| Staking lives because of poverty | |
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| Dec 11, 2007 20:18 |   |
 | Note: As winter is approaching, there is a soaring demand for coal to supply heat and has led to the increase of serious coal mine disaster. Recently, the coal mine disasters are increasing. In December 2006, I was assigned to do a research on the Coal Mine Accidents in China. After the research, my mentor required me to give a speech in a public debate. I made up my mind to write a researh report in the name of a coal miner. Although I am not a coal miner myself, after the survey, I found that I had become part of them. I understood their bitterness and pangs. Life is hard for the coal miners. Though one year has passed, these underrepresented coal miners still live in the shadow of China's robust economic growth. They are still endangered by the mounting coal mine accidents. I think the facts and statisctics I gathered last year can still reflect the reality of this winter. |
| Dec 11, 2007 20:21 | #1 |
| Staking lives because of poverty --- Coal miners’ voice need to be heard( December 2006) Before we go I’d like to draw your attention to a piece of news reported by Xinhua News Agency on December 5, 2006: Mine bosses jailed over deaths In Xian, two coalmine bosses are sentenced to prison for the 2004 gas explosion that killed 166 miners. Mining bosses know the unsafe conditions and yet they still send workers to face death. A total of 293 miners were working two years ago when the deadly blast occurred in the Shaanxi gas explosion. Liu Shuangmin and Wang Youjun, the mine bosses who were responsible for the deadly blast two years ago were arrested a year ago and now are sentenced to prison. As a coal miner, I think this is happy occasion that deserves celebrating, because justice has long arms, and the culprits were finally brought to justice. However, unfortunately, since the inception of winter, so many coal mine accidents occurred frequently and caused so many casualties. According to statistics with the State Administration of Work Safety, our country produced 35% of the worlds’ coal last year, but reported 80% of the total deaths in coal mine accidents. This means that coal mining has become the most deadly job in China. |
| Dec 11, 2007 20:22 | #2 |
| As to our coal miners, we are fully aware that what we are doing is one of the most difficult, dirty and dangerous jobs in the world. However, we have no choice because of poverty. Most of mining workers like me, are from rural areas. We neither receive a good education, nor have other skills to make a living. Coal mining can help us make more money than planting crops. Through mining in the bottom of mine, we can make twice as much as our counterparts who operate on top of the mines, ie.RMB 1000-1500 a month. The working condition is very poor. Many mines where I have worked operate on minimum facilities i.e no breather, minimum machinery and poor ventilation. In some private small coal mines, the working conditions are even worse. Despite of the poor working conditions, many miners including me fear to lose this job. I remember clearly when I seek my first job in a private coal mine, the foreman said: “Take it or leave it. The only thing that China doesn't have is a shortage of people." Of course, the mine prefers employing our temporary migrating farmers, because they do not have to sign a formal contract and provide other welfare and pension. It is poverty that put coal miners in a vulnerable position. Poverty forced miners to work in the poor working condition. Due to the poor working condition, about 600,000 miners are suffer from pneumonia, a disease of the lungs caused by long-term continued inhalation of dust, and the figure increases by 70,000miners every year. Sometimes, we have to work even when we are seriously ill. It is very often that when we asked for sick leave, the foreman would say “OK, if you want to have sick leave, you will leave forever.” |
| Dec 11, 2007 20:23 | #3 |
| Winter is the dooms day for coal miners. As winter is approaching, there is a soaring demand for coal to supply heat and has led to the increase of serious coal mine disaster. Some mine owners in order to chase a large bonus, forced miners to work in spite of reports of gas leaks and high gas density underground. In conclusion，it is our coal miners who have made a great contribution to the development of our society. To some extent, the cost of development is being paid by the blood, sweat and tears of our coal miners and their families. However, we are living in the invisible corner of our society. Therefore, here I just want to say that don’t forget our coal miners while you are enjoying your lives. |
| Dec 12, 2007 12:33 | #4 |
| You understand the situation well, LEONARDO. I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where the steel mills required an endless stream of coal from our mountains. I remember standing vigil outside of coal mine after an accident to report the news. It is very dangerous work. If a miner is not killed in an accident what we call "black lung disease" will probably kill him. That is especially true if the miner does not have a breathing mask...as you mentioned. |
| Dec 12, 2007 21:53 | #5 |
| After reading this research report, I felt very chilled. In China, many coal mine accidents were actually covered up by the authority and coal mine boss. Only being exposed to the bright side of China's landscape make me blindly optimistic. "To some extent, the cost of development is being paid by the blood, sweat and tears of coal miners and their families. However, we are living in the invisible corner of our society." This is very true. What is the cost of development? Who should pay for the price of development? Invisible underrepresented group? |
| Dec 16, 2007 16:49 | #6 |
| >>>Who should pay for the price of development? The consumers of the product (energy) ultimately pay for everything in America's implementation of capitalism. I do not know how it works in China's implementation of capitalism. The contribution made by the miners and their families is irrelevant to the consumers of the energy. This is not only true in China, but it is also true in every other energy consuming country. Our modern societies demand energy - energy at any cost. |
| Dec 16, 2007 20:57 | #7 |
| >>The consumers of the product (energy) ultimately pay for everything in America's implementation of capitalism. I do not know how it works in China's implementation of capitalism. << Griz, do you really think that China is implementing capitalism? China is a socialist country. Certainly, China has the element of capitalism such as market economy, private ownership and distribution of wealth based on labor. In nature, its all assets are state-owned. |
| Dec 17, 2007 16:42 | #8 |
| I would need intimate knowledge of the workings and relationships between China's government, China's businesses and China's people to know for certain, but on the face of it China appears more capitalistic than the US. Appearances can be deceiving. |
| Dec 18, 2007 03:35 | #9 |
| GUEST112 | I heard a saying: White or black, as long as it can catch a rat, it is a good cat. This saying is from the former Chairman Deng Xiaoping. The implied meanning is capitalism or socialism, as long as it can help China develop economy. It is a good social system. I have heard that many western countries think China has a neo-capitalism. What is the connotation? |
| Dec 19, 2007 11:38 | #10 |
| NEO means near earth object to astronomers...but when used as a prefix to another word I believe it means "new" or "different." If I am correct neo-capitalism might be new and different capitalism. Chairman Deng was a wise man. Who cares what name you give it! |
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