Mine Workers Protest in Richmond

The Partisan was on the scene of this event, and the article will cover what we witnessed. We don't take credit for the photograph.

Around 8 AM today the United Mine Workers of America led a protest in Monroe Park in Richmond, Virginia against Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship and the company board of directors. The union was enraged by the fact that Massey's poor safety record has lead to the deaths of 52 mine workers in the past ten years, including 29 who died in April.

A short rally was held with speakers from the labor unions condemning Massey Energy Co. CEO Don Blankenship and his company's poor safety record. A union speaker compared Blankenship to the Biblical Pharaoh that enslaved Moses and his people in Egypt. They also called for the arrest of Blankenship.

“We just come to work here. We don’t come to die," the UMWA secretary-treasurer Daniel J. Kane said.

After the rally in Monroe Park, the UMWA marched an army of 1,000 workers and supporters to the Jefferson Hotel where Massey was holding its annual stockholders' meeting. They surrounded the building and chanted, "UMWA," "Fire Don's Ass," and "Massey stock is blood money!" Protesters held signs reading, "Put people before profits," and "the big truth, 52 dead."

A contingent of workers from the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, local activist supporters, and workers wearing shirts from their various unions (including unions of sheet metal workers and electricians) also took part in the protest against Massey.

Two members of the Rising Tide DC, an environmentalist group, were arrested for sneaking into the hotel and draping a large banner from a balcony. The banner said, "Massey: Stop putting profits over people."

Mountain Justice and RVA4Peace held protests against Massey during the afternoon, criticizing the company for its role in pollution and environmental destruction.

Despite the outcries of the masses, Massey reelected three board members who had come under fire.

We would like to extend our commiserations to the families and friends of the dead mine workers, and our support to those who are fighting for justice.