Report: Coal miners forced to attend Romney rally

Employees of a major coal industry donor to Republican causes have raised complaints about their participation in an event earlier this month organized for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the crucial swing state of Ohio. Several miners at Murray Energy’s Century coal mine in Beallsville, Ohio, contacted a nearby morning talk radio host, David Blomquist, over the last two weeks to say that they were forced to attend an Aug. 14 rally for Romney at the mine. Murray closed the mine the day of the rally, saying it was necessary for security and safety, then docked miners the day’s pay. Asked by WWVA radio’s David Blomquist about the allegations on Monday’s show, Murray chief operating officer Robert Moore said: Attendance was mandatory but no one was forced to attend the event.

The Century mine is owned by Robert Murray, an enthusiastic Romney supporter and major contributor to the Republican Party on his own and through Murray Energy, one of the largest private coal companies in the U.S. Murray and his wife have given Republican candidates a total of $471,185 since the 2008 election, including the maximum of $5,000 each to Romney this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Additionally, employees of Murray Energy and its subsidiaries contributed almost $1.5 million to Republicans over the same period.

Murray Energy Chief Financial Officer Rob Moore . . . told Blomquist that managers communicated to our workforce that the attendance at the Romney event was mandatory, but no one was forced to attend. He said the company did not penalize no-shows. Because the company’s mine had to be shut down for safety and security reasons during Romney’s visit, Moore confirmed workers were not paid that day. He said miners also lose pay when weather or power outages shut down the mine, and noted that federal election law doesn’t let companies pay workers to attend political events.