We wouldn’t expect coal mine owners to allow American mining jobs to remain decent paying, what with millions of “willing workers” lurking south of the border. Certainly not.

According to one mine owner, American workers’ declining work ethic is at fault, not his desire to cut wages by half [Coal Co. Takes Heat for Recruitment Plan].

“It is common knowledge that the work ethic of the Eastern Kentucky worker has declined from where it once was,” [Sidney Coal Co. President Charlie] Bearse wrote to the state mining board. Bad attitudes and drug abuse, he argued, were affecting attendance “and, ultimately, productivity.”

Bearse’s appeal to the board: Relax an English-only policy in the mines so he could bring in Hispanic workers.

It’s an incredible insult to American miners to say they have “bad attitudes” considering the difficulty of the job, particularly after the recent deaths in mining accidents. Bearse also asserts that there are worker shortages, presumably because mining is a job Americans no longer want to do, even though it remains one of the few middle-class occupations in Appalachia.

The intent of the owners is the same old exploitation strategy: bring in thousands of foreigners to force wages down, just as they did with the meatpacking industry, which once had jobs providing middle-class wages to American families. Now meatpacking has reverted to the terrible conditions which Upton Sinclair chronicled in The Jungle a century ago.

For a more realistic view about American miners’ willingness to work, see Tragedies haven’t cooled demand for coal jobs in Ohio. [by Rita Price, February 19, 2006, The Columbus Dispatch ]

Despite dangers made vivid by tragedies in West Virginia, people would love to sign on. Officials expect a surplus of applicants when a mine opens this year about 60 miles southeast of Columbus in Perry County.

See? There are plenty of English-speaking citizen workers available, but they are not wanted by industry today.

A reader points out that Zirkle Fruit, the illegal immigrant employer and RICO case loser chronicled by Joe Guzzardi on Friday, was involved in an ingenious stratagem last year to find a legal way to undercut the local labor market: importing Thai farm workers under H-2A Visas. [New state import: Thai farmworkers By Lornet Turnbull The Seattle Times Febuary20 2005 Access requires free registration].

Employers are turning to Thais to solve a ghastly problem:

Growers also say many local workers “cherry pick” the orchards for the best jobs and pay, leaving some farmers guessing whether they’ll have enough laborers, especially in a big year.

Quitting one employer for another just to get better conditions! How un-American!

H-2A workers are attractive to their hirers:

…they get workers whose immigration status and loyalty are not in question. And…they know these workers — their English limited and their movements largely controlled — will show up to work.

(Charming - 17th Century Virginian planters no doubt said the same about their imported African slaves.)

Gary Hudson, human-resources director for Zirkle Fruit, one of the region’s biggest growers and a Global client for H-2A workers this year, said, “Because this is a 10-month-a-year job… you want to find those good-quality people who will stick with you…

(How about paying them enough to make them want to stay?)

[email Hudson]

“Global” is Global Horizons, Inc, the California firm functioning as Gangmaster for these workers. To add to the fragrance of the situation, Global had its license to operate in Washington State revoked early this year, for allegedly not fully paying its Thais. It is appealing.

Commiserate with Mordechai Orian, Global’s President (seen here with politican friends -thanks, W.C).