Westray

[@shaneaustin604]

As a Canadian coal miner, not a day goes by that I don't consider Westray. Never again.

[@gilmour73]

I grew up about 30 minutes from the mine. My earliest memory is seeing the news coverage when it happened.

[@HardRockMiner]

I started hardrock mining in 1987 when I was 19. If coal mining was the only kind of mining there was, I would never have become a miner. All underground mining is dangerous, but coal mining is uncontrollably dangerous. I don't play that game.

[@thelegion3682]

Back years ago when westray was in the mix to be put in... My father and my oldest brother were both offered the same fifteen years of work.. the blessing for myself and my family was the little fact that we lived in Kentucky and that would have meant that my father and brother would have to be relocated to Canada with an all paid expense including their own motel room each with a card for three meals a day at any restaurant they chose to eat from. Thank God that my father loved us more than the money offered for him to relocate just to run a miner for the exact company that cost so many families more than they could have ever afforded to pay. Rest in peace for ALL the victims and their families.

[@merc340sr]

Bodies not found....Ouch!....did not know the Westray disaster was that bad...God bless the victims. RIP.

[@grahamsawyer831]

comprehensive yet gripping, a brilliant documentary.

[@jordanc7263]

Great documentary. Roy Feltmate was my uncle. His stock car number was 89 not 99 tho.

[@lisamcdonald9792]

God Bless all these miners and their families. I thought this documentary was very mindfully done in regard to the families but told the truthful story of what happened.

[@rapman5363]

R.I.P. to the fallen miners ✝ My comment below is to the documentary makers, not to the miners or their families. Those men were doing what good men do all over the world to feed their families.

[@mottthehoople693]

except they paid the price for not being in a union. The owner ,manager ,undermanager and a few of the mine deputies should have been gaoled. The manager and undermanager were experienced men and definitely knew better

[@HardRockMiner]

​@@mottthehoople693- You don't seem to know much about what you're talking about. Unions don't save lives. Union dues are taken from ppl so the union executive can go away on fancy trips 4x a year and have the working pay for it. If you're smart and you do a good job, you don't need a union. Unions are only there to protect the lazy and the stupid. Which 1 are you?

[@mariekatherine5238]

Coal miners are tough people. Not just the miners, but the families and the residents of the towns. They have a lot in common with military combat families. PTSD is normal life.

[@neekerbreeker]

NFB Canada puts out awesome content. You deserve more recognition. I've never seen a bad film from this group. Thank you!

[@kellyusher1]

I have always been told to ask them to "put it in writing and if they don't, then you don't do it"

[@alanrobbens1194]

A classic case of people from above not upholding their responsibility to the men who gave their lives for financial benefit.

[@mhiebendaal3836]

This Buddy Buddy between management and some Supervisors is VERY familiar. ArcelorMittal Dofasco.

[@mhiebendaal3836]

Lubrication has been wiped out. Thx, Sestric and Logan. Buddy, buddy.

[@RCAFpolarexpress]

Very Good Informative Video 😇🙏I was just getting transfer in RCAF greenwood the year before and I remember very well that very sad disaster 😢My Best Prayers to All These Good Folk's 🙏😌

[@shawnleider]

This is a dark story. Idk why the nursery rhymes.

[@mariekatherine5238]

The contrast and irony.

[@johnw7142]

Now the whole county is screwed

[@mottthehoople693]

why?

[@HardRockMiner]

​@@mottthehoople693- Because of the Ndp/Liberal goverment. You can't be too bright to even ask that question.

[@dashcan8479]

my Grandfather Long Henry Cameron was a dragoneer rescuer in that mine shaft. My fathers land in Guysborough was taken from him all becasue he fought for his country and was overseas in WWII (for taxes which was illegal). He was told on his way from Halifax to Stellarton and had his entire house taken from him, HIS land. He then was offered a job as a miner. He was NOT a miner. He was a farmer. He took the job but told me years later he didnt want do that job. He left for Ontario with 4 others on a train to obstensibly work in Northern Ontario mines. He got off the Train in Toronto and eventually did 25 years as what - making farm implement equipment with 3 of his brothers and his brother in law at massey ferguson. Every year he would return to his stolen land by Guysborough county. Thanks you scum. Westray casts a long shadow.

[@mottthehoople693]

so how was his land taken?

[@dashcan8479]

@@mottthehoople693 Taxes while he was in Europe fighting. Its against the law to take a soldiers land while fighting for their country.

[@mottthehoople693]

@@dashcan8479 so how did theymanage to do that? when he returned he should have had his possessions returned

[@dashcan8479]

@@mottthehoople693Guysborough county took the land. He was away when it happened. His grandparents died while he was gone over 6 years. He was homeless and they stole our families land.

[@mottthehoople693]

@@dashcan8479 that is so bad was it possible to sue anyone?

[@LadyOaksNZ]

After rewatching this several times, cant help but think about that guy Fraser Agnew who claims he was friends with Miners yet wouldn't risk his management job by speaking up on THEIR BEHALF about critical miner safety issues. Little wonder he was plagued with drunkeness nightmares and guilt.

[@xxkwijiboxx]

i work in a mine, we are in 2023, i work with people afraid of taking their lunch break because they are contractor and fear losing their job doing so.

[@mottthehoople693]

being a mine deputy is hardly a management position....A deputy is a buffer between the men and the management...

[@mottthehoople693]

@@xxkwijiboxx If they were in a union that would not be the case....too many greedy company people about.. Its gotta come to a head...with the courts.. and if that don't work then without the courts...

[@HardRockMiner]

@mottthehoople693 - Unions only protect the lazy and the stupid. I've worked in contrator mines and unionized mines. You don't need a union to protect you. All workplaces come with the right to refuse unsafe work without consequence.

[@iandouglas4992]

​@HardRockMiner yeah but withiut a union to back you up, if you start filing complaints theyll get rid of you

[@gabrielalcantar6493]

En 🇲🇽 tragedia en mina Pasta de Conchos 😔

[@ellp152]

Anyone saying your expendable is Responsible for some of this!!! And that’s not coming from the Forman. He’s given that as an order from above!!!!!!!!

[@rapman5363]

There have been mine and mining disasters for as long as there have been pits. This was not some one off incident. You could fill books, tapes and newspapers with the stories of mine tragedies. Stop laying blame where there is none. This documentary is very informative but you act like this stuff was an isolated incident and that this was some big conspiracy. The miners knew exactly the risks and so did the company. They took the risk for the paycheck and some paid the ultimate price unfortunately. Miners have been paying the price for ions. Muckrakers the bunch of ya!! And the nursery rhymes?? Please!

[@mottthehoople693]

If the company had adhered too the mines regulation the risks would have been reduced considerably. If the inspector had done his job the risks would have been reduced to bugger all ,If the manager and undermanager had done their jobs properly as they were both experienced men there wouldn't have been any tragedy. The fact the men were kept scared of losing their jobs if they said anything speaks volumes...The owner was the scumbag who started the whole ball rolling with his incessant greed.. prick should have never been allowed to walk away.

[@FayeVert]

You're right, there have been thousands of these incidents, enough to fill books. The risks are known, meaning the known risks can be mitigated. It's criminal to ignore all the prior lessons from prior incidents.