To: RetiredNow who wrote (121280 ) 9/20/2012 1:13:50 PM From: tejek Read Replies (1) | Respond to Headlines about Romney coal ad focus on miners forced to serve as unpaid prop at Romney speech + * by Laura Clawson The Romney ad's backdrop of coal miners whose boss made attendance at a Romney event mandatory and unpaid is drawing the headlines—and crucially, the Ohio headlines. Coverage of just how those miners came to be standing behind Romney has stretched from San Franciso to Chicago to Politico and Huffington Post . The Chicago Tribune 's headline writers may need a reminder of what "allegedly" means—if the miners say attendance at the Romney event was mandatory, and the boss acknowledges they were told that, there's no "allegedly" in their being forced to attend unless you want to split hairs, as the mine boss does, to draw a distinction between mandatory and forced. But Neela Banerjee's story leaves no doubt what happened:Murray closed the mine the day of the rally, saying it was necessary for security and safety, then docked miners their pay for those hours . Asked by WWVA radio’s Blomquist about the allegations, Murray Chief Operating Officer Robert Moore said, somewhat confusingly, "Attendance was mandatory but no one was forced to attend the event."The Columbus Dispatch not only hit the story Wednesday , it devoted several paragraphs of a story on Romney's campaign swing through the state with Paul Ryan to the miners—not the local coverage of his big campaign focus on Ohio Romney would want. The Cleveland Plain Dealer Associated Press story noting that the AFL-CIO is asking for an investigation into the mine closing for the Romney rally. (The SEIU has similarly called for an investigation into possible wage and hours law violations.) Please sign our petition calling for an investigation into the legality of forcing these miners to attend a campaign event while losing paid work hours.
