UMWA attacks Rep. Aderholt over silica dust regulations

On June 28, the United Mine Workers of America issued a statement sharply criticizing Alabama Representative Robert Aderholt and his subcommittee chairman over a proposed amendment to the Department of Labor’s fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill.

The disputed section reads: “No funds made available under this Act may be used to administer, implement, or enforce the proposed rule entitled “Reducing Miners’ Exposure to Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection.”

Rules proposed in 2023 by the Mine Safety and Health Administration would introduce new limits on the amount of silica dust in the air miners breathe.

MSHA states that inhalation of silica dust has been associated with “silicosis (i.e., acute silicosis, accelerated silicosis, chronic silicosis, and progressive massive fibrosis), nonmalignant respiratory diseases (e.g., emphysema and chronic bronchitis), lung cancer, and kidney disease.”

UMWA President Cecil Roberts called the rule “critical to combating the growing epidemic of black lung disease.”

“I find it hard to understand how some members of Congress could support the fact that more miners are dying from asphyxiation as a result of being forced to breathe this dust,” Roberts continued.

A summary of the bill released by Republicans in committee describes their bill as “(prohibiting) funding to implement the (Department of Labor’s) destructive and anti-worker regulatory program.”

Rep. Aderholt’s office did not respond to APR’s request for comment or issue a public statement on the subcommittee the congressman chairs trying to cut funding for the regulation.

Roberts slammed Aderholt for “putting industry profits ahead of the health and safety of the workers he was supposed to represent.”

“The miners in his district, many of whom are already suffering from black lung disease, deserve better,” Roberts said. “All I can say is that Aderholt is telling his constituents that their lives and health are not his concern.”

In addition to cutting funding for new silica dust regulations, the proposed bill would also prevent the Department of Labor from implementing:

• New Protections for Temporary Non-Immigrant Farmworkers
• A change that makes it harder for employers to classify workers as independent contractors
• Improving work standards in apprenticeships
• Clarification to enable pension funds to take into account environmental, social and governance issues
• And a provision expanding the list of persons that employees may represent during OSHA workplace inspections

While it is unclear whether these restrictions will survive a vote in the House of Representatives, much less be adopted by the Senate, they may end up having no effect.

After the Supreme Court ruling was overturned Chevron respect in its ruling on the matter Loper Bright Enterprises vs. RaymondFederal courts have begun to rule against an increasing number of proposed changes to federal regulations.

A Texas judge issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday against the Federal Trade Commission’s pending ban on noncompete agreements. A Kansas judge issued a similar injunction against antidiscrimination protections proposed by the Education Department.

Even if Congress withholds funding and does not prevent the Department of Labor from enforcing MSHA’s new silica dust regulations, it could still fall victim to the new legal status quo.