THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 25, 1994 TAG: 9407210012
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
Regarding ``Controlling coalfield violence'' (editorial, July 6): It should surprise no one that an oppressed group like coal miners had to resort to extraordinary measures in the 1989 Pittston coal strike. Like the rest of the South, Virginia prides itself as a right-to-work state - a euphemism for ``right to be a slave.''
Unions have wrought wonderful things for the American working class, raising the workingman into the middle class.
When the coal companies and workers could not come to agreement, and the management resorted to strike-breaking measures, the unions acted to protect their livelihoods. Their clash with police was only natural, since the ``law'' is often made for the rich and powerful.
The dangerous and dirty work of coal miners deserves just compensation. The fact that the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned Judge McGlothlin's $52 million in fines against the UMW bears this out.
RODNEY J. VAN HOUTEN
Virginia Beach, July 7, 1994 by CNB