IN MEMORIAM

I have thought of some time about what I would write to memorialize the miners who died in the Sago Mine tragedy. The only word that can summarize all the grief is a simple but deadly one to many labourers.

DEREGULATION.

The Sago Mine had numerous safety violations through the years. It was a failing business bought by vulture capitalist Wilber L. Ross through his International Coal Group. Many of the fines the company received were for as little as $60.
Palm Beach Post

The Bush administration would like to have America’s citizens believe that business can regulate itself for prosperous owners and workers. In reality, this administration’s whoredom to big business will take us back to the days of Victorian England where people had miserable short lives and painful deaths because of squalid working and living conditions. The Sago Mine could easily be Life in the Iron Mills; or the Korl Woman by Rebecca Harding Davis.

2006 is an election year. Please remember the workers of the Sago Mine when you cast your ballot and vote for legislators who believe in worker rights and worker safety. It will be a fitting memorial to those lost in the mine.
---Izzy