Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2004. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-91)

In May 1981, at the South Wales Area NUM annual conference, Area president Emlyn Williams addressed the delegates and told them that the south Wales miners 'are associated in people's minds with resistance and struggles ... There is no doubt in my mind that miners have an historical mission to lead in class struggles'.1 This statement expressed the conscious self-image of the South Wales Area and was also a reaffirmation of an important historical trend. During the twentieth century the miners were generally considered to be amongst the most militant sections of the British labour movement, with South Wales very much in the forefront of this. This thesis examines both how and why the south Wales miners held this prominent 'vanguard' role. My research explores the history of the south Wales miners between 1964 and 1985, examining the interrelationship of coal, community and politics through the prism of their Union. The period covers the concerted run-down of the coal industry under the Wilson government, the growth of miners' resistance and the brief prospect of a secure future for them, through to eventual NUM defeat in 1985. In this socio- political history, the emphasis is on the dynamics of the relations between colliery lodges, the South Wales Area and the national NUM, the response of the Area to industrial and political developments, and also the impact of this upon its relationship with the wider labour movement. In many respects however, labour history is not currently 'fashionable'. The decline of the densely-unionised heavy industries, together with the global hegemony of neo-liberalism, has led many to believe that this subject is no longer relevant - even though the working class has not disappeared just because more people in Britain now work in call centres and supermarkets than in collieries or steelworks. Nevertheless, as Mcllroy and Campbell point out, '[t]he [current] debility of labour studies ... have to be related to the defeats and the consequent sense of demoralisation the labour movement has suffered from, as well as state policies and academic responses to them'.

This project was established with the aim of assessing the extent of the development of new mining communities and the extent to which sport has been involved in the development of new communities around the Witbank district. The development of this project was an endeavour to understand the extent of change in settlement practices of miners, a subject on which there is not much academic literature. From the earlier settlement of small-scale farmers in Witbank, coal mining sprouted. Until the 1980s, a large number of African workers on these mines were migrant labourers housed in single-sex compounds. When the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) called for the abolition of hostels, the migrant system was seriously affected. With the decline of the migrant labour system, mine workers’ families have been settling with them in units located on or close to the mines. As compounds were converted into family units, African workers tasted the freedom of living with their families. The move from hostels to houses has led to the development of new ‘normal’ communities; ‘normal’ in the sense that they comprise men, women and children. The research shows that the development of new communities has not been automatic, but one that has relied, in particular, on the self-activity of the miners and their families, though often with support from colliery managers. As in the UK and US, various institutions have been involved in developing mining communities, and this study focuses on one of these, a sports association, specifically the Mpumalanga Collieries’ Human Resources Association (MCHRA). Whilst in many respects the new mining communities are similar to those considered in the UK and US, apartheid divisions continue to mark the geography of settlement, with class replacing race as the main marker of division. Sport is crucial in the secondary development of these communities; secondary in that it promotes social cohesion rather than gives rise to the emergence of communities. Nonetheless, sport has already shown its importance in Witbank. It does not only allow families to entertain themselves, but also gives the communities some escape-valve mechanism, as it keeps people busy and away from crime, drugs and alcohol abuse. This study provides valuable evidence of ordinary people taking responsibility for new social problems arising in the post-apartheid era, and they are doing this, in particular, through the mechanism of sport. / Prof. Peter Alexander Ms. Claire Ceruti

Although not as important as timber, the coal mining industry did play a significant role in Washington's economic development of the 1880's. But coal mining was not an easy business in which to make a profit. The product itself was medicore; costs were high, and competition was stiff. The leading independent coal company, the Oregon Improvement Company (OIC), suffered from continual financial problems and was hampered by poor management. To reduce costs the OIC emphasized the factor of production that appeared to be easiest to control — labor. Like all Washington coal operators, the OIC officers were opposed to labor organizations, which they believed both increased costs and interferred with a company's right to conduct its business. The nature of coal mining and the structure of mining towns made conflict almost inevitable between a company and its employees. The mine workers quickly learned that organization was not only essential to protect their interests in an irregular and dangerous industry, but also to counteract the overwhelming influence of the company. When Knights of Labor organizers appeared in Washington in the early 1880's, they were enthusiastically received by the mine workers, and local assemblies of the Knights were established throughout Washington's mining regions. A company like the OIC wanted to mine coal efficiently and economically without any interference from employees or labor organizations. In order to inhibit the influence of organized labor the OIC encouraged faction among its employees, with the intent of keeping the workers divided and quarreling among themselves. To the OIC officers it appeared that the workers could be permanently divided along racial lines. Their experience with placing low-paid Chinese workers in the mines had shown them that their white-employees completely accepted the prevailing racial stereotypes. Not only were the mine workers opposed to Chinese in the mines, they became leaders in the movement to expel the Chinese from Washington. Racial animosity and a fear of cheap labor prevented the mine workers from seeing what they had in common as workers with the Chinese. In this sense the Chinese laid the groundwork for the far more successful use of blacks in the mines. The first black mine workers in Washington were imported from the Midwest in 1888 by the Northern Pacific Coal Company. With the use of blacks the company broke a strike led by the Knights. In 1891 the OIC decided to follow the example of the Northern Pacific, and black workers were imported under contract to work in the OIC mines. With cheap black labor the OIC believed it could conduct its business more economically and suppress organized labor by encouraging racial hostility among the workers. The OIC's use of blacks precipitated the complete defeat of union mine workers in Washington. A national tradition of anti-Negro prejudice enhanced by the West's more virulent racism, and the minimal participation of blacks in the developing labor movement, all contributed to their successful use in the Washington mines. Racial animosity and hostility to cheap labor kept the blacks and whites divided. Initiated by the Knights, the retaliatory strike of the white mine workers failed, and mining unions disappeared from Washington for over a decade. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Katina Cummings. / M.C.P.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Anthropology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is a disease which is both curable and preventable, with recognised complications such loss of lung function and progressive massive fibrosis (PMF). It is a major cause of pulmonary disability and mortality in the South Africa mining industry. Tuberculosis has a high social and economic cost, both for the individual concerned and for the industry as a whole. However, notwithstanding the extensive literature on TB in the mining industry, given the size and economic importance of coal mining in South Africa, there is surprisingly scanty information available on TB and other occupational lung diseases in coal mines. A strong correlation was reported in Canada, the USA and China between coal usage and TB. This highlights the possibility of the direct impact of coal usage on TB. Although black miners have historically done jobs with the highest exposure in the coal mining industry, there have been remarkably few studies reporting the prevalence of TB and the exposure response relationship in black coal miners in South Africa. Dust exposure in coal mines is a risk factor for occupational lung diseases such as coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), chronic obstructive airways disease (COAD) and lung function deficiency. However, there are still doubts and debates about the risk in such work of tuberculosis. The aim of this study was to fill the gap in the literature by determining the prevalence and exposure response relationship of TB to coal dust exposure. Objective To determine, within a sample of coal miners: . Prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) . Prevalence of coal workers' pneumoconiosis and past TB . Association of outcome variables with exposure variables and underground coalmine workers' exposure as compared to that of surface workers . Association of TB with coal workers' pneumoconiosis and past TB . Exposure response relationship of TB, coal workers' pneumoconiosis and past TB to respirable coal dust. Method A cross-sectional study of 344 employed black male coal miners at a coal mining complex with fourteen mine shafts at Secunda in Mpumalanga, was done. The records from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2005 were reviewed. The main outcome measure was the prevalence of current TB in coal miners. The sample consisted of 220 underground and 124 surtace coal miners. The exposure variables considered were lifetime mean exposure level (LMEL) (mgim3), cumulative dust exposure (CDE) in mg-years/m3, and coal mining years. Information was collected from multiple sources including hospital files, surveillance records and medical records, and crossvalidated with the information from the human resources department. Information was collected on the demographic profile, exposure, underground or surface work, area of work, smoking history, HIV status from medical records, dust exposure intensity, length of service, TB diagnosis and the methods of diagnosis and outcome of the treatment, and previous TB and CWP. Participants with current TB were either sputum culture positive or sputum culture negative TB. Results The mean age of the sample was 45.2 years, (range 2844 years; SD = 8.2).The mean duration of service was 16.1 years (range 4.1-27.7 years; SD 5.9). There were 34 (9.9%) cases of current TB in total, of which 31 were underground coal miners and three were surface coal miners. The prevalence of current TB reported by this study was 9.97o, with a mean age of 46J years and length of service of 16.2 years. The prevalence of current TB among the underground and surface workers was 14.1o/o and 2.4o/o rcspectively. The prevalence of CWP was 3.8o/o, with a mean age of 51.3 years and a mean length of service of 2Q.l years. The prevalence of past TB was also 3.8o/o, with a mean age and length of service of 44.9 and 1 6. 1 years respectively. Underground coal mines workers' exposure to coal dust was high, with a lifetime mean exposure level (LMEL) and cumulative dust exposure (CDE) of 2.4 mg/m3 and 33.4 mgyears/ m3 respectively. The difference in LMEL and CDE among underground vs. surface workers was significant, with underground exposure being higher than surface exposure, namely p<0.001 and p<0.001 respectively. The difference in length of service between underground and surface participants was not significant. The difference in exposure to coal dust (LMEL and CDE) among participants with current and previous TB, compared to those without current and previous TB, was statistically significant, p<0.008 and p<0.04. The difference between the coal dust exposure indices (LMEL, CDE exposure duration) for participants with and without CWP was significant. However, the difference between participants with current TB and previous TB compared to those with non-current TB and without previous TB in age and length of service years was not significant. This also applied to HIV status and smoking: the difference between participants with and without current TB was not significant. There was a strong significant association of underground mine work with current TB, with a prevalence odds ratio (POR) of 6.62 (p<0.001).This showed that the association of exposure to coal dust with current TB was strong and significant as underground mine workers were exposed to higher coal dust concentrations than surface workers. Workers with current TB were more likely to have co-existing CWP, with a POR of 1.7 (95Vo Cl:0.f7.1). The exposure-response relationship of LMEL and CDE in participants with current TB and CWP was significant. A significant trend was observed of increasing of LMEL and CDE with an increase in the prevalence of current TB, CWP and past TB. Conclusions There was a possible dose response relationship between coal dust exposure and the risk of development of pulmonary TB. The study showed that coal dust exposure was associated with pulmonary TB, and a dose response relationship with the trend of increasing coal dust exposure. lt has been shown that there is a more significant and stronger association of underground coal mine work with current TB than there is in surface work. This study has shown a significant exposure response relationship in the exposure indices (CDE and LMEL), age and length of service for CWP. This study found a high prevalence of pulmonary TB of 9.9% in black migrant coal mine workers who historically held jobs in the dustiest areas in the mining industry. The limitations of the study include the use of cumulative exposure calculated from current exposure, and the secondary healthy worker effect or survivor workforce. Dust control and HIV/AIDS programmes should be an integral part of a TB and occupational lung disease control strategy in the mining industry. / Thesis ( M.Med. )-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Two of the main safety and health issues recognized during deep cut coal mining are methane and dust hazards. Advances in continuous miner technology have improved safety and productivity. However, these advances have created some environmental problems, notably more dust and methane being generated at the face during coal extraction. Results of studies performed in the last three decades concerning the face ventilation for deep cut mining showed very complicated airflow behavior. The specifics of flow patterns developed by the face ventilation systems presents significant challenge for analytical description even for equipment-free entry. Fortunately, there are methods, such as numerical simulations that could be used to provide an engineering solution to the problem. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes have been successfully applied during the last decade using the power of Supercomputers. Although significant progress has been made, a benchmark industry oriented CFD code dedicated to face ventilation is still not available. The goal of this project is to provide the mining industry a software for CFD analysis and design of face ventilation systems. A commercial CFD system SC/Tetra Thermofluid Analysis System with Unstructured Mesh Generator, copyright © Cradle Co, was selected for a development platform. A number of CFD models were developed for the needs of this study including methane release, dust generation, 3D models of commonly used continuous mining machines, scrubbers and water spray systems. The developed models and the used CFD code were successfully validated in the part for methane dilution, using available data from small scale and full scale experiments. The developed models for simulation of dust control systems need to be validated in the future. The developed code automates all necessary steps needed for simulation of face ventilation systems, starting with the construction of a 3D model, generation of the computational mesh, solving and monitoring the calculations, to post-processing and graphical representation of the obtained results. This code shall allow mining engineers to design better and safer face ventilation systems while providing the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) a tool to check and approve the industry’ proposed ventilation plans.

The working class in the Ruhr was in the process of formation throughout this period, with considerable migration into the area from many parts of Germany and abroad. Mobility was also high within the Ruhr. The result was that the working class was unsettled and unhomogenous. Divisions were preserved and strengthened by company housing and by the important role of denominational organisations within the social and community life of the district. The experience of work provided a possible basis for working class unity. Mine work was hard, dangerous and often not particularly well paid. Discontent and conflict was expressed through absenteeism, job-changing and unplanned, spontaneous strikes. The issues were pay, hours and dignity at work. Solidarity, however, was limited so that strikes generally ended in defeat and disarray. The only significant concessions came not from the employers but from the Government. The labour movement tried to create a stronger basis for class unity through the creation of strong organisations encompassing the mass of workers. This in turn required the avoidance of contentious and divisive issues such as religion, and meant that precedence was given to organisation-building rather than to industrial militancy or political radicalism. This approach, which was typical of the labour movement in Germany, was thus in large measure a response to the problems of working class society in the Ruhr. The labour movement was unsuccessful, however, in its attempt to overcome working class divisions through the emphasis on organisation; only Government intervention in the years after 1914 offered a way forward.

In Australia, industrial relations research has focused almost exclusively on the major industrial relations institutions and their role in the determination of the rules of the workplace. Local workplace industrial relations and the interaction between worker and representatives and enterprise management has been a neglected area of research. This study attempts to rectify this situation. By focusing attention on the workplace a number of important questions are raised that have not been systematically addressed in Australian industrial relations research. In particular, what, if any, is the role of shop stewards in a centralised system dominated by unions, employers and tribunals organised on a state and national basis? If there is a role for shop stewards, how does this role manifest itself in terms of the stewards’ relationships with members, fellow shop stewards, union officials and management? Finally, what factors explain variations in role perceptions, and how does the adoption of a particular role affect the behaviour of shop stewards? (For complete abstract open the document)