More than five years after 29 miners were killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, justice was finally served as former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was found criminally guilty for a conspiracy to willfully violate the Mine Safety and Health Act. Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts said that the decision will not bring back the 52 people killed on Massey Energy property during Blankenship’s reign as the head of that company, including the 29 killed at the Upper Big Branch disaster in 2010. “Their families still must live without their loved ones, holding their grief in their hearts the rest of their lives,” said Roberts. He added that "a message has gone out today to every coal operator in America who is willing to skirt mine safety and health laws: you do so at your own personal risk."
Today's labor calendar features a discussion with African labor leaders on “The South – South Connection,” from 3:30 to 5pm at the AFL-CIO. The Solidarity Center will host the discussion with trade union leaders from Nigeria, Liberia, Kenya and South Africa. Here’s today’s labor history: On this date in 2001, workers ratified a new labor agreement at Titan Tire of Natchez, Mississippi, ending the longest strike in the history of the U.S. tire industry, which began May 1, 1998, at the company's Des Moines, Iowa, plant. Today’s labor quote is by Samuel Gompers, the first president of the American Federation of Labor: "Time is the most valuable thing on earth: time to think, time to act, time to extend our fraternal relations, time to become better men, time to become better women, time to become better and more independent citizens."
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