By Christian and Kaleb

Old Days

Britain's Coalfields

Britain started their coal company back in 1946 on July 12th. The British Coal corporation is a nationalized company for coal extraction. Now the biggest coal company in the UK is UK coal. They have had three deaths in the past four years which is pretty good for a coal company, but it is still not good enough. They got fined £200,000 because of the last death. My opinion is that is not enough money to compensate for that life. They took away a life and a form of general income for his family.

Purpose of Coal

Coal was used for:

• Smelting copper• To power trains• It was also used to create many jobs in

the world, 750,000 approximately.• Used in fuel• And to heat baths

The Worker Bees

Most of the people who worked in a mine back then were kids. They would choose kids because they were small and would fit in small mine shafts. They also had women working too because they are also pretty small. They made the mine shafts small so it didn’t take too much effort to make it and because it had a better chance of not collapsing.

Health and Insurance

Many chronic lung problems were caught because of the coal mines. Some can include Black Lung, Lung Cancer, Bronchitis, and Asthma. The fact is that there was no insurance or safety regulators to make sure it was safe and to cover their injuries or sicknesses. Also mercury would often linger about in there making them as mad as a hatter. When a miner died the owner didn’t care. There would be people lining up for the job. When they died the owner would most likely have to pay a fine, but it wouldn’t be enough to cover the loss.

Today

South Africa

South Africa has over 2.5 trillion dollars in mineral reserves. They are the richest country in the world by commodities. South Africa mines coal, gold, diamonds, platinum, palladium, and chromium. It is controlled by the De Beers Consolidated Mines Company.

The Workers and Unions

There is almost always child labour in a poorer country. Even though they have so much money in materials they still need the money and child labour is how they can get it. Women also mine in South Africa, but there are a lot more benefits that the children don’t have. There are many associations to make sure women aren’t getting mistreated. An association is WimSa ( Women in mining South Africa). A union is an organization that creates a better condition at work for them. It can get them a higher wage, it can reduce disease, and it gets them more rights. There will always be fees for the people that belong, whether it be direct or through taxes.

Strikes Q: What do you do when you're nose goes on strike?

A: Picket

When miners go on strike the company has to keep working so the have to hire scabs. These are people that aren’t with a union that get hired to replace the miners. However the miners don’t take to this too well and won’ t let them pass the picket line. Back then this would often end in violence, and in worst cases death.

Dangers of Today

Besides explosions and cave-ins, there are many dangers. Methane is always hanging about in the mines. Methane isn’t very safe for humans. Also mining coal can cause black lung from the debris and dust lingering in the mines. Also as we mentioned before, mercury can cause IQ loss and make you crazy. Some other diseases are; cancer, asthma, and bronchitis. To prevent these from happening the company has to pay a lot more money, and hire many more people (such as safety inspectors).

Vancouver Island Today

Raven Underground Coal Project

This project is proposing a coal mine in Comox Valley, BC. This will improve the economy greatly because every BC miner on average makes 115, 000 dollars per year.

The Affects

The Raven Underground Coal Project will affect the shellfish industry. Shellfish are very sensitive and the environmental change the mine will bring is going to kill the shellfish. In BC it is illegal to have something impact shellfish. The company says they are helping the economy though.

Steel

The essential for making steel is coal. The Raven Underground Coal Project will create coal. Since it mines coal that makes steal the company might build a factory to make the steel.