Exploitation from the factory to the mine

There is a strong connection between the recent mining murders by the International Coal Group (ICG) and the fight of union workers against Delphi’s attempt to impose draconian cuts on jobs, wages, benefits and working conditions through the use of the bankruptcy court.

The chairman of the Board of ICG is Wilbur Ross. Here is a quote about Ross from the ICG website: “International Coal Group was organized by WL Ross & Co. LLC to acquire the principal operations of then-bankrupt Horizon Natural Resour ces on Oct. 1, 2004. Wilbur L. Ross, ICG’s Chairman.”

Before he bought Horizon in partnership with A.T. Massey Coal Co., the bankruptcy courtroom of Judge William Howard obligingly eliminated the health-care benefits for 3,800 retired Horizon miners and their widows. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. had already assumed responsibility for Horizon’s underfunded pensions.

Ross has strong connections with Steve Miller, the CEO at Delphi, hired to put Delphi into bankruptcy and destroy the workers’ livelihood. Miller was previously the CEO at Bethlehem Steel. When Miller led Bethlehem Steel into bankruptcy, Ross purchased the company cheap and then sold it fairly quickly to the Mittal Steel Corp. in the Netherlands for a profit of $500 million.

Significantly, Ross has now accumulated a $4.5 billion war chest to buy up bankrupt automotive parts plants.