I don't remember seeing anything debunking it. The reporter stood by his story and I don't know of any report that demonstrated what he reported was untrue. That Massey backed off its threats is not surprising given the public relations disaster it would have created for itself. It hardly means the original report wasn't accurate. It's interesting that the corporate media can make any number of questionable reports and remain acceptable in polite and impolite discourse. People wanting to discredit the WSWS simply scream "Massey!" and that apparently makes that source verboten for all eternity. Did Judith Miller make the NYT a source that has no credibility at all forever? Did the reporters who worked for the CIA make the all the corporate media a source that has no credibility at all forever? Apparently not. Their work is cited here as gospel truth every day.
If someone really wanted to discredit the WSWS regarding this article, they'd simply show where statements contained within the article aren't true. Not surprisingly, while many claim the article isn't credible, no one seems, yet anyway, to have gotten around to actually listing examples of inaccuracy.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/apr2010/mass-a21.shtmlWSWS verifies Massey’s threat to fire miners who took off work to attend funerals
By Samuel Davidson
21 April 2010
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On the part of miners and their families, there seems to be no question about the truth of the WSWS report. Those we spoke to—who did not want to be identified, for fear of victimization—confirmed that Massey would not allow miners at its other mines time off to attend the funerals. Surviving miners from the Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine have been assigned to work in some of Massey’s other operations in the area.
One young Massey miner, who initially worked at the UBB mine, but currently works at another company operation, explained to the WSWS that the miners had first been told that Massey would allow them to have the day off to attend funerals, but then were told they wouldn’t be given the time. “I knew a lot of men that worked in that mine. I knew a lot of those who were killed. They were the people that taught me how to be a coal miner.
“I wanted to go to one of their funerals. At first Massey said that we could go, but then they said that we couldn’t. They told us ‘we’ve got to run coal today.’”
Another unemployed miner confirmed that his neighbor, a Massey miner whose uncle was killed in the explosion, was told that he would be fired if he took off to go to the funeral. “This is no surprise to me,” he said. “This is how Massey treats its miners.” Every day, he said, a miner is told to do things that the company knows is not safe, or ‘Get your bucket and get out.’”
Another reader who has lived in the area for years, wrote “This decision of Massey to NOT let miners take time off is a really big deal around here.”
One reason why the WSWS reported Massey’s policy on time off for the funerals, and other media outlets did not, is because our reporters actually spoke to miners and communicated what they had to say. Moreover, as opposed to the establishment media, we report the truth. (For a contrast, read the Charleston
Daily Mail’s sycophantic interview with Massey CEO Don Blankenship, which essentially offers him a platform to boast about the company’s generosity toward the dead miners’ families.)
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