster in Pennsylvania history. The Darr mine, located southeast of Pittsburgh, was typical of the Appalachian mining country during the early twentieth century. The workforce was a polyglot group […]

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The Wages of Mining

By Erik Loomis

On December 8, 2016

In 1985, I took the first trip of my life. We drove from Oregon to Minnesota for a family reunion. For me, at that age, this was exciting. As we drove east on I-90, we stopped in Butte, Montana. There

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What’s the Most Reprehensible Living American Up To These Days?

By Erik Loomis

On October 7, 2016

Oh Don Blankenship. You are really a piece of work. Don Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy who is currently serving a one-year sentence in federal prison for conspiring to violate safety sta

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