Union decries Utah decision to cut mine safety job

Union decries Utah decision to cut mine safety job


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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The United Mine Workers of America is protesting Utah's decision to leave a coal-mine safety post vacant.

Union secretary and treasurer Daniel J. Kane calls the decision a step backward that puts Utah miners at risk.

Utah lawmakers created a one-man Office of Coal Mine Safety after twin cave-ins that left nine people dead at Crandall Canyon in 2007.

The state office didn't have any enforcement power -- federal regulators are in charge -- but served as a clearinghouse for complaints about unsafe conditions at Utah mines.

The Associated Press reported last week that Garth Nielsen left the post for a job in the private sector and that Labor Commissioner Sherrie Hayashi decided not to fill the job for budget reasons.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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