Jack Battuello Memoir #1 - University of Illinois Springfield

Jack Battuello 2 0
but rejections coming in today. A complete reversal of whar was
happening three or four months after the claims were made and the
cla.ims were allowed. Suddenly all of that was cut out, and now the
miners-many of them who are toally incapacitated--are out, To me
at least it seemed like the black I.ung is something that you can
forget about: as long as Nixon remains Tn office, and the Congress
remains too damn cowardly to do something about it.
Q. As I was reading accounts of the Wal~~ut Creek disaster, when the
slag heap dam that was constructed by the company in West Virginia
in the minling areas gave way and lives were lost. The property of
the miners was destroyed. Tt became apparent to me, at Least in my
judgment, that there was definite collusinn on the part of the Uniced
Mine Workers offi.cial.s, federal mine safety inspectors and the owners
of the nines. One of the officials who was involved in the tnvestigation
which followed, cal-led the disaster an act of God, even though
the slag heap or dam was constructed by men and not created by nature.
Would you care to comment on this particular disasrer and your related
problems in the mining operation?
A. All I know about what happened in West Virginia with regards to
the breakage of that dam and the casualties and property destruction
which ensued, is what I read in the daily papers and what I read in
the Miner's --- Journal. I've never talked to anybody that was actually
present in that occurrence. I: do know rhis: there is no doubt in
my mind, knowing thc history of the United Mine Workers and knowing
the personnel, that supervised the United Mine Workers, particularly
under the Boyle administration, that there was collusion, and there
was a total neglect of the miner's interests. Miners, I'm informed
very authoritatively, in chat region and particularly in that tom,
complained about the possibility of that dam breaking and flooding
that town. Although they complained loud to the officers of the
United Mine Workers and to the state and to the federal, nothing was
done about it. The consequences was that they paid the penalty, an
extreme penalty when the dam did break and destroyed their property
and killed a lot of people.
Q. Would you care to comment on Tony Boyle's administration and what
your expectations are of the new Miller admlnlstration of the United
Mine Workers?
A, T don't have to waste too many words ta describe BoyLe, or his
administration. Tony Boyle was not only a pawn and a tool for the
coal companies, he was a fraud as a union labor leader. I think that's
generally known, even within the United Mine Workers. I never was
happier, that I can recal.1, than on the night when I received a report
over the television that Arnold Miller--whom I do not know--had
defeated Boyle. I regret: to say that that election was not the result
of the miner's intellectual activities, but rather from a court
decision. But despite that fact, I am pleased and gratified when
Arnold Miller defeated Tony Boyle. I do not know Arnold Millet, but
Jack Battuello Memoir -- Archives, University of Illinois at Springfield